DESIGN OVERVIEW

Overview
This design report documents the design process undertaken in planning and implementing a local campaign to prevent fracking from taking place in Somerset.

Next Steps
At the end of the meeting I asked those who had attended to fill in their details and commit to either being in a working group or on a newsletter. People also donated and soon enough a group was formed via a simple google list Mendip fracking action. I knew as the group was forming that some design thinking would be needed to counter the threat of fracking to Somerset, by applying this thinking I could stack functions and combine my organising with my Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design.

What is Permaculture Design?

The origins of permaculture describe permaculture as (Permanent Agriculture) - the conscious design and maintenance of cultivated ecosystems which have the diversity, stability & resilience of natural ecosystems. The core of permaculture has always been in supplying a design toolkit for human habitation. It is these design principles, which have been developed from observing natural systems and indigenous knowledge systems, that can be applied to everything from gardens to livelihoods. Permaculture draws from an understanding of systems and therefore the focus is on beneficial relationships between elements for example groups of species that benefit each other e.g. a forest garden. Looking at the relationships between elements we can apply this thinking to elements within any system. Fracking and resistance to it, can be viewed as a system with all of the different actors - the companies, councils, local groups, websites and so forth and this design explores the relationships between them. Contamination of water as a result of various materials leaching out of fracked rocks into the fracking fluid. Of particular concern are toxic elements like arsenic that can be brought to the surface by this process.

How can design be applied to campaigns?

There is a growing amount of resources exploring permaculture designs application to non-land based design. I aim to contribute to this body of knowledge by exploring how by applying ecological principles local campaigns or resistance movements can be more effective (obtain more yields), save energy, time and resources and ultimately bring us into closer alignment of creating a permanent culture where humans are in sustainable relationship with their landbases.

Why this design?

In January 2012 a friend of mine involved in national campaign group, Frack Off, who organise around hydraulic fracturing, asked if I could help organise a public meeting for the Glastonbury date of their National Tour. Already engulfed in projects, I begrudgingly agreed and on the 18th February a public information evening took place in Glastonbury.

Integrate rather than segregate

Around 6 weeks later a second meeting was held with a smaller number of people to explore how we could build a campaign. In between this time period I had begun applying design thinking and had made contact with other Somerset groups also working on fracking in Frome & Keynsham. Within a small number of emails there was a consensus that we are stronger together and so the idea of Frack Free Somerset was born and that process is explored through this design.

What is Fracking?
Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) is a technique used to extract hydrocarbons trapped in certain types of rock. In particular the widespread use of fracking is being driven by the expansion in shale gas extraction.

* The quantity of water involved in the fracking process in a climate of drought, water resource pressures and the needs of the agricultural community in Somerset * Radioactive Contamination. Radioactive isotopes (such as radium-226) can also be leached out of rocks the fracking fluid passes through. Biological concentration of these materials up the food chain would be the largest concern. * Food supply contamination via contaminated water. * Fracking has also been linked with air pollution, due to the production of ozone and leaks of a variety of volatile chemicals. * Fracking has also been associated with earthquakes, most notoriously in the UK in Lancashire. * Fracking also demands an industrial landscape and an increase in traffic, the infrastructure of which has its own pollution consequences. *Fracking also extinguishes any opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a county or national level.

Why should we be concerned?

There is a substantial amount of evidence documenting the side effects of hydraulic fracturing, the majority of which are related to water contamination. The main causes of concern include: * Methane contamination of ground water. * The toxic chemicals (and their carcinogenic properties) used in the process.

What is shale gas?

Shale gas is natural gas that is trapped in impermeable shale rock, as opposed to more conventional natural gas deposits that are trapped below a layer of impermeable rock. Therefore simply drilling down to it is not enough and the rock must also be fractured in order to allow the gas to escape.

Moved to Action
I had already been semi-aware of fracking and its dangerous possibilities however, I was not aware however that it could happen on my doorstep, in the Mendip Hills of Somerset. As the Frack Off group showed the video Fracking Hell, and spoke passionately about fracking, all of my doubts abaout not having enough time to get involved flew out the window. As the prime directive of permaculture states, The only ethical decision is to take responsibility for our own existence and that of our children, as written by Bill Mollison in his designers manual. With an activity that threatens the water, soil and communities of Somerset, I feel applying design and taking responsibility to organise, is permaculture in action.

How does hydraulic fracturing work?

Hydraulic fracturing uses pressurised fluid to free trapped gas. Wells are drilled and the fracking fluid injected into them under high pressure to crack the rock. The fracking fluid consists of water, sand and a massive amount of chemicals. Millions of gallons of water (and hundreds of tons of chemicals) are used to frack a well.

