REBELLION OF ONE

The Preparation Pathway

CONTENTS

Introduction

So you’re interested in participating in Rebellion of One?

This document is an opportunity to explore the work that we need to do within ourselves to be prepared to face this challenge. A pathway towards nonviolent composure, in the face of potentially unpredictable reactions from passersby. This action isn’t to be taken lightly - but neither is the climate catastrophe we face.

To prepare for this action, we are asking both Sitters and Support Teams to go through a series of activities to explore what it may feel like sitting in the road, alone. Although your pathway to preparation may be completely different to the next person, we ask that you take this work seriously and give yourself the opportunity to really explore what comes up.

This document has A LOT of information. Take it slow. Do it a step at a time. Don’t overwhelm yourself. This is meant to be a pathway, not a sprint - be patient, ask for support when you need it, and don’t feel like you have to achieve it all.

The people that choose to participate in Rebellion of One are following in the footsteps of some of the great nonviolent struggles in history. It is important that a sincere commitment to nonviolence is practised and prepared for by both the Sitter and the Support Team they will have with them on the day.

More information in the RO1 Action Briefing HERE

Check out the Trainings Calendar HERE

Sign up to do RO1 HERE

Join the RO1 Telegram group HERE

Email us for more information, support or to express concern at xr-rebellionofone@protonmail.com.

Step 1: So, where do I get started?

Firstly, identify whether you are a Sitter or a Support Team member.

A Sitter is the person participating in the action by sitting in the road.

The Support Team is made up of people working closely with the Sitter, who are there to support the person in the road emotionally and physically. This could be as de-escalators, arrest support, wellbeing,  photographers, you name it.

Both roles are extremely important, and require different types of preparation.

How to work through this document

We’ve organised the document into STEPS 1 - 10, which you can work through at your own pace. Don’t try to do it all at once! This is your journey, so you decide how long and how much you need to feel prepared to do this action.

You may not have time to do everything on this pathway, but we want everyone to feel the resources are available to them. If you are limited on time and have had more experience with NVDA and civil disobedience in the past, please prioritise the parts that are labeled necessary in your suggested pathway.

We have also scheduled weekly in-person Preparation Check-in sessions. These are to support your preparation for the action, provide a space to ask for help, share experiences and connect with other rebels preparing to take this action. They will also provide the opportunity to hear first hand from rebels who have been part of the RO1 trails in 2020. If you prefer to talk things over rather than read a document or reflect by yourself, this is the place for you. Join as many sessions as you wish! You can also contact your Rebellion of One Regional Hub for help - find it by emailing: xr-rebellionofone@protonmail.com.

Preparation Pathways

If you are a Sitter, here’s a suggested pathway:

If you are a member of a Support Team, here’s a suggested pathway:

And here’s how all these steps fit together:

Step 2: Building your support team

Although it is called Rebellion of One, this action is NOT intended to be done alone, nor should it be. This is a team effort: if you intend to be at the spearhead of it, put a team of around 6-8 people together to ensure these essential roles are covered - 

Roles overview

  • Sitter - at least one per RO1 team.
  • Team coordinator -  a motivated organiser, the team coordinator might take on setting up the Support Team meetings, making sure roles are covered and that rebels taking on roles can attend trainings required. They might also ensure any team chats are updated with relevant information from the RO1 Telegram broadcast channel, and look out for the team’s wellbeing.
  • Videographer / photographer - this role could be held by more than one person; the main task is shooting footage and images of the sitter’s action, for media content to publicise the action afterwards on social media.
  • De-escalator - while everyone in the team should be trained and briefed in Nonviolence, it is a good idea to have someone in the team whose primary role is keeping watch on the atmosphere of the action, and who will be the first to step in or sense if an intervention from the team is needed.
  • Witnessing Arrests - At least one person briefed and prepared to witness arrests - this could be someone who has previous experience of being a Legal Observer (LO) or who has attended a Witnessing Police Behaviour training. Notes after the action should be stored in case they are useful to a subsequent trial of any Sitters who are arrested.
  • Back office / Police Station Support - rebels who are trained and available to provide police station support in the local area if arrests happen during the action.
  • Optional additional Sitters - prepared to go into the road alone when the first is removed - team choice. Ro1 teams may want to finish the first action and then continue the next action after a short period of time in the same location or at a different pre-decided location nearby.

