Activism Inside Out

Your personal, step-by-step guide to becoming a more effective change-maker

Are you concerned with the current state of affairs of our planet? Do you want to create a fairer and more sustainable world? Do you struggle to keep up with all the events and crises that are happening in the world, and the accelerating pace at which they are unfolding? Do you sometimes feel a sense of hopelessness in the face of the challenges our world is going through?

If so, then this free online course is for you. It will help you improve your personal wellbeing and become a more effective change-maker by:

Revealing the stories you hold about yourself, others and the world in your activism,
Understanding that these stories are important for the change you want to make,
Finding your role in the change process.

About this course (not another toolkit for activists!)

The majority of courses and toolkits seek to provide us with a roadmap for how to ‘do’ activism. They look at change-making as something external, while neglecting an important thing: we are part of the very systems, structures and institutions that we seek to change. The personal lens through which we see ourselves, others and the world is important.

When we forget this, our activism can be ineffective, stressful and put a strain on our physical and mental wellbeing. This manifests itself in an increasing number of change-makers feeling hopeless, despairing and burnt out.

This course looks at the inner dimension of change. This course is about you. It will help you to develop new skills, new capacities and new ways of seeing yourself, others and the world in your activism – the work is personal. By helping you understand your role as an activist, this course will help you become a more effective change-maker, in whatever area you’re working in.

This course will help you uncover the internal narrative and story you hold about yourself, others and the world within your activism. It will provide you with space for reflection on how this story impacts the change you want to make. Of course, you’ll also receive tips and tricks on how to implement the skills you've learned in your activism to make effective change. As well as being a learning experience, the course will also be a fun journey for you personally, one that will help you understand yourself better, connect more easily with others and think outside the box.

How to take this course

It’s your journey! This course is self-paced, and asks you to reflect and work on five areas:

The concepts of stories, personal lenses and bias.
The stories you unconsciously hold about yourself as an activist.
The stories you unconsciously hold about others involved in your activism.
How the stories you hold about the world really matters for activism.
How to integrate what you have learned into your activism.

Each session consists of introductory content, assignments, questions for reflection and material for further exploration.

The course is self-paced, but we suggest you allow about a week for each session, to allow time for reflection. Along the way, you can explore the impact through writing and/or with a local group or circle of friends. If you want to reflect on the course content with your friends, family or colleagues in a more structured way, you’re welcome to download the course as a PDF and use our reflection questions at the end of each session.