ACT Advocacy Academy 2020

Become an expert in political dialogue, campaigning and media outreach, and learn about different policy themes! 

The ACT Advocacy Academy can be used as a stand-alone capacity building initiative, or as a supplement to face-to-face training and training activities arranged by ACT members.

There are two options for how to use the Academy

1. To browse the Academy website and benefit from online materials
   
2. Participate in the Academy program
   

The Academy website

• Capacity building opportunities about how to plan and implement advocacy, as well as thematic modules about sustainable development, humanitarian advocacy, climate justice, gender justice, migration, business and human rights and political space
  
• Offering on-demand lectures, webinar recordings, reports and training materials
  
• Available both online and offline, and on computer, tablets and smartphones
• Available in English and Spanish
  

The Academy program

• A program based on blended learning, where participants are trained in advocacy as a method, and one or several thematic policy themes
  
• Webinars, personal coaching, assignments and use of the online resources on the web page
  
• Possibilities to cooperate and interact with ACT members in other countries
  

Policy Themes

In addition to focusing on advocacy methods, the ACT Advocacy Academy covers the following thematic policy themes:

1. Climate Justice
2. Sustainable Development
3. Humanitarian Action
4. Gender Justice
5. Migration
6. Civic Space and Human Rights
7. Business and Human Rights

Practical information

The Academy Website is constantly online, and new materials will be added continuously. The website is free to access for all staff and volunteers in members of the ACT Alliance and the members of national and regional ecumenical bodies and councils of churches. Other users must be invited and pay a fee of 50EUR for one year of access. 

The first time the Academy website is visited, users must sign up. Depending on your organisation, you may already have access to fabo.org, where the ACT Advocacy Academy is hosted. If not, you will be asked to register before you can enter the website.    

The Academy Program will run from September 1st to December 9th 2020 and it will include webinars, assignments and personal coaching. The training will be directly linked to the work of the participants, and there will be good opportunities to learn and interact with other ACT Alliance Members.

Staff and volunteers from members in ACT Alliance and the members of national and regional ecumenical bodies and councils of churches can take part in the program for free. Participants from other organisations must be invited, and pay 450 EUR. This price includes access to the Academy Website.

Participation in the program is estimated to take between 40 and 60 hours overaææ with some more intensive periods than others. Between September 1 and 15 there will be approximately 12 hours of webinars, and then optional thematic webinars as well as coaching between October 1st and November 20th.  Graduation will take place on the 9th of December. Assignments given during the program will be closely linked to the ongoing work of participants, and part of the hours allocated for participation in the program may thus also be counted as ordinary work. A full schedule and details of assignments will be shared with participants upon acceptance to the Program in June 2020.

For further information or questions, contact the Academy Manager via act.academy@actalliance.org

The deadline for applications is June 15th. Applications include (1) demographic information, (2) an advocacy plan, and (3) support from your line manager. 

The Academy management team will select participants shortly after the deadline. Applicants will receive an answer by the end of June and there will be a waiting list until all available seats are confirmed.

(1) You can access the application form by clicking here or anywhere else that it is referred to on this page. 

(2) You will have the opportunity to upload your advocacy plan to supplement your application, if you have one.

(3) In the application form there is space to add the contact information of your line manager. This information must be included in the application as managerial support is critical for success.

In order to browse the ACT Advocacy Academy, you need to sign up with fabo.org. This is a web-based online learning portal, which has gathered different learning initiatives from ACT members. Sign up to fabo.org here. After signing up, you can start browsing the ACT Advocacy Academy here. Remember to subscribe by clicking on the "click here to subscribe" button in the top right corner.