Building a support team

When building a support team, the rebels you know are a good place to start. If you are part of an Affinity Group, Local Group or Community Group, try reaching out and building from there. The RO1 team can also support linking Sitters and Support Team rebels: email us at xr-rebellionofone@protonmail.com to request help in finding your team.

If the rebels in a support team do not know each other prior to the team forming, ensure you are able to bond and build trust together by meeting regularly. We advise each support team to meet at least twice to connect together before the action. See the Support Team Meetings section for advice on structuring these sessions.

Step 3: Get Trained Up 

As part of this preparation, please check out the Trainings Calendar HERE, with:

  • links to the Briefings & Trainings mentioned throughout this document (more to be added!)
  • A suggested timeline for Support Team meetings, to ensure you can connect and prepare together for action.

Depending on your role in the Support Team, there may be some trainings that are more relevant to you. Training sessions available in March, April, and May for Sitters and their Support teams:

  • RO1 Action Briefing
  • RO1 Preparation Check Ins
  • Weekly session for anyone doing RO1 to share experiences, what they have learned, & gain support for preparation activities
  • Nonviolent Direct Action Training (NVDA)
  • Activist’s “101” training - what is NVDA, why civil disobedience, understanding your legal rights. Recommended if you are new to actions
  • RISECWUP Action & Arrest Preparation and Know Your Rights 
  • Particularly recommended if you have not previously risked arrest.
  • Understand how to engage with the police and be informed of your rights
  • 1-2-1 Breathe (Embedding Nonviolence)
  • A specific workshop for RO1 teams - embodied practice of nonviolence
  • Witnessing police behaviour 
  • For support group - how to witness arrest
  • Police station support

Step 4: Reflective Work 

Everyone taking part in this action - whether the Sitter, a replacement Sitter, or part of the Support Team - should take some time for personal reflection to best prepare for the emotional and physical reality of solo road-blocking; this section of the pathway provides guidance into this reflection.

For this, we invite considering the following questions:

  • Why am I doing this action?
  • Who could be affected or impacted by my action?
  • What impacts will my action have on those people on the day?
  • What is my reaction under pressure, in violent or stressful situations?
  • How far does my commitment to nonviolence go? Would I pursue charges against a member of the public who reacts violently?

PERSONAL REFLECTION EXERCISES

Understanding Nonviolence

Maintaining nonviolence throughout this action is key. The main risks to be aware of are:

  • that participants could be subject to verbal or physical violence;
  • that participants might themselves respond violently to provocation.

Practicing a state of Nonviolence can help you to meet a stressful situation with a state of mind, body, voice and approach to communication which is actively engaged, calm and responsive. This is different to “not-being-violent”, which is a passive state which in some instances could be as provoking as positive aggression. The Sitter and everyone on the Support Team need to be absolutely sure they will react with compassion and empathy, not violence. Being calm and collected will help to de-escalate the situation and keep the Sitter safe until the police arrive.

For more on this, please watch this “What is Nonviolence?” video from the Embedding Nonviolence team, and practice the exercise below:

What is nonviolence? [Exercise, 15 mins]

This spectrum diagram shows some different ways that non-violence can be enacted and understood; also highlighting the differences, not just between violent and nonviolent, but also between nonviolent and not-being-violent, which can be harder to recognise.

Think of times when you show or have shown up in a situation violently, in a not-being-violent way, or with nonviolence. How did it feel? What did you do? What did you say?

Grounding Practice

Having a grounding practice is a way to connect you quickly and easily to your deepest motivations and values; when the self-doubt slips in it is useful to have a fast track to this place of clarity. Even just a couple of minutes each day helps to make this a habit, making it easier to draw on when needed.

Below is an example from the RISECWUP training, which also has more suggestions. Find what works for you - it could even be as simple as noticing the sensation of breathing in your body.