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design

SURVEY
Overview
Any land based design would begin with a survey - that is gathering all of the site information, drawing a base map and interviewing users of the land to learn their needs and desires. For this non land-based design the survey process is just as important. Surveying work that I have undertaken has included: * Researching What is fracking? * Collating data relevant to Somerset * Researching the potential risks if fracking was actualised in Somerset * Undertaking a campaign design questionnaire * Researching resistance to fracking in general to look at patterns of effective organising and points of leverage

Gathering Information
The whole technological process of fracking was new to me understanding the technical language has been a challenge and communicating this to others even more so. Fortunately there are many useful resources developed by campaign groups and scientists concerned about fracking. In order to observe the potential points of intervention, it was necessary to illustrate the process. As is seen in the diagrams below which show how fracking itself works. The flow chart titled How the process works illustrates the steps to gain permission to frack in a UK context.

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design

SURVEY
Overview
After surveying and researching fracking as a process, the second survey task was to explore how fracking could affect Somerset. This involved: * Looking at the Petroleum Exploration and Development Licenses and which areas they cover in the county. * Contacting the local environment agency and talking to a local water consultant, who provided the map below showing areas of groundwater protection in Somerset. * Listening to the head of Bath & North East Somerset Council deliver a presentation about fracking and the risks to Bath. This allowed me to learn of the local economic importance of Bath to the South Wests regional economy and the ecological fragiliy of Baths hot springs, which themselves are a natural fracture. * Researching local geology to understand the fossil fuel interests in the county and also to help identify which areas may be most likely areas for planning applications in the near future. On the following page there is a map of the licenses covering Somerset. It is worth noting however that the next series of PEDL licenses due to be sold by the Government cover the whole of Somerset as well as Bristol and other parts of the South West. * A further research task was to look at the companies that wish to profit from these operations in Somerset.

Geology

0 1 2 3km

Making Bath & North East Somerset an even better place to live, work & visit

These include: - UK Methane own PEDL licenses 226, 227 and 228. This covers Keynsham, Midsomer Norton, Peasedown and Chew Magna. They are partnered with Adamo Energy, the UK branch of Eden Energy, an Australian multinational. - Fairfax Shelfco 320 Ltd own PEDL 225, covering Wells, Shepton Mallet and Bruton. This appears to be a front company for Reservoir Resources, who were bought out by American Energy Development (AED) in March.

Making Bath & North East Somerset an even better place to live, work & visit

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design

SURVEY
Overview For companies to be able to frack, three things need to be in place: 1. The Government needs to sell a PEDL license (Petroleum Exploration and Development License) to the company (s) wishing to frack. 2. The land needs to be leased by a public or private landowner. 3. The council have to award planning permission. In Somerset four PEDL licenses have already been granted, which can be seen in the map to the right. Towns they cover include: Keynsham, Whitchurch, Saltford, Chew Magna, Pensford, Marksbury, Clutton, West Harptree, Chewton Mendip, Midsomer Norton, Radstock, Shepton Mallet, Wells, Wookey, Pilton and Evercreech. This area also includes a large number of villages, farms and water catchments for several areas, including the city of Bristol.

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design

DESIGN QUESTIONNAIRE
Overview In land-based designs, a main element at the start of the process is the client interview. In order to gain information about fracking, I conducted a design questionnaire with National Group, Frack Off, who are one of the leading groups organising against fracking and extreme energy in the UK. Please note opinions expressed of an individual nature from the interviewee, which may not have group consensus are italicised. What do you want? What are your goals? To raise awareness of shale gas and all forms of extreme energy in the UK. To prevent the development of unconventional gas & all forms of extreme energy in the UK. This includes shale gas, coal bed methane (which both require fracking) and underground coal gasification. To stop these forms of energy from ever starting and to not continue testing in the UK. To use the imminent threat of unconventional gas development as a gateway to raising awareness about peak oil & the unsustainable nature of the global economic system. Who has the power to meet these demands? The fracking process needs three things to be in place - the Government needs to sell a PEDL license, the land needs to be leased by a public or private landowner, and thirdly the council have to award planning permission. Technically the Government has the power to not sell licenses, which are managed by the DECC and the Coal Authority manage the off shore assets. However this is extremely unlikely! The councils have the ability to reject planning permission in response to complaints from their constituents & for technical reasons. Examples of this being a successful tactic include: - Vale of Glamorgan where the local water company couldnt guarantee water wouldnt be totally safe (this is under appeal). - South Lanarkshire - Planning application rejected in response to hundreds of letters of complaint (this was just from concern of individuals, there was no organised letter writing local campaign).

