Since October 2021, The Good Lobby Climate Incubator has worked with a selected group of grassroots climate organisations to strengthen their organisational and advocacy capacities, connect them with other European counterparts, and provide them with the necessary skills, techniques and policy fluency to engage on climate issues at the EU level.
In partnership with the European Climate Foundation, the first edition of the Incubator brought together 10 promising and dynamic organizations represented by more than 20 motivated individuals from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Organizations strengthened their hard and soft skills, as well as their mindset and behaviors, to better pursue their advocacy work for diverse climate issues.
Throughout the ten sessions, participants learned from speakers about topics ranging from system thinking and stakeholder mapping, advocacy, and communications, to coalition building, volunteer management and legal capacity. A well-timed optional session on personal wellbeing also took place, as an in-depth look into self-motivation, eco-anxiety, climate depression, burnout, and motivating others.
In addition, each organization was paired with an expert mentor to support their growth and build on the knowledge and skills developed throughout the Incubator. They also took part in a Communication Lab to better hone their communication skills and to take advantage of TGL’s wide network.
During the final session last Friday, participants reflected on what they had learned, such as benefiting from practical exercises and models they can share with their teams, organizational development, high-level guest speakers, and ultimately a new network of like-minded advocates to stay in touch with.
The Good Lobby is pleased to announce that based on the success of this first cohort, a second round of the Climate Incubator will be held this year, with an open call for participants and further details to follow soon.
Thank you to all the participants who made this possible!
What our participants had to say
“The Good Lobby’s Incubator was a fantastic way of learning more about EU policy mechanisms and how to effectively engage with them! Each lesson built on our existing knowledge and allowed us to develop our individual skills and build capacity within our organization!”
“The Good Lobby Incubator offers an interesting methodology and participatory approach, which encourages co-creation. The idea is ambitious and I believe its impact will grow with the next editions!”
“ It’s a course that I would recommend to any organization who is trying to engage in the EU policymaking process!”
About the participants
Animal Rebellion is a mass movement that uses nonviolent civil disobedience to bring about a transition to a just and sustainable plant-based food system, to halt mass extinction, alleviate the worst effects of climate breakdown and ensure justice for animals.
Bulgarian Fund for Women works to mobilize local resources to develop a women’s movement and female philanthropy for social change in Bulgaria. The Fund works to advance girls’ and women’s rights, raise awareness of gender stereotypes and eliminate them, all forms of discrimination and gender-based violence, and achieve gender equality, including climate justice.
Ecogenia aspires to be a Greek national program providing employment and training opportunities for young people through a service year model. The vision is to promote sustainability through civic engagement, training, and employment opportunities.
Ecologistas en Acción is a confederation of more than 300 environmental groups and part of social environmentalism, which understands that environmental problems have their origin in an increasingly globalized production and consumption model. The organization carries out awareness campaigns and diverse activities to develop concrete and viable alternatives to the current social and economic model.
Energiaklub Climate Policy Institute aims to make energy producers, users, and political decision-makers regard energy in a different way with research, training courses, and wide-reaching communication. Rational use of our dwindling resources, an economy based on diverse local resources, a change in energy-wasting consumer habits are all part of the solutions which the organization supports through its work.
Estonian Green Movement is a non-governmental, non-profit environmental organization raising environmental awareness among the public and urging the government for environmentally friendly policy. Its activities are carried out in three 3 areas: environmental awareness, environmental policy, and nature conservation.
European Geosciences Union is a non-profit international union of scientists with about 18,000 members from all over the world and a leading organization for Earth, planetary, and space science research in Europe. With partner organizations worldwide, EGU fosters fundamental geoscience and applied research that addresses key societal and environmental challenges, to realize a sustainable and just future for humanity and for the planet.
Neoi Prasinoi (Νέοι Πράσινοι, Young Greens) is a non-partisan political youth organization in Greece, a member of the Federation of Young European Greens, consisting of ecologically and politically restless youngsters.
Rethinking Climate is a youth-led non-profit that opens conversations about complex and overlooked climate issues to make them more personal and accessible through interviews, engagement, and research. It was born from a consideration that there is currently a gap in sustainability communication and that it is not only the narrative about sustainability but how this is carried out.
Youth and Environment Europe is the largest independent European network of environmental youth organizations, uniting 52 member organizations coming from 30 countries. YEE’s goal is to mitigate the climate crisis by raising awareness and building capacity among youth on the climate crisis, enhancing international cooperation and knowledge-sharing, and strengthening the participation of youth in environmental and climate decision-making processes.