Grounding practice example

  • Think of a safe green space that you know well or remember fondly, as you feel your feet and body connected to the ground, feel yourself touching that place, take a few deep breaths and as you breathe out feel yourself relaxing in to the ground and feel that the earth is supporting/cradling/ holding you.
  • As you breathe in and out know that each inbreath is a gift from the trees and green plants in this safe place, and as you breathe out you return nutrients and gifts back to the world. Each breath you are intricately supported and supporting the web of life
  • Imagine your loved ones, family, friends, children, broaden out and imagine the different people of the world all content and satisfied living harmoniously in this safe green space.
  • Take time to enrich this space with the values and motivations that you hold to be true.
  • Investing in this activity now means that in the future a simple grounding practice of feeling your feet on the floor and taking a few deep breaths can help return you to the truth from which your actions have grown, that gives you a feeling of calm clarity.

Why am I doing this action?

Reflect on your reasons for taking this action, both so that you are clear for yourself that you really want to do it, and so that you are able to communicate this with others.

Why am I doing this action? [Exercise, 20 minutes]

Sit with a friend, set a timer for 10 minutes, and have them ask you “Why are you doing this action?”

  1. Questioner: your role is just to ask the same question - not to react or respond to the answers.

Once an answer has been given, or if there’s a pause - ask the question again.

  1. Sitter: No judgments about your responses; all answers are welcome. The purpose is to discover all of the answers and increase your own awareness about your motivations so that you can be really honest with yourself. If one of your answers is “I want to look cool” - let it out!
  2. Questioner: After a while start to go deeper by reflecting some of the answers with a why, e.g. “Why are you doing this action?”

“Because I’m angry with the government”

“Why are you angry with the government?”

“Because they have let us down!” 

“Why do you feel they have let you down?” etc

  1. Sitter: At the end of the 10 minutes, reflect and share: Which things you said remain with you? What words stand out? What hits you in the gut, or in the heart?
  2. Questioner: Reflect to the sitter - when they were most alive or energised?

Any of points 4, 5 or 6 could produce a sentence or two that captures your reason for doing this action. Write this down - it will be useful material to inform your letter, your sign, interviews, and the action.

Thinking about Impacts

Everytime we engage in an act of disruptive civil disobedience, it is important to show up in our humility. Take some time to think through the impacts of this action on the other people you might come into contact with, and find balance of that with the urgency and need for action in the climate crisis we face.

Considering Impacts: [journaling exercise, 20-30 mins]

Set a timer - 20-30 mins

Sit and write, or talk through (by yourself or with a friend)

  1. Imagine yourself in the shoes of someone seeing or being affected by your action.

On the day, what impacts will your action have on:

  • The drivers/passengers of vehicles held up in the road block, or their families
  • People walking by who witness the action (and maybe witness an altercation if it occurs)
  • People seeing photos/videos on social media

  1. Privilege and responsibility

Although this action asks people to put themselves in a particularly vulnerable position, in the UK we are privileged to take action without risking the same potential for violent response or the same consequences of arrest for civil disobedience as activists in other parts of the world. It is also important to acknowledge that taking action resulting in violence and/or arrest poses a much higher risk to some people in the UK than it does to others.

  • Reflect on the privilege and responsibility we hold with this action, and therefore the greater importance of a commitment to nonviolence.

Making a Commitment To Nonviolence

Prepare for the possibility of experiencing or witnessing violence, and get some clues about how you respond under pressure, by recalling experiences you have already had. Affirming your commitment to nonviolence while recalling these experiences will increase your capacity to retain that commitment under pressure.

I commit to nonviolence [Exercise, 20 minutes ]

By yourself, or with a friend. Take time to settle, and take a few breaths.  Have them ask you/ask yourself, and respond following the format:

1. Have you ever been verbally attacked/threatened?

  • recall what happened: what was your experience? - describe it out loud, including your
  • thoughts,
  • feelings,
  • words ( what you said and didn’t say/wanted to say) and
  • actions (what you did and didn’t do/wanted to do)
  • pause whenever you wish to and stop anytime if you need to
  • affirm your intention by saying “I am committed to maintaining nonviolence and will protect myself by withdrawing non-violently if necessary”

Follow this format for each question 2-6

2. Have you ever witnessed anyone be verbally attacked / threatened?

3. Have you ever been physically threatened?

4. Have you ever witnessed someone be physically threatened?

5. Have you ever seen anyone be physically attacked?

6. Have you ever been physically attacked?

Tapping Out 

Always remember that you can decide against or leave the action at any time.