Councils need to hear concern & dissent. They have a fear of not being re-elected and therefore at such large numbers it would be foolish for them to not listen to constituents. The Government also fears non re-election and local MPs may feel more vulnerable in areas where fracking is widely contested. Who do they need to hear it from? Councils - need to hear from constituents, but they also need to witness it kicking off all over the country, to understand the effects of local resistance. Companies - need to see it all e.g. local campaigns, direct actions. The idea of a coordinated, widespread and relentless campaign is intimidating. Investors also need to witness the picture of resistance, ideally in the mainstream media as it shits up investors & therefore the company. The Government do need to hear what voters think in their concern for re-election. They also have little idea about what fracking actually involves and therefore have to listen to information from contacts they trust e.g. boys club, industry leaders and so forth. How should we present ourselves to the public and powerholders? A well networked campaign of genuine grassroots resistance alongside a convinced mainstream media & activist network. We want to be portrayed as - a coming together of radical environmentalists & regular people who have their landbases threatened. Threatened vulnerable local people & powerful privileged people (e.g. activists) - we need both. Feel it is important to have identification as radical to inspire some radical activity. What resources do we have? Frack Off - popular website - email accounts - Fracking is a hot topic of interest. - Good skill bank: web developer, experienced organisers, research skills, public speakers, graphic design, DA skills, writing Financial - Capacity to access funding. - Now capacity to take donations via website.

Human resources: - 10ish in size. 4ish full timers. - Relatively experienced activists - US economist available - Independent energy consultant available - Inhouse web developer

Companies in themselves have the power to withdraw, this would only happen with concerted pressure from regular people. They can be challenged economically and psychologically. Water companies also have the power to not sell water resources to companies, however are torn between consumers and customers - fracking is a large potential customer, and this is a financial decision. What do they need to hear? Companies will need to hear and witness widespread local resistance. However this can often mean that as an activity, fracking will be re-located to where it is tactically advantageous (areas with little resistance or local resources). Therefore companies will need to either be stopped by legislation or be driven out of business/ understand it is not a financially beneficial descision to frack. Examples of these include: Economic pressure - Lock the Gate campaign in Austraila, have a large grassroots campaigns with regular blockades and the company have literally left. They were legally ready to go but physically prevented. - In Canada, resistance from local groups & indigenous peoples, with rolling regular blockades, effectively sent Shell packing. Economically, investors of companies would need to hear from their own kind that this was not a wise economic decision. This is a challenge when there are major spokespersons for the industry, for example Lord Browne. Legal pressure - France has outlawed fracking. However they do not have similar natural resources as the UK or the US and have a larger nuclear program. - Bulgaria has outlawed fracking for cultural reasons e.g. aesthetics, a different relationship to the land.

What resources do we have as a movement? * Opportunities for lots of local campaigns due to the vast area of land that fracking would cover - a massive amount of people who will be local & very near sites. * The UK used to have one of europes most visible environmental movements e.g. climate camp. * Radical organisers in the UK: - Have knowledge of effective ways to take action - Experience of using media - Passion - DA skills - General organising abilities * Local people - All groups will have different resources & skills e.g. some with masses of campaign experience, others with none - Will be connected to effected community What are our weaknesses that we need to strengthen? What are our limiting factors? Frack Off - Main limiting factors are time & energy which involve: - Feeling of time & energy being wasted - Lack of space to pause & reflect about this energy usage - Not having fully formed discussions about where time & energy goes - Group communication & personality clashes which may lead to bad decisions about where to put energy e.g. teach in event

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design

DESIGN QUESTIONNAIRE
What are our weaknesses that we need to strengthen? What are our limiting factors? Cont. - Doesnt feel like the man hours are available to escalate the campaign e.g. not enough people for each job in terms of fulfilling ambitions - For example opportunities are presented constantly which cannot be fulfilled due to people based limitations e.g. organising events, speaking requests, participating in actions *Radical organisers - Not enough of them! Many people are already embedded in lots of other campaigns. Many are yet to be convinced that fracking is a campaign worth committing some time to. There have not yet been many sexy opportunities to not get stuck in e.g. blockades, DAs - Many are still not aware of fracking & its potential affects *Local people - May have other commitments e.g. work, family - May not have campaigning experience - May fear contestation as controversial issues could threaten existing relationships within community e.g. loosing their own privilege, local reputations, positions of power & the need to be neutral and so forth - Many are starting from scratch in building local networks & groups - Group processes e.g. communication, decision making - Lack of support e.g. from other groups, financially - Majority of people dont know what fracking/extreme energy is. What is your niche? What role do you play that others cannot or will not? We exist in peoples minds as a national group with all knowledge/information. However in reality we are not actually a national group. We are the best known anti-fracking group and are currently the only people talking about extreme energy in UK. What is your role in movement building (the wider ecosystem)? One of our main aims is to catalyse local group formation & support them to the point in which they can be sustainable & autonomous. Tangibly this commonly means supporting a local to do a public meeting & support the setting up of a DIY local group.

