EducateOUT Project - U.K. Campaigner

OUTAcademy: Campaigner Training for New U.K. based Human Rights Activists

Our OUTAcademy is a virtual academy where we train up the future leaders and activists of the future, to make social change happen for sexual and gender minorities.

Due to regressive changes happening for LGBTQI+ people in the U.K., this year we will be training up 100 new sexual and gender minority activists from all around the U.K., both online and in person.

Read about how we work to inspire others to make social change happen, below.

Want to make social change happen in the United Kingdom?

As part of our OUTAcademy, we will be offering two online training courses and two face-to-face training courses. This will consist of a week-long training course to help you become a skilled campaigner, helping you to use creative and effective campaign techniques and tactics to push for social change. We have been granted funding to do this through 2023 therefore this is an opportunity not to be missed!

If you gain a place in our OUTAcademy, we will educate you with the principles, theories, and tactics to ensure that you become a better activist, whilst bearing in mind your own safety within the U.K. Our OUTAcademy is aimed at those who are new to activism, as we recognise that training opportunities for the future generation of change-makers are not always accessible to sexual and gender minorities.

Are you LGBTQI+ and are you a new or inexperienced LGBTQI+ campaigner in the U.K.?
Are you passionate about social change for LGBTQI+ people in the U.K.?
Do you have a campaign idea that you want to put it into place?
If so, then ReportOUT's 2023 OUTAcademy is for you...

Our aim is to support you, as new and inexperienced activist campaigners to achieve realistic social change for LGBTQI+ people, and to become the next generation of skilled LGBTQI+ campaigners. We know you will hold valuable knowledge around the challenges LGBTQI+ people face therefore we want to simply provide you with the tools that you need to get started.

As part of our new OUTAcademy at ReportOUT, we are now offering our exclusive FREE Campaigner Training to 100 LGBTQI+ people around the UK.

If you are successful in your application to our OUTAcademy, we will train you in the principles, theories, models, and tactics to ensure that you become a better activist and campaigner, whilst bearing in mind your own safety that needs to be considers when implanting your campaign. In this course, you will develop the skills, strategies, and we hope, the confidence you will need, to run your own campaigns.

Our OUTAcademy outcomes are to ensure that:

The next generation of campaigners in nation states will have the necessary knowledge to generate positive social change.

The next generation of campaigners in nations states will be equipped with the skills and tools to launch successful campaigns.

Campaigners will create and develop their own campaigns in their nation states.

Campaigners will have successful campaigns in their nation states.

OUTAcademy Training Programme

27/10/21

4-5pm, UK time

1 hour

Session 1: Welcome to your OUTAcademy Campaigner Training – What do you need to know to get started?

Welcome! This session will introduce you to the aim and objectives of ReportOUT’s OUTAcademy Campaigner Training. It will set out the rules for your learning and what you will need to know to work through this course successfully. You will leave this session prepared for the rest of the training and will be familiar with what you need to know to complete the course,

01/11/21

2-5pm, UK time

3 hours

Session 2:

How did global LGBTQI+ human rights develop and why are these frameworks useful for you as a campaigner?

How do you create a Theory of Change for your campaign?

This session will introduce you to the history of global LGBTQI+ human rights activism. You will develop your knowledge and understanding of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and of the rise of international development mechanisms. In amongst both of these, global LGBTQI+ human rights have become part of the agenda. How did this happen and why is this significant for you? You will leave this session with a better understanding of the origins of LGBTQI+ focused activism and you will have considered how the SDG’s, Yogyakarta Principles and other human rights frameworks can support what you do with your campaign.

This session will also introduce you to writing your aims, objectives and outcomes for your campaign. You will also develop a Theory of Change (TOC), which is a powerful learning tool to enable you to plot long-term social change. Campaigns are often less focused and less successful without a Theory of Change and so you will take part in designing one for your campaign. You will leave this session a much more critically minded campaigner, really starting to sharpen your skills.

02/11/21

2-5pm, UK time

3 hours

Session 3:

How can theories support your campaign?

What are some of the key principles behind campaign planning?