Consider these questions:

  • For the Sitter, what could you do during the action to communicate you need support/help?
  • For the Support Group, how would you deal with one of the crew needing to leave the action?
  • What would happen if you left? How would you feel about that?
  • Do you know your own responses well enough to understand your boundaries - when is it a good idea to “feel the fear and do it anyway”, and when might you be creating more risk?
  • Explore this more with your group in Step 7: Support Team Meetings below. 

Step 5: Logistics

Consider the logistics of the action and talk them over with your group. Sitter - If your team includes someone looking to take over the sitting once you leave or are arrested, it may be a good idea to do the planning of the locations etc. together with them.

Refer back to section 3 of the briefing to help you with this bit.

Make your sandwich board 

“I’m terrified … [insert personal bit here] … because of the climate crisis”

More information and specific suggestions in section 3 of the briefing document.

Plan your road

Sitter

Location - Which road will I be on? Which lane exactly? Is it a single lane?

Time - What time of day will I do the action? How long do I plan to remain in place? Are there any practical needs to consider to be able to remain there (e.g. water, medication)?

Safety - How will I safely get onto the road to block it? (e.g. can I use the traffic lights to do this?) How visible will I be? Does the space encourage attempts to drive around me once I am there?

Support - Do I have all the roles covered in my team? Have I agreed signals with my team? Is support in place in case I am arrested? Do I have means with me for getting home from the station?

Support team

Are all the roles covered? Is more than one person ready to cover each role in case someone doesn’t make it on the day?

Does everyone know where they will position themselves in relation to the action?

Does everyone know how long it takes them to get there so that they can time their independent arrival?

Have you identified a location for pre-action and post-action check ins?

Visioning exercise [15 mins]

- Imagining the action - How does it feel - Permission to leave -

  • Sit comfortably with your back straight/supported, preferably on the floor (as per the action) or on a chair with your feet on the floor
  • Close your eyes and briefly scan your limbs, allowing a softening and a letting go of any tension
  • Allow your breathing to slow and deepen
  • Imagine that you are sitting on a road. Feel the tarmac underneath you and picture the sandwich boards in front of and behind you. With your attention just on yourself, ask, what sounds can I hear? What can I feel on my hands, on my face (e.g. rain, a breeze)? What can I smell? What can I see immediately in front of me? What is the temperature? How do I feel right now?
  • Now take your attention a little wider. What can you see in the few metres around you? Who is there? What sounds are they making? What expressions can you see on any faces? What feelings do you imagine there are?
  • Taking your attention wider, beyond what you can see in your vicinity, what can you hear or smell from beyond your immediate surroundings?
  • Now imagine you are someone standing a few metres away, looking at you sitting there in the road. What can they see? How does your posture appear? What expression can they see on your face? What do they hear people say about you, or to you? What do they hear you say?
  • Coming back to you, how do you feel, sitting there on the road, amongst all that you have imagined? What is keeping you there? What motivated you to do the action?
  • Now imagine a compelling reason to leave the action. What would happen if you left? How would you feel about that?
  • Slowly open your eyes and come back to your present space.

Additional resource:

Extended Non-Cooperation (XNC) briefing and guidance on optional rebel tactics post-arrest to maximise the disruption (both practical and psychological) for the police during your time in custody. XNC can be particularly impactful for low-level offences, and you can do as much or as little as you feel comfortable to!

Exploring consequences

Rebellion of One carries a risk of arrest for anyone taking part, and it is worth taking some time to reflect upon the uncertainty involved in all non violent direct action. This section contains some resources to guide you through exploring the consequences of any arrest that may happen during RO1, for yourself, your life and any professional consequences.

Being arrested and any following prosecution could have impacts for you and those close to you. The “Impact” section of the RISECWUP pre-action/arrest preparation invites you to consider:

  • The impact your journey through the criminal justice system could have on your life
  • How your arrest might impact friends, family and dependants
  • Experiencing Cyber bullying, media doorstepping or publishing defamatory articles as a result of police releasing your personal details (it is common practice for the police to publicly release the full name, age and address of someone when they are arrested/charged.)

