Creating a Social Movement: 10 Key Elements

I’ve had the good fortune to work on five Grand Challenges – big, bold issues that attack socially intractable problems by bringing together alliances of organizations and activists.

Today, I share with you a framework that has been extremely important in the success of these Grand Challenges. Based on the work of Dr. Christina Economos and a research team she led in 2001 studying four movements where the United States flipped societal opinion 180 degrees:

1. Recycling
2. Breastfeeding
3. Seatbelt usage
4. Tobacco cessation

Through research, Dr. Economos and her team were able to identify ten key elements to creating a social movement. She then applied the results of this research to her efforts to address obesity in the school-aged children of Summerville, Massachusetts, and eventually on the national level as co-director of ChildObesity180.

The 10 Key Elements to Creating a Social Movement is a framework that has been used successfully in projects large and small. These critical elements are an excellent place to start for any initiative that relies on building a social movement.

Watch the video to learn more about the 3 phases and 10 Key Elements to Creating a Social Movembent:

• Framing and building the case
  1. Frame the crisis
  2. Science-based research
  3. Economics
• Gathering Allies
  4. Develop a plan
  5. Identifying Champions
  6. Coalition Building
  7. Government or policymaker involvement
• Implementing the plan
  8. Advocacy
  9. Mass communication
  10. Environment and policy change

   

Download the infographic here. 

Do you need help in your work as a change leader? Email me and schedule a time to discuss your Grand Challenge work.