How can we tell if the campaign & our efforts are working? How can we evaluate and measure our progress? Some tangible methods of measurement could include: - Volume of autonomous local groups. - Column inches/press coverage. - People taking action outside of our knowledge of it escalation of independent organising. - Number of planning applications stopped. - Internally with Frack Off - increase in requests for information, opportunities and so forth, number of hits on website. General escalation of workload. What are the strategic points of intervention to prevent fracking? Economic: Aside from the intervention points with influencing the Government and local councils, as explored above, economic affects could disable companies to frack in the UK. This economic pressure could only come from regular people taking action. The companies involved in fracking are tiny, they dont actually make any money and are using investment capital. They are burning out investment cash with the aim that would like to be bought out by bigger companies (patterns of capitalism). This was the same as with Biofuels - they were tiny start ups formed solely for purpose for going after brand new market. It would be possible to run them out of business - costing so much cash that they cant continue. Quadrilla are burning money to prove theyve got a useable resource. Psychological tactics could be used to influence foreign investors. What are the resources fracking companies need to frack? - Drilling rigs - there are not the drilling rigs available for this process in the UK (only one company makes drilling rigs) - Other resources needed include: the chemicals in the fracking fluid, water, sand, trucks, diesel, generators - Everything needs to be run from generators on site - Pipelines will need to be in place - Drilling pads - made by Fox company - Pads need to be turned into raised flat aggregate Logistics - All materials need to be trucked in. - Nearly all work will be subcontracted (needs further research to confirm)

Following the design questionnaire, the interview then returned to the first question - what are your aims? We then decided to use the Four Action learning Questions to help clarify the strategy of frack off & its relevance to local anti-fracking campaigns. What has been going well? - We have been producing high quality research & commentary pieces - Local groups are launching all over & we are supporting them - People know we exist - We are more in tune with situation on the ground in the UK - There is lots of energy for taking things forward - Got a good infrastructure in place - Funding opportunities are in the pipeline What has been challenging? - Making new resources for each event/things are being lost e.g. flyers, printing - Presentation material isnt stored in accessible place, having to re-do work - Basic stuff can be hard to find - To sustain intensity of campaigning that we started off with - Would like to have done more stuff e.g. on the ground actions What are your long term goals & visions? For this question, Frack Off returned to some original strategy documents which were formulated at the beginning of the campaign: Four overarching general aims: - To disrupt and dismantle power structures - To empower & equip communities to create a society without exploitation - To halt the destruction of the natural world - Something about consciousness, responsibility & changing the system in your head They identified five strategy areas and a short term (ST), medium term (MT) and long term (LT) for each area. 1. Building groups: ST = to catalyse the formation of local groups. MT = to support & train those groups. LT= to provide those groups with the skills to be sustainable & autonomous 2. Awareness raising: ST = just about fracking. MT = extreme energy. LT = total system

3. Building resistance: ST = to expose those responsible. MT = to disrupt . LT = dismantle 4. Alternatives: ST = To promote alternatives. MT = try alternatives. LT = build alternatives 5. Fostering communication: ST = research. MT = critique. LT = inspire It was clear that while these were inspiring aims, they are not completely clear, explicit or tangible, so we set a 12 month time frame. We aimed to create them as SMART targets (Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timed). What are goals & visions for the next 12 months (by May 2013)? - To have at least 5 active local groups in Scotland. - To have over 20 local groups in England & Wales. - To have 10 groups in Ireland. These group would have established working groups, websites, meet regularly and would be self organising. - To have had at least two major days of simultaneous nationwide action. - To have a permanent base in Lancashire by end of the Summer. - To have a UK focused film on unconventional gas. - To have established a regular funding stream. - To have undertaken another nationwide tour. - To have led a selection of local group training. What are your next achievable steps? To have a permanent base in Lancashire by end of the Summer: Have a group discussion ASAP. Talk to people in Lancashire ASAP. Write grant application To have had at least two major days of simultaneous nationwide action: Research number of groups needed to make day a success. Set a date (ideally before end of September). Local group training & support: Organise second tour Email all local groups to offer support. Assign members of Frack Off to each group & define responsibilities of this role. Process information from previous informal survey. Liase with Frack free somerset with when you are free to do presentation training To have a UK focused film on unconventional gas: Establish as a group what is wanted from a film. Complete grant application. Source filmmakers

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design

DESIGN QUESTIONNAIRE
Task or Area Website Spiral of Erosion/ Energy drainer/ Task *Takes a lot of time *Main challenge is updating content e.g blog posts, planning applications, calendar of local events, resources *Nearly all emails go to one address, large amount of time is spent processing them, generally falling on shoulders of one person!