This session will introduce some theoretical frameworks which may help to guide your campaign. It is proven that campaigns are much stronger when rooted in theoretical groundings. Why is this? Because theory helps us to understand the ‘why’ behind the inequalities that we want to change. You will leave this session with a critical mind and a better understanding of the nature of inequality and how to overcome it.

This session will also introduce you to some of the main principles which lie behind a campaign. In order to build a successful campaign and to help your Theory of Change to happen, you need to consider the principles behind what you do. This session will present a number of principles that you may want to consider for your own campaigns and activism.

03/11/21

2-5pm, UK time

3 hours

Session 4:

Traditional tactics: What are some of the key tactics used in a campaign?

Getting the message across - How do you campaign digitally?

This session will introduce you to some of the more familiar tactics used in campaigning. However, because they are familiar, we rarely get an opportunity to think about why they are so successful and how we might use them in our campaigns. You will leave this session with specific examples of ‘traditional’ tactics and hopefully will start to consider how you might want to use them in the future.

This session will also outline digital campaigning and will offer case studies on how digital media has been used to successfully ramp up activism and campaigns. It will get you to consider how you might want to use different digital methods, social media, blogs, YouTube and so on, to amplify your key messages. You will leave this session knowing methods in which to engage your much wider audience through using digital skills.

04/11/21

2-5pm, UK time

3 hours

Session 5:

Creative tactics: What are some of the key tactics used in a campaign?

How do you stay safe as a campaigner?

This session will introduce you to more creative tactics that are used by campaigners and activists. Whilst we should never leave behind more traditional methods, creative tactics can elevate your campaign to another level. You will leave this session with lots of ideas to get your campaign heard and identified in unique and different ways.

This session will also open a discussion that will focus on the safety of a campaigner. We will discuss how to create and maintain a safe environment as a campaigner and to reflect on your own safety. You will leave this session with a heightened awareness of safety considerations as you plot your campaign

06/11/21

2-5pm, UK time

3 hours

Session 6:

Fostering dialogue and conflict resolution - What are the techniques?

How should you collect data for your campaign?

This session will give you key ideas about how to use conflict resolution techniques and community dialogue. Through giving you a theoretical outline of forms of conflict resolution, you will then learn different techniques which may support your campaign. You will leave this session with a set of skills and knowledge to take forward into your campaign planning.

This session will also focus on the importance of data collection. Data can be used to examine success, identify weaknesses, and outline the importance and need of a campaign. Throughout this session, you are going to develop your understanding of how a set of aims and objectives can be used to design a data collection process, and how this can influence your data collection methods. In small groups, you will have the opportunity to practise the skills acquired and gain feedback to develop these skills. You will leave this session with a theoretical toolkit that you can use to collect data for your own campaign

07/11/21

2-5pm, UK time

3 hours

Session 7:

What is your campaign going to be?

What happens next?

This session will bring everything that you have learnt so far and will get you to present brief campaign plans to each other. This is a useful task to do as you will learn from feedback from peers to support your campaign to grow. You will leave this session with an opportunity to tell others about what you plan and to use their feedback to learn and grow your campaign.

This session will also set out the next steps that you must take, and it will outline how ReportOUT will monitor your campaigns and will check in with you as your progress. You will leave this session knowing your next steps to move forward and feeling proud to become part of our course Alumni.

We will also train you in how to use creative, effective campaign techniques and tactics to push and inform the social change that you want to see for other LGBTQI+ people and their communities, wherever your campaign idea is based. Please see the topics that will form the curriculum below, for more information about what we will cover in the week-long course.

Our OUTAcademy is aimed at those who are NEW to activist campaigns, as we recognise that training opportunities for the future generation of change-makers are not always accessible to LGBTQI+ people. We want to address this imbalance.

What did people say about this course in 2021 and 2022?

100% of respondents rated our OUTAcademy campaigner course as 'excellent' overall
100% of respondents rated the teaching and facilitators on this course as 'excellent' overall
100% of respondents rated the resources supplied and used on this course as 'excellent' overall
90% of respondents said their skills as a campaigner improved significantly as a result of completing this course.
90% of respondents said their confidence as a campaigner improved significantly as a result of completing this course

Sounds good, but what will the course cover and when will it run?

