Transforming Outcomes: Effective Strategies
In a world where change is often met with resistance, understanding what makes a movement successful is crucial. A year-long project by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and the Runnymede Trust, commissioned by the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), aims to shed light on this very question. The study explores what enables movements to bring about significant change.
The project focuses on four recent movements: LGBTQ+ rights, race equality, climate action, and health inequality. Successful movements, the study reveals, aim to close the 'salience deficit' (public or power-holders not considering the issue important or viewing it differently) and the 'power deficit' (lack of power or influence).
Effective movements seek to change society's goals and mindsets, not just provide evidence for change. They build a campaigning infrastructure to tell compelling stories, shift the debate, and capture existing power or build alternatives. The public health movement, for instance, has introduced evocative campaigns to make the invisible visible, while the race equality movement has fought to foreground and popularise the stories of those suffering under systemic racism and racial injustice.
Moreover, movements can increase the power of excluded groups by recruiting new allies and building power through political representation. The environmental movement, for example, has fought for clear goals such as reaching 'net zero' greenhouse gas emissions, and broken the problem down into key sectors.
The challenges of the 21st century require structural change to economies and wider societies and the rebalancing of power. High-profile events that the status quo cannot explain or effectively respond to can serve as catalysts for change. The murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests of summer 2020, and the Extinction Rebellion protests in April 2019, have reshaped the debate and increased public interest in race equality and environmental crisis respectively.
However, simplifications and accommodations that might have helped win change previously can limit the ability to deliver the change some movements seek and can result in incomplete change and leaving people behind. Successful movements are rarely organic; they require active cultivation by organizations that do tasks that are in everyone's interest but no one's individual responsibility.
Movements that have the biggest chance of success focus on issues that are relatively simple, impact a large population, and are congruent with existing systems or norms. The most effective movements have a well-developed ecosystem of influence, characterized by breadth (diversity), depth (capability), and inter-connection (community).
The project, which also seems to involve issues like violence prevention against children and social justice, is supported by organisations like the IPPR and the Runnymede Trust. These organisations are known for their work in areas such as social justice, education, and political analysis.
Individuals and groups involved in the project could include research fellows (often experts in the relevant areas, who conduct the research and analyse the results), activists and campaign leaders (people who advocate for social justice and child protection), politicians and political advisors (who could ensure the political support and implementation of the research findings), and representatives from NGOs (non-governmental organisations that work with issues like children's rights and social justice).
For specific information about the project, knowing the exact title or publications of the project would be helpful, as such projects often occur in a larger context and involve many different organisations and individuals.
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