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Final Project – Creating an Activism Campaign or Social Movement

As the final assignment for this course, the goal of this assignment is for you to apply what you’ve learned to create your own activism campaign or social movement. You will also use the Youth Activist Toolkitas a guide.

You can complete this assignment individually or in a group of 4 people maximum. If you are completing the assignment in a group, there is an additional Group Work Reflection & Peer Evaluation Worksheet each group member must complete individually.

Where appropriate, answer the following questions in essay format. Please provide references and in-text citations when required. It is also encouraged to use charts, bullet points, and/or diagrams for some of these questions as you see fit.

Part 1: Selecting a Social Issue (2 pages) (30%)

Use pages 3 – 6 in the Youth Activist Toolkit to help you with this section.

1. Detailed Explanation of the Issue (1 page, 1-3 references)
2. Description of the social issue
3. Brief history of the social issue
4. Who does the social issue impact and how?
5. What other social issue(s) or systems of oppression are connected to this issue?
6. Provide evidence to provide insights on the issue (E.g., data or statistics, news, etc.)

• Rationale (1 page, 1-3 references)
• Why the issue is important to you / your group
• Provide evidence of if the issue is important to other people or to the community (E.g., news coverage, social media)
• If other people or organizations are working on the issue in any way

Part 2: Planning Your Campaign or Movement (3 – 4 pages) (50%)

Use pages 7 – 17 in the Youth Activist Toolkit to help you with this section.

• Solution & Objectives (1-2 pages, 1-3 references)
• What is 1 or more possible concrete solution(s) to the issue? (E.g., changing an organizational practice, changing a law, changing social attitudes and opinions, raising money, etc.)
• Explain how the solution(s) would address the issue
• How can the possible solution be implemented?
• What would need to change for the solution to be implement (E.g., laws, organizational policies, people’s behaviour and attitudes, etc.)?
• Create a set of 2 – 4 goals for your campaign or social movement
• What type of social change is this solution (from week 2/3)?
• Provide evidence of why the proposed solution(s) would be effective (E.g., results from another country, article suggesting the solutions, policy paper, etc.)

• Power Mapping & Stakeholder Identification (<1 page)
• Identify the key people involved in implementing the solution (E.g., government officials, leadership of an organization, etc.)
• Identify the key current or potential supporters (E.g., other organizations that work in the area, other similar campaigns/initiatives, other student groups, etc.)
• Identify any resources you have at your disposal to use (E.g., resources at Niagara College or in the community, specific skills or expertise of people involved, etc.)
• Is there any potential opposition? If yes, identify who/what and explain the potential opposition.

• Tactics (1 page, 1 – 3 references)
• Identify what tactic(s) your campaign or social movement will use (E.g., in-person demonstrations/protests, fundraising, online activism, art-ivism, consumer activism, or other forms of activism).
• Explain how you will use the tactic(s) to address the social issue.
• Provide a rationale with evidence for why the tactic(s) is ideal for this social issue and context (E.g., examples of how the tactic was used successfully by other campaigns).

Part 3: Creating Your Campaign or Movement (20%)

Use pages 17 – 28 in the Youth Activist Toolkit to help you with this section.

In this section, you will submit materials related to your campaign/movement and the tactics you decided to use. What materials you submit and how you submit them will depend on the tactics chosen and is up to your discretion. I would also suggest submitting a brief written explanation (1 page) explaining how the materials submitted relate to Part 1 and Part 2 if it is not self-evident. For example,  if you submit a piece of art-ivism, a brief interpretation of the piece may be beneficial.

If you have questions about what to create and/or submit, please email me.

Tactic	Examples of Materials You Can Submit
Art-ivism	Piece of original artwork – painting, photography, videography, music, poetry, etc.
In-Person Events (Demonstrations, Workshops, Protests, etc.)	Event itinerary and logistics, event plan/critical path, marketing plan and/or materials, etc.
Online Activism	Social media platforms and rationale, some social media content (posts, captions, hasghtags etc.), marketing plan and goals, etc.
Fundraising	Method(s) of fundraising, organization(s) donated to, marketing plan and/or materials, fundraising goals, etc.
Consumer activism	Plan for boycotting or boycotting, companies affected, marketing plan and/or materials
Other Forms of Activism	Writing letters to politicians or other public figures, other methods of raising awareness, etc.

Note: I will not be grading this section on technical skill or proficiency – it will be graded on how the materials submitted connect to the information provided in Parts 1 and 2 as well as the thoroughness of the materials submitted.