This part of the design questionnaire focused on spirals erosion in the campaign and potential interventions which could be elements transferred & applied to other groups. Potential points of intervention & other suggestions *Asking local groups to send news items *Creating a facility where local groups could update the website themselves *Assigning more people, including new people, to take role of web content support Ideal situation: *To be able to forward/delegate all emails to different spokes taking responsibility for different areas *Send research items to the brain, who ideally would have a support team to help process volume of material *media@ address could go to a rotated media responder. Training could be developed for those less confident. A crib sheet could also be developed. *Stock replies can be bookmarked & use when needed to reduce repitition/save energy. *Separate address for speaker requests & someone responsible for managing this diary & liaison. *A local groups address book could allow fast send out of materials e.g. responses to media articles, which local groups could then utilise/put on their own website *It would be useful for all members of the team to have confidence and skills to manage info@ account. A crib sheet could be put together. *Different members of the core group could be responsible for a local group or region & these emails could then be delegated. *Each member of the core group could be responsible for a local group or region to make workload more manageable & effective. *A structure needs to be defined so that people are clear of roles & responsibilities. *Potential support for local groups could include = Really basic how to guide of how to set up an online presences, pre-arranged facilitation training for first meetings, list of contacts for all existing local groups, list of sympathetic funding bodies, DA training, basic photoshop/graphic design training & a how to guide for building a campaign. *Every meeting needs to have: a clear start & end time, a commitment to focus & professionalism e.g. no PCs/distractions, an agenda or aims for the meeting (even if extremely short), minutes taken which list SMART action points & who is responsible. *A potential chaser role could be introduced whose role is to make sure those who have committed have undertaken actions & delegate them to someone else or offer support if not so. They will need to be tactful & liked by the group.

Email management

Local groups

*FO feel they are not supporting local groups as effectively as they would like to be, generally due to lack of people/ time & energy.

Meetings

Research

Public speaking/ Giving presentations

Graphic design & publications

*There are generally 3 per week. *One general meeting once a week with others focused on specific things e.g. funding, planning *Meetings go badly normally and some potential reasons for this that have surfaced include: - lack of professionalism, ack of agenda (an agenda is done for the general meeting), blurry start & end times, minutes not always taken effectively especially related to action points & who has taken responsibility for actions. *One of the main group tasks is keeping up to date with planning applications & their statuses as well as licenses & other research data being released - This is managed with intense human hours as well as a scraper which is a computer developed tool to search online - Most of this work currently falls on one person who is under a lot of pressure *Feel like bare minimum of events are being supported due to lack of people/travel times/workload *Not everybody is confident doing presentations because of technical queries & public speaking confidence *Graphic design for leaflets of events is generally on an event by event basis, and often re-done each time because original templates cannot be found. Are one of the healthiest areas of organising. This is attributed to them being more interesting, physically interactive and they also have a deadline imposed.

*Could any of this work be outsourced or shared with others? *Could more development time be set to develop tool to monitor application process automatically

*A teach-in is planned to support new people to give presentations. *Local groups could be trained & supported to do their own presentations, reducing Frack Offs workload & being more effective locally

*Time could be dedicated to creating an easily accessible gallery of leaflets & designs that can be tweaked simply and used again, reducing the workload *More work can be delegated to graphic design volunteer
*Deadlines could be applied to other areas of the campaign. *Some of the above interventions could be undertaken for an event e.g. local groups training which would motivate those involved to do the background work for the event. There would then be more of a yield and the work would be more likely to be followed through.

Events

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design

LOCAL GROUPS SURVEY

The Vale Says No! REAF

As part of the survey stage of designing the campaign, I created a local groups survey that was emailed to local groups. Three groups answered and their comments are below. These helped to shape Frack Free Somerset by helping us to identify common patterns in local group organising and what could potentially support us to be more effective.

Transition Keynsham

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design

LOCAL GROUPS SURVEY

Overview Another aspect of the survey process in the campaign design has been to observe other groups and the strategies they employ, especially if successful. Below is a table of local groups campaigning against fracking (observed during May 2012) with notes on their tools and resources that are visible e.g. websites, email lists as well as notes on their approaches and tactics, in so far as the ones they promote on their websites or literature. This has been a particularly inspiring part of the survey process, witnessing community resistance across the country. Group Name Ribble Estuary Against Fracking Location West Lancashire Website http://reaf.org.uk Tools & Resources Website. Local support (diverse groups). Meetings every 2 weeks. Approaches & Tactics Our main aim is to raise awareness and facilitate access to information as well as encouraging people to lobby their councillors and MPs. Petitions, object to planning application, contact MP, FOI request, phone calls, leaflets, WOM, mailing list, electricity suppliers, donate.

