How did a grassroots movement in Serbia stop a global mining giant in the fight for environmental justice?

How can community power protect the environment and hold governments accountable?

We will delve into the five leadership practices of community organizing and public narrative practices developed by Marshall Ganz at the Harvard Kennedy School and his associates with examples from the ground.

For this session we are partnering with Marina Pavlic from Kreni-Promeni (Go Change), Serbia. Join us to discover the answers to the above questions through the inspiring campaign of the Serbian people’s fight against Rio Tinto. This campaign, bBorn out of the urgent need to protect Serbia’s land and people from environmental exploitation, Marina and her team started with 50 organizers. It and has now grown into a movement ofwith 700 organizers working in snowflake leadership teams and, 2,000 volunteers who , rallied over 100,000 people, and gathered 300,000 official signatures to expose the government’s corrupt deals with Rio Tinto and put and end to it.

This event will explore how Serbian activists from Kreni-Promeni (Go Change) organized a nationwide campaign to protect their land and water from destructive lithium mining by multinational corporation Rio Tinto. The campaign not only prevented the government from seizing private land but also defended citizens’ rights to civic initiatives—all while highlighting the broader fight for climate and environmental justice.

Get ready to apply what you’ll learn! We invite all participating organizers, leaders, and teams to deepen their skills by joining the Hubs Leader Training on February 8th, 2025, from 15:00-19:00 UTC. This session will give you practical tools to put your knowledge into action on the ground. Learn more and sign up here.

Register here and be part of the conversation on how organizing can shift power!

This popular 3-hour introductory session is a great opportunity for anyone involved in organizing, & campaigning & activism, civic engagement, leadership building, civil society spaces, and movement building.

If you are at the beginning of your organizing journey, this session provides an overview of the fundamentals of community organizing illustrated by concrete examples. 

For experienced organizers, this is a great refresher on the basics of organizing as well as an opportunity to deepen your understanding of the practices as you explore it through a real campaign case.

Either way, bring other members of your team, organization, volunteers, and community members to join you in learning together!

This is an interactive session that offers:

Introduction of the organizing fundamentals: A grasp of the five leadership practices of the community organizing framework: public narrative, relationship building, team structuring, strategizing, and mobilizing people to action.

Practical learning: See the leadership practices in action through real examples from an organizing campaign to stop harmful lithium mining in Serbia.

Connection with the community: Meet organizers and leaders from around the world who might be working on similar challenges or have a solution you’re looking for. Exchange experiences, gain insights, ask questions, and expand your network globally.

Introduction to LCN: Get to know LCN better! Receive an overview of the Leading Change Network and the different learning, relationship-building and coaching opportunities you can access.

For more information about this event please contact Salma at salma.sameh@leadingchangenetwork.org