Getting started

Getting started: Creating a strike, event!

Create a flyer and Event on social media.
Place, Country, Town
Location: In front of town hall, street name
Time: normally just use the start time.
Date and Day.
Contact
Post on Social media

Getting started tips for a new local/work group

Return to the work groups and documents overview

Welcome

Hi and welcome to Fridays for Future. This Getting Started is written to give you some pointers. Fridays for Future is a group that values local autonomy, so this getting started is not binding, but a mere suggestions will take you step by step through some ways to get going.

The mission of Fridays for Future is to spread awareness of the climate crisis amongst all people. To reach more people we need to grow the movement in numbers, so the most important thing to do is to talk to people and tell them why action to mitigate climate change as fast as possible is so important. Then ask them to keep spreading the word. This is why Fridays for Future is open to all who want to help spread the word.

Fridays for future International

Core values and data

To learn more about the Fridays for Future Core Values please read the Vision document, and please sign it too if you haven’t already. We also value people's privacy, in line with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR law), if you haven’t already, please read and sign the Fridays for Future GDPR too.

“Everyone is welcome, everyone is needed”

Naming your group

When naming the local or workgroup please consider the name carefully. Please include the group's location, or when it’s online the location could be “Online” or “Digital”. When the group is for specific people, e.g. youth, grandparents. A possible few examples:

Parents for Future (This is a global group for parents)
Grandparents for Future Seattle (This is a local group in Seattle for grandparents)
Fridays for Future Sweden (This is the general group for Sweden)

Finding or connecting with local activists

The situation for every activist is different. For some activists activism is more dangerous than others, most important is that you stay safe, both physically and mentally. Some activists have more time and energy than others, so do what you can, all you do is valued. Build a network for your support and to seek advice.

To connect with local activists explore many different channels

Find other activists on the map
Search out social media links under keywords such as location and FFF on facebook, twitter, instagram
Sign up on telegram. Here many youth connect with each other. You sign up for telegram, then search out Open Fridays for Future International, or Fridays for Future, or the like.
Visit the main website and sign up for the newsletter or trainings or download resources at https://fridaysforfuture.org/take-action/
Stand regularly at a local place such as town hall with your sign about climate change. Gather names of those who are interested in coming to. Do it regularly, such as every Friday or every second Friday. Remember Greta started alone.
Many activists live near or around you but do not know about you or feel that they are on their own. In this case, if not risky, one great way to connect is to make a petition with a few others and go out and talk to people and collect names. This builds your contact base. To get started, simply sign the GDPR agreement.
Connect with groups concerned about the climate, for example, health groups, bicycle groups, environmental groups, groups concerned about fighting poverty or racism or inequality, food/vegan groups, Urge them to join with you in your local effort.

Join Slack

After you signed the GDPR and Vision documents you can join Slack, an invitation will be sent to you after your registration has been processed. If you don’t get an invitation after a week please contact map@fridaysforfuture.org. Slack is an organizing platform we use to communicate and organize work and events.

Register on the map

Fridays for Future has an extensive map of actions. Actions by Fridays for Future activists and by activists or other organizations as well. This is a great tool to find other activists and be found yourself. Please

Sign up for the newsletter

Please sign up to the newsletter of Fridays for Future to stay up to date with the latest Fridays for Future News. At the sign up page you can also find the latest issues of the newsletter.

Create a logo

To create the logo for the new group you can use the tool pic generator

Edit the logo by entering your group name, choose a background, add a description if needed.

An image showing the editing screen

Press render in the bottom of the screen.

Then press refresh in the top right corner, then the download button will appear.

Create social media accounts

Having one or more social media accounts for the group can really help you organize and make the group visible. Try to keep the name of the group the same across platforms, this way the group can be easily identified by other activists. There is a Code of Conduct for social media accounts.

Create Action Network page

Action Network is a great place to create email lists and petitions. One helpful step is sign up for trainings

More information is growing on this subject, check back regularly for updates.

Creating petitions

Using your Action Network page you can create petitions, petitions can help you show your local, national or international government how many people care about your cause. Petitions can also service growth for a local or workgroup. After all, the power of the people lies in the numbers!
Check out this great manual

Alternatives to street striking

Not everywhere, or for everyone, street striking is possible, due to a number of reasons. There are alternatives to street striking.

Create petitions, to create a network and show how many people care for the climate.
Write to your local representatives to let them know how important it is to you.
Silent strike at work or in school.
Ribbon strike, wear a blue and or green ribbon to show your support.

For more ideas, also check https://fridaysforfuture.org/take-action/how-to-strike/.

Participating in international events

Big international events will be announced on the Fridays for future website and social media channels like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Since the start of Fridays for Future in 2018 there have always been 2 global climate strikes each year, 1 around March and 1 around September. Any activist wanting to participate in a global event is welcome to do so. You can organize your local event as it fits in your local situation.

Creating your own events

A local or work group, or an individual can organize an event. This event has to be non-violent, any discussions should be science based. You can ask others to join your event to make your event better. Other individuals or local/work groups are not obligated to join you. Announce the event on social media so more people are aware of the event and more people will be able to support the event.

Financial aid

Financial aid can be possible when traveling for climate related events through Open Collective.