Even if you are not arrested, publicity surrounding the action & live streaming may have impacts you might want to prepare for:

  • How will friends, family or colleagues react to seeing your action on social media or in the news? Could this impact your or their career or relationships?
  • Are you prepared for your face and name to be on social media platforms? Will you look at/engage with the comments?
  • How would you respond to the press contacting you, family or friends? (see guidance for advice)
  • What attitudes would you like to bring to these, what more support might you need and how would you go about getting it?
  • Mental Health - Do you have any pre-existing mental health conditions that may be triggered during the action, by your interactions, by arrest or by the post-arrest processes? Who is equipped to support you through this? (See also TESN links in Section 10 of this document.)

Social media fallout 

This advice comes from learnings from XR actions in 2020 and the subsequent exposure by journalists, media outlets and online news publications.

Rebels can protect themselves from profiling in the media post-action by taking simple steps to protect and secure their social media profiles and online presence.  This is good practice for any action you are taking part in with XR or other activist networks, particularly if there is a risk of arrests taking place.

  1. Using an alias name on your social media pages (facebook, instagram, etc). Think about where information about you could be found online and set a different name on these accounts.
  2. Change your privacy settings to ‘private’ or ‘friends only’ on your social media accounts. This will protect your photographs, friends lists and posts being accessed by individuals outside of your friends lists on social media.
  3. You may want to go further and consider deleting or temporarily disabling your accounts.
  4. Make a Google search for your full name and see what information is available online & take steps to anonymise, remove and protect this information, i.e. pre-warning your employer about the chance that this information may be used by the media to ‘profile’ you after the action.
  5. Consider using a ‘burner phone’ whilst on the action. This will mean that the contacts, messages and data on your personal phone is safe if your phone is seized by the police on a particular action.

Step 6: Write Your Letter

If you are planning to be a Sitter, please write a letter or statement of intent. Ideally, this would be something that people can bring to the action and have on their person. This letter can be anything that helps remind you why you are part of Rebellion of One, or a list of facts and figures about the climate crisis; it can be a combination of both. Everyone’s letter will be completely different and there is no right or wrong here.

Suggestions for letter:

  • Write something personal to yourself. Tell a story that highlights why you are doing this action.
  • Give some facts or figures that help to remind you what is motivating you.  
  • Imagine someone else is reading this letter. What information would you want them to know?  Do you want them to know more about you or do you want them to know more about climate change?
  • What is your goal from this action?
  • Describe what you want as an outcome to this action. What direct changes do you want?

Step 7: Support Team Meetings

Support team meetings can be held in person or online. Start meeting together regularly even if the team is not complete. There is a suggested timeline for support team meetings on the RO1 Calendar.

Consider using the XR Regenerative Meeting Guidelines for your Support Team meetings:

1. Be on time. 2. Choose someone to facilitate the meeting. 3. Use Hand Signals. 4. Check-in with how you are feeling. 5. Short Agenda. 6. Check-out by sharing a gratitude/reflection.

We recommend having at least two Support Team meetings as a full team, though you may want to have more meetings depending on the experience level and stress responses of your team.

The areas of focus for Support Team meetings are:

  1. Allocating roles and Team building
  2. Exploring stress responses and role plays
  3. Sharing learnings from individual reflection work
  4. Nonviolence Group Agreement

Team Building

Getting to know you

Strengthen your team’s spirit and bond by using some of your meeting time to get to know each other better. This is as useful whether you already know each other or if you are a new team. A sense of affinity and understanding beyond the action will help you support each other through and beyond the day of action. Here are some suggestions for easy games you could play for 10 minutes at the start of a meeting - you will have your own ideas & there are plenty of others available online:

  • Two Truths and A Lie - team mates have to guess which of 3 statements someone gives about themselves is not true
  • Something in Common - find something you all have in common.  One person names something about themselves, and everyone that shares that raises their hand. If that’s not everyone, then it’s someone else’s turn. Ramp it up by excluding things like XR, pets, preferences, location or physical similarities. Be creative and playful!

Group Exercise:  Sharing Circle

Offer a few minutes for each person to answer one of the following questions in the whole group, or split into pairs (use the breakout room function on zoom) and then swap into a new pair for the next question. Doing at least some of these in pairs is a good opportunity to practice active listening:

  • Sharing your “XR Story” - when you joined, why you joined, what are your hopes
  • What about taking action in XR makes you feel excited?
  • What's your biggest fear about taking action in this emergency?
  • What do you think someone within your group could do or say to make you feel supported?