Vale Says No

Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales East Kent Sussex

http://thevalesaysno.com/

Website. Twitter. Mailing list. Donations section. Facebook. Facebook. Website. Email newsletter. Pictures with detailed stats e.g. 16,000 gallons of hydrochloric acid scheduled for Balcombe Website, facebook Facebook. Facebook. Meetings. Facebook. Different Irish groups. Website (V. professional). Twitter. Mailing list.

Lobbying against planning application (was successful, but could be overturned) Facebook. Public meetings / film showings. Write to MPs, objection letters. Flyers to spread.

No fracking in East Kent Frack Free Sussex

http://www.facebook.com/ EastKentAgainstFracking Frack-Free-Sussex facebook http://gasdrillinginbalcombe. wordpress.com/

Lingfield Anti fracking N.E Wales Anti Fracking Network Fracked Swansea No Fracking Ireland Residents Action on Fylde Fracking

Surrey Wrexham, Wales South Wales Ireland Lancashire

http://nofrackinginlingfield .webs.com/ http://www.facebook.com/ NEWAFAN https://www.facebook.com/ FrackedSwansea http://www.facebook.com/TransitionRegions http://stopfyldefracking.org.uk

Letters of objection, FOI, direct action, petitions Film showings, letters, Letters of objection Petitions. Letters. Petitions. Letters. Is a post-fracking campaign (fracking started without community knowledge) hence residents reports. Actions: write to DECC, petition, councilors, MPs, meetings, press work. Write to councillors & politicians. Film showings, media work. Byline We stand to loose more than we could ever gain.

Not for Shale

Ireland

http://www.notforshale.com

Website.

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design

DESIGN ANALYSIS
Resources Audit

Overview During the first Frack Free Somerset Coalition meeting in May 2012, the facilitators supported the group to map our skills and resources. Below is a snapshot of the mind maps created collectively on that day. We had each come as part of a local group and therefore had access to diverse contacts and networks. Working as a Coalition clearly extended our edges of outreach. The skills of the room were also surveyed and it was clear from the start that this would be a well equipped campaign with the diverse skills and experiences we could contribute as individuals.

Skills Audit

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design

DESIGN ANALYSIS
Overview XXXXXXX

Spectrum of Allies Analysis

Coalition map?

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design

APPLYING PERMACULTURE PRINCIPLES & ETHICS

Overview The aim of this section is to use co-founder of permaculture, David Holmgrens developed principles of permaculture as an exercise to evaluate how we can apply these strategies to campaigning & resistance work. Key resources used include David Holmgrens Book, Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability. successful (and unsuccessful) groups and movements - ultimately ensuring lessons have been learnt and that people are re-designing their approaches as a result.

In relationship to community organising, there are also clear entropic systems in society e.g. poverty, wasting talent, loosing social and economic resources to the few, wage slavery and so forth that permaculture practitioners can recognise and seek to remediate through effective design.

When people think a group or movement is being effective aka obtaining a yield, these systems will spread (radical analysis may add that ineffective systems may also spread when perceived as being effective, without actually obtaining necessary yields), therefore how we obtain a yield is important. At the beginning of the campaign design process it may be worth deciding as a group what a yield is to the group and how it can be measured.

Catch & Store Energy The proverb make hay while the sun shines reminds us that we have limited time to catch & store energy before seasonal or episodic abundance dissipates (Holmgren). This could also be translated to resistance work. We often have little time to get infrastructure in place, particularly when building defensive campaigns and so making the most of energy & resources while we have them is really important. We may have short time frames in which to act in time, or have sudden abundance (like a large group of people available for an action) and therefore need to capitalise on these opportunities. For anyone who has been involved in high-pressured campaigns or social movements, there are clear cyclical energy highs and lows. How we catch energy in the sense of how we save energy in our organising approaches depends on how strategic we are e.g. how effective our design and implemented system is. Being strategic means we can save wasted time and energy e.g. knowing what is effective in achieving our aims can reduce energy expenditure in certain areas and save it for other areas of work. Catch & store energy also relates to personal energy and burnout for individuals within campaigns and movements. The infamous 80/20 rule could be applied - what do we do thats most effective with our lives or within a movement context? Is it the scientific research or the weekly street stalls? The 80/20 rule implies that 20% of our effort tends to lead to 80% of our results. It is an interesting analysis. Organisers can also recognise flows of energy moving through our systems that we can capture - for example people, who could be valued and become very useful if recognised, donations, contacts and support for example. Catch and store solidarity may be a better phrase! Obtain a Yield

