Connect with your community and make a change
Connect with your community.
Make a difference with your local politicianCommunity events are powerful tools for starting or continuing local democratic engagement and raising awareness on climate change and nature in your area.
Your event can have even more of an impact if you invite your local politician along, to show them how much your community cares about action for climate and nature, enabling them to take issues forward into parliament, or the council chambers for example.
We provide four free downloadable resources which provide you with a step-by-step guide to putting on an event to make an impact on your local politician(s) and wider community.
Events are an opportunity for a diverse mix of local people to share their experiences, showing our local politicians that people are calling for action. This should encourage them to raise these issues with key decision makers, and gives them agency to take action where they may have felt before there is little constituency support.
Some types of event may make a good opportunity to publicly request something of your local politician that will benefit your community. Our resources cover how best to go about this, and when this may be appropriate.
Having your local politician at your event may help you get in the local press, allowing you to raise the profile of your event and, hopefully increasing overall awareness.
Often local politicians are keen to get involved in local events because it shows they are working for local people in their community.
Why plan an event with your local politician?
Why engage your local politician through a local constituency event?
Building your event on common ground
What does an event provide that a meeting doesn’t?
So, is it worthwhile?
Assemble your planning team
Identify the purpose of your event - How are you hoping to influence your local politician?
Audience - What do you want your attendees to take away?
Shaping the discussion and selecting your external speakers
Hosting your event - Online or Offline?
What does success look like for your event?
Why plan an event with your local politician?
What type of role should your local politician take?
Drafting your invitation
Promoting your event
Following up with your attendees
Monitoring and Evaluation
Following up with your local politician
Support from HFTF