Survival toolkit
Welcome to the survival toolkit! Before you dive in, let’s look back to 2025, when we organised The Academy, a biannual training for our member organisations focused on how youth organisations function at three levels:
1. the individual
2. the organisational
3. and the organisation in relation to the wider environment
This toolkit builds directly on that experience. It brings together selected insights, tools, and exercises used during The Academy. It is not exhaustive as it reflects the themes and discussions that emerged during the training.
The aim is to help youth organisations respond to challenges, as well as grow, adapt and improve.
Why a coral reef?
Our inspiration comes from coral reefs!
Coral reefs are dynamic ecosystems where different species depend on each other. Each plays a role, even those that are not always visible. Some provide shelter, others protection, and together they create the conditions for life to thrive.
This reflects how civil society, and youth organisations in particular, operate.
Today, coral reefs are under a lot of pressure due to the climate crisis, pollution or invasive species. In a similar way, youth organisations are threatened due to a shrinking civic space, reduced funding, increased polarisation and other external pressures.
Like reefs, civil society is constantly shifting, adapting and evolving. Damage can be repaired, but it takes care, patience and collective effort. And just as reefs are shaped by distant currents, storms and warming oceans, civil society will continue being influenced by global trends and crises.
What is this survival toolkit?
This toolkit is a practical resource inspired by The Academy. It shares knowledge, ideas and tools that you can use in your organisation. It focuses on strengthening both individuals and organisations.
The stronger and more diverse the reef, the better it can withstand pressures and protect life around it. The stronger and more resilient civil society is, the better it can safeguard democracy, defend rights and enable communities to flourish.
We hope that this toolkit will help you better understand your volunteers and what motivates them, address challenges such as burnout, support collaboration even when discussions are difficult, reflect on your organisation’s resilience and use tools such as Theory of Change to stay true to your organisation, guide your work and achieve impact in the forever changing world.
How to use it?
The toolkit is organised into different topics. Each topic is linked to a marine species to help you navigate the content.
Here’s what they mean:
Goby & shrimp, or the individuals
The shrimp and the goby live in partnerships and rely on each other’s strengths, creating safety and space for survival. They represent individuals in civil society: activists, volunteers, and staff who bring different skills and energies. People contribute in different ways, and this diversity is essential. Strong and healthy organisations recognise and value these different roles and depend on cooperation.
Anemone, or the organisations
Sea anemones provide protection and create a safe environment for other species. They represent organisations as spaces created for and by people. Organisations provide structure, belonging, and opportunities for participation. At the same time, they need continuous care and adaptation.
Lionfish, or the external environment
Lionfish are invasive species that can harm already weakened ecosystems. They symbolise external pressures on civil society, such as shrinking civic space and polarisation. While these challenges cannot be avoided, organisations can respond by staying connected, values-driven, and adaptable without losing their identity.
You are welcome to explore the full toolkit, but you can also focus on the sections most relevant to your needs. A short explanation should help you understand what each module is about and why it is useful. Once you are in the module, you will find some theory and either exercises or tools that you can explore and use either on your own or together with your team.
Share your resources
Do you have similar toolkits, handbooks, or resources you would like to share with others? We invite you to contribute to our collective knowledge by filling in the form below 👇
Toolkit chapters
1. Understanding motivation and commitment
This chapter focuses on volunteer disengagement and even burnout, both of which are real problems in the youth movement.
2. Handling discomfort within your team
This chapter focuses on how to handle discomfort within a team and identifying the differences between discomfort and harm.
3. Mastering difficult conversations
This chapter focuses on working together, even in cases when it sounds difficult or even impossible.
4. Building resilience and change
This chapter focuses on how two key concepts become especially powerful when combined.
5. Funding, funding, funding
This chapter focuses on the one topic that comes up again and again within our membership. Funding, funding, funding.
6. Bringing the toolkit to life
If you're on this page, your commitment to help your organisation respond to challenges, grow, adapt and improve is all we have hoped for.