Observe & Interact Observation before action is the main premise. Campaign groups are incredibly action-orientated and therefore this principle plays a role in reminding groups about the need for observation before careful interaction - hopefully encouraging more time spent on deeper design thinking around campaigns strategies before diving into action - to save time, wasted energy and even potential harm. This principle can be integrated into every aspect of campaigning and resistance work. For example: *Outreach - who are we trying to reach or influence? We need to become familiar with the culture of our target groups, whether thats conservative local councillors or young people, taking time to observe will impact on our campaign design decisions. *Strategy - observing accurately who our target is, that is which company, institution or individual powerholders are in the position to meet demands of the campaign. *Group systems - we also need to observe power relationships in our own group systems, for example are we perpetuating oppressive practices e.g. racism, sexism, gender imbalances and so forth. How well are we functioning as a group? Through use of careful observation & thoughtful interaction we can make more effective use of human capabilities and hopefully function better. *Learning - This principle could also be seen as part of the action learning cycle, for example taking time in campaigns for reading, critique, analysis, observing

This is a clear one - be effective! Obtaining a yield means getting results, and if we are not obtaining yields, why are we investing energy and how can we re-design to ensure we do? David Holmgren emphasises that we should design to provide for self-reliance at all levels. How is our organising working for self reliance? Even when doing defensive work (such as campaigns against fracking) how are we working for alternatives that build self reliance and community autonomy? In the book Winds from Below. Radical community organising to make a revolution possible, by the Team Colours Collective, the emphasis is on building movements that are self-reproducing. This is not only a political project, this is a project for existence How can we use resistance work to support existence? In the fracking campaign, functions have been stacked so that the campaign also promotes positive energy solutions that can genuinely meet community needs for example. David Holmgren also highlights that, Systems that most effectively obtain a yield, and use it most effectively to meet the needs of survival, tend to prevail over alternatives Ultimately, successful systems spread. Ever wondered why groups that are super active (even if being perceived so) explode and spread e.g. occupy, the transition movement, breeder campaigns in the animal rights movement in the early nineties.

Apply self-regulation & Accept Feedback If there is one thing campaigns and movements should generally be aware of, its adapting to feedback - this tends to be a constant process whether its feedback from the general public, internal feedback, police and state repression, media coverage - all of these are feedback measures. However accepting feedback and using it as a tool for becoming more effective may not always be consciously practiced. This principle highlights the need for campaigns and movements to get into the habit of regularly reviewing our progress and strategic organisational processes. This is inherent to the design cycle e.g. evaluating biweekly or monthly can be effective. On a personal level and people care point of view, this can also be about being aware of burn out and accepting our bodies feedback when what we are engaged in is becoming unhealthy or harmful to ourselves. Being welcome to feedback - from others, from people within groups, recognising ideas of people newly involved are all important, how we remain open to feedback can be a key factor in growth or stagnation in strategy. On a movement level feedback can very seriously be about government repression, having this awareness at the start of campaign about what feedback could be likely and how we can be resilient in the face of it would be a very practical application of this principle.

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design

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Apply self-regulation & Accept Feedback continued By thinking about feedback from targets we can be more adequately prepared, what are we challenging? What power or influence to the people we oppose have e.g. mining companies. Repression of effective movements is never a surprise - we can design for this getting solid repression, self-care and prisoner support infrastructure in place. In terms of creating self-regulating systems, in groups we can design our systems to reduce the work involved in corrective management e.g. having adaptable leaflet templates, good record keeping systems, functional administration and so forth. This principle also emphasises the need need to increase self reliance of all players to make a more self reliant system e.g. having effective local groups all over the place rather than just a strong central one. This is one of the reasons investing in local group infrastructure can be so effective. Grants are generally a non-renewable source of income, usually one-off or short term, whereas building your movement or supporter base is hopefully renewable! The parable of let nature take its course as attributed to this principle by David Holmgrn may also bring humbling realisations and re-emphasise that total control of nature is not possible or desirable, neither is total control of movements - they are systems with their own unintended effects.

What are we wasting within our cultures and movements? Where is the wasted potential or under-utilised groups of people? Another proverb of this principle is a stitch in time saves nine - how can we intervene before its too late? In resistance and community organising work the stitch is what is often most effective what can we do that really saves more spirals of erosion? On a smaller level than this, a stitch in time may mean spending the time and energy sorting out internal conflicts & strategy so that we can effectively save time and energy being lost e.g. preventing burn out or group dispersal through effective dialogue & facilitation.