Our curriculum will introduce you to the following topics:

The history of human rights and the rights of sexual and gender minorities
The role of the United Nations and queering the UN Sustainable Development Goals
Theories of activism and social movements
Setting aims and outcomes of a campaign
Writing a Theory of Change for your campaign
Principles behind a campaign
Tactics (traditional and creative) to use in a campaign
Campaigning digitally
How to engage with allies for your campaign
Conflict resolution and staying safe as a campaigner
Collecting effective data for your campaign
Please note that this is an intense but very satisfying course!

There is a lot to do in a short space of time, so we advise you to be very prepared.

You will be given a workbook to work from, which you will give to us at the end of your course, in order for you to receive a certificate upon completion of the course.

I tend to forget my words whenever I am nervous but I realised that everyday while attending the sessions, my confidence grew. I was able to openly talk and participate in conversations without feeling judged or ridiculed" (Attendee)

This course is very important for LGBTIQA + communities to go forward and get their rights" (Attendee)

Every topic covered is a big step toward making me a good campaigner. In other words, it relates, or gives answers to every question a campaigner could ever ask" (Attendee)

Mind blowing, impactful, strategic, comprehensive and helpful" (Attendee)

The participatory approach and methodology used by the facilitators which allowed us participants to fully engage, share and expand our views… that was great" (Attendee)

What are the course dates?

You MUST be free for your chosen course dates and times to be able to be eligible. If you are not, then we cannot accept an application from you. You must attend all sessions, and an attendance register will be kept if you are to be eligible for the course certificate:

Courses taught online:

An online course for new U.K. activists will run from 7th August – 10th August 2023 from 5-8 pm. Application deadline (28th July 2023)
Or, a second online course for new U.K. activists will also run from 11th December – 14th December 2023 from 6-9pm. Application deadline (30th October 2023)

Face-to-face training:

North East of England: 23rd of October 2023 - 26th of October 2023 5.30-8.30pm (venue TBD). Application deadline (10th September 2023)

You must be free and available on your chosen days and times to be eligible for our OUTAcademy.

Where will the course be held?

The online course will be held on Microsoft Teams and face to face courses will be held in person at the locations shown above. Both online and face-to-face courses will require additional engagement with our virtual learning environment, which will be on Moodle (see below).

Will I need to do anything else during this week?

Yes, you will have to do more than just turn up, as we have a virtual learning environment called Moodle, which you will be expected to log into regularly over the course of the training - to complete discussion threads, learn problem-based learning activities, take part in watching recorded videos before the sessions on Teams, read documents, and more.
Moodle will allow you to build up a lifelong campaigner hub where you can connect with others.
After the course ends, you will have life-long access to Moodle for you to use and to revisit all the resources on there, whenever you wish.
You will also need a WhatsApp account to be able to join our Alumni WhatsApp group after the training ends.

What will I be expected to do if I get a place on the course?

This course is delivered in English, and so a good written and spoken level of English is needed.
You will be expected to actively take part in the course, to take part in all activities and engage with the learning.
You must attend all the sessions on Teams.
You must use Moodle frequently, and to complete tasks before the live sessions on Teams or face to face.
Some of you will be selected at the end of the campaign to speak to us so we can write up a case study about your campaign.
You must be willing to join our Alumni group on WhatsApp, where you will meet the campaigners from the previous year’s course.

Additional benefits of doing this course are:

A personalised course certificate upon completion of the course, for your CV and development.
A supportive environment to grow your campaign idea, both during and after the course ends.
Skills for life to take forward in your professional life and in your activism.
Life-long membership of our virtual learning environment on Moodle.
Life-long membership of our OUTAcademy Alumni, where we will offer exclusive capacity training for your organisation, and for your as a campaigner as a member of our Alumni.
You could also be in with a chance of winning a glass trophy and £200 for the most successful campaign.

Ready to apply?

APPLY HERE >>

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