Right now, we’re living through a time of crisis. All around us, climate breakdown is unfolding and its effects can’t be ignored any longer. At the same time, the Coronavirus pandemic has destroyed the lives and livelihoods of millions, and laid bare the shocking scale of inequality and poverty in our society.

After this pandemic, we can’t just go back to the way things were – we need real action from our government for a safe climate and for the health and wellbeing of us all.

The Green New Deal is a national action plan to tackle the climate crisis and transform our broken economy.

We’re campaigning for government action to rapidly cut our emissions and fight climate change, create millions of secure and well-paid jobs, build better public services, and to tackle the rampant inequality we see in our country.

But we can’t just wait for politicians to give us the Green New Deal by themselves – the kind of change we’re calling for needs people to stand up and fight for it – that’s where you come in.

This decade is a fork in the road for humanity. We’ve been following one path for decades, guided by rules written by people who do not have our interests at heart – CEOs, politicians, and the elite defending their own wealth and power.

To survive, we have to forge a new path for our economy to protect and build the things people really care about: things like health, fairness and community.

To win this fight, we need everyone. We need people who care about and know their communities inside out.

The Green New Deal Rising programme will connect you with people in your area who feel the same way you do: that things have got to change.

Through the training weekends you will learn how to run your own campaigns, how to use your power with others to organise for better jobs and a livable future. You’ll learn about planning a campaign, using digital tools to organise,

Through the larger network you’ll have the support to start leading the fight for a Green New Deal and play a vital role in shaping the future of what happens to your community.

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed the inequalities which have been there for years. The places we’ve chosen to focus our funding and resources for this programme are areas where there is a sharper need for the Green New Deal, and where there has been a lack of investment in programmes like this before.

Yes! We are interested in hearing from people with a variety of experiences. If you are involved in your community, and the idea of the Green New Deal excites you, we want to hear from you.

We are focusing our efforts on these areas for this round of the programme, but if you live nearby one of these places you can still apply. For instance, if you live outside Newport but you work there, you should still apply.

And don’t worry – this specific programme might not be running near you right now, but there are loads of other ways (and plenty of support) to get skilled up and involved in Green New Deal campaigning where you are. There are campaign ‘hubs’ across the UK, and an active network of organisers and support systems to tap into – join a Welcome call, a Day of Action, Organiser training and register to join or set up a hub and get campaigning.

We have set the age limit at 18 because we are looking for young adults who have the capacity to drive campaigns in their area, but we know that many incredible campaigners are younger than 18. If you are 16 or over and think this programme is perfect for you, please drop an email to [email protected] and we can discuss your situation.

Over the course of six months the main time commitment will be to attend two weekend long training sessions with the whole cohort from across the UK. The first will be in May and take place online, and the second will take place in September, and hopefully be in person.

Other than that – you will be supported to organise with the other leaders in your area which will involve meetings and actions on a monthly basis. Meeting with those leaders may take place online or offline, and will be flexible based on your schedule.

Because some of the training will be online you will need an internet connection and laptop/tablet or phone to connect to use Zoom. If you don’t have access to these things, we can support you to get them – please apply anyway and we will make sure this isn’t a barrier.

We believe in the power of young people to drive change, and we’ve seen how youth-led movements can transform what’s possible. Although the Green New Deal is an intergenerational movement, this programme is specifically designed for young people to increase their skills, confidence and power within the movement.

Yes! Green New Deal Rising is a fully funded programme, no-one is expected to pay to participate.

We also have money available for all and any participants to cover anything you need to be able to participate. This includes:
Travel costs to any in-person events or meetings (e.g. train tickets or petrol costs)
Food and drink at any in-person events or meetings (including during your travel)
Childcare costs during meetings and events (including either covering costs of paid childcare, or funding an existing carer)
Phone credit, data and/or wifi packages to use for online meetings
Software for digital accessibility (e.g. screen reader software)
All of these expenses can either be refunded to you after you have paid and shown a receipt, or paid for up front by us (e.g. we buy a train ticket and send it to you) – whichever is easiest.
If there are things not covered here that you need to be able to participate, let us know and we will work to try and arrange something.