Anarchists need to build relationships with non-radicals for example and we all need to avoid the ghettoisation of radical ideas into subcultures. Valuing diversity also means adopting diverse approaches when working with different groups of people, and framing issues differently for different audiences. The one size fits all is never used by corporate marketers, why should we only stay with one approach? Diversity is also clearly about actual diversity in our human cultures, about embracing multiculturalism and resisting fascism or nationalist tendencies. We can resist the dominant paradigms of racism, sexism, homophobia, able-bodiedness and so forth. Recognising lesbian/gay/bisexual/ transgender/transsexual and queer struggle is also a part of people care and as such discrimination or violence needs to be challenged. In designing systems, whether they are small community gardens or major international networks, recognising diversity at every stage should be an explicit part of the design process.

Produce no waste Waste could mean several things in respect to resistance organising. Waste can mean being ineffective. How are we wasting time/energy/money? Waste could be anything from money and donations to actual materials we use to organise e.g. large print runs of leaflets that soon go out of date. Burnout of individuals also involves producing waste - loosing valuable people and their inputs. Waste could be seen as pollution, which in this case may be causing harm, what is harmful and what is not is obviously contentious. Waste can also be about wasting time on ineffective or unproductive projects (because our funders dictate them and so forth) or because cultural pressures disallow feedback to say this isnt working e.g. this is how its always been done. Another aspect of this principle is seeing wastes as resources e.g. mass unemployment could lead to unprecedented working class resistance, something as awful as fracking may threaten our landbases but may also trigger a widespread revival of energy/climate change concern and ecological resistance. How we turn problems into solutions will be the down to the skills of community organisers and permaculture practitioners.

Use & Value Diversity For many involved in resistance work, this principle could be the most beneficial in helping placate that only one solution mindset. Seeing diversity as a strength suddenly makes movements for social justice and ecological regeneration seem really quite resilient. Strategic movements need diverse organisations, a diversity of actions and approaches, whether its direct action or letter writing. We can all occupy niches of a functional movement ecosystem. Part of this is also recognising the the personal is the political, raising children, growing, farming and so forth are all exercises in politics and we need this diversity to function well! This principle can also invite us to commit to working with others better, whether its other movements or diversifying our own movements.

Use & value Renewable Resources & Services In jujitsu, opponents power is used against them. While this may seem different to using solar power, it is actually a simple principle - we are being strategic with our energy use. By using the power holders power against them we are effectively being energy efficient! Minimum input for maximum output. Humans are essentially renewable resources - the energy drivers behind campaigns and movements they should be honoured and supported. Non renewable organising is when we take and take and take, treating people and their time like they are dispensable. In terms of economic resources of groups and movements, this can be one element that lacks resilience. For example the not for profit industrial complex used to describe the myriad of not-for-profits, that have their advantages and disadvantages, funding is often the key limiting factor.

Design from patterns to details This principle may be about looking at the bigger picture in all of our settings. We can bring analysis and awareness of wider political patterns on the macro level to the micro level, whether that is talking about food sovereignty in a local community garden or looking at extreme energy in a local campaign against fracking. This principle can also act as a way of evaluating our projects and placing them in this bigger picture e.g. Where do we fit in a wider context? What is the pattern of our movements? Are we being effective? In comparison to the many group meetings that focus on the details of projects often without zooming out.

Bill Mollison defined a pollutant as an output of any system component that is not being used productively by any other component of the system.

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design

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Design from patterns to details continued When we think about patterns its also useful to think of bioregional and demographic-specific approaches e.g. in a super conservative area, pitching a radical anarchist organisation may not be as skilful as starting a local green group, which then builds radicalism. By looking at all the local patterns we can more skilfully use place elements to create workable systems. Recognising patterns is also a core part of anti-oppression work - unlearning oppressive attitudes inherited from growing up in a matrix of patriarchical oppressions (sexism, racism, speciesm and so forth). Recognising patterns is also fundamentally about acknowledging relationships. We can build our collectivity on co-operative and symbiotic relationships. Design from patterns to details This principle may be about looking at the bigger picture in all of our settings. We can bring analysis and awareness of wider political patterns on the macro level to the micro level, whether that is talking about food sovereignty in a local community garden or looking at extreme energy in a local campaign against fracking. This principle can also act as a way of evaluating our projects and placing them in this bigger picture e.g. Where do we fit in a wider context? What is the pattern of our movements? Are we being effective? In comparison to the many group meetings that focus on the details of projects often without zooming out.

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design

DESIGN DECISIONS

Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design