Building Trust and understanding

Deepen your connection, and build trust in your team, so that you all have the sense of support you need to carry out the action with confidence. Some ways of doing this in your team gatherings include:

Group Exercise: Spectrum lines (ONLINE)

The facilitator asks a question, and everyone in the group types the number of their response in the chat, waits for everyone to be ready...and when the facilitator says “go” all press return. Then have a  brief discussion about people’s reasons for their answer. Example questions:

Using the following spectrum:

1 - extremely violent

10 - completely non-violent

  1. How violent is breaking a window with a brick, then running away?
  2. How violent is breaking a window with a Toffee hammer (emergency escape hammer), then waiting to be arrested?

Sharing motivations

Use “Why are you doing this?” or similar to share your motivations with each other & practice communicating for the action

Group Exercise: Why are you doing this?

  • Using your material from the individual “Why are you doing this?” exercise (above) as a start point - or just going for it if you are feeling brave!
  • Can be done in pairs; also effective if in Support Team group and one person takes role of “Sitter” and could receive question/statements from anyone in the group
  • Set a timer for each & have a bit of space for feedback/reflection.

  1. [30 seconds] You have 30 seconds to explain why you are doing the action
  2. [1 minute] You have to respond quickly to a hostile question or statement (about your action - although trying out response to personal comments could be useful too)
  3. [5 minutes] Rita Skeeter: Someone pretends to be neutrally curious at first but actively tries to undermine you or “catch you out” with their questions.
  4. [5 minutes] Heart-wrench: Someone is really suffering because of your action - e.g. “I’m on the way to hospital where my grandmother is dying, please let the traffic through.” How will you respond?

Meeting Aggression with Compassion: Workshop

What is your reaction to an immediate threat? Is it Fight, Flight, or Freeze? What kind of response could be more aligned with maintaining nonviolence in this context? What would it be like to experience violence during this action? What would it be like to witness your fellow rebel receiving violence or the threat of it?

How will you respond?

The Embedding Nonviolence team and a Kingian Nonviolence trainer have worked together to create a workshop to help you discover the answers to the above questions and practice maintaining nonviolence under pressure. This workshop is best done together with members of your support group.

Check the Ro1 Calendar to see when this session is running.

Group Agreements

As you work through the preparation & training, you will gain a better understanding of each other’s viewpoints, experiences, tolerances. In the lead up to the action, it’s a good idea to take time to have a focussed discussion about expectations, boundaries and agreements to really understand how you can best meet each other’s needs during the action.  

  • What is the shared vision of how the action will be?
  • What kind of interaction with the public is the Sitter prepared to tolerate?
  • How could the Support Team blend in? Are they prepared to appear like ordinary passersby?
  • When would the Support Team want to step in? When would the Sitter want the team to step in?
  • What cues or signals might you agree to indicate you want help? When might the group decide to step in even if you haven’t asked for help?
  • What happens if there is violence or aggression against/between people other than the Sitter?
  • What de-escalation tactics might the group use? How will you communicate about them? (e.g. would someone act as lead de-escalator?)
  • How long are you intending the action to last?

Making a clear set of agreements about how you intend to behave and communicate and what your expectations are will help everyone to understand each other’s boundaries and make things easier in the intensity of the moment. For example - “I want you to step in and help only if I give the code word.” “I agree to you stepping in if you perceive something is about to escalate.” “I intend to end the action after 30 mins or if I am forcibly removed by police, whichever is soonest.”

Hand Signals

Non-verbal cues have worked well during the RO1 test runs in 2020. Consider having a hand signal the Sitter and Support Team can use to communicate during the action - it is worth having at least two cues;

1. I would like some support.

2. I am ok.

Agreement to Nonviolence

Write a statement which summarises the commitment of the individuals and whole group to nonviolence. You may need to discuss the content at a group meeting.

Consider including:

  • Your definition of nonviolence
  • A collective statement about why you are doing the action
  • What will you actively do?
  • What will you not do? (eg. press charges against member of public who acts aggressively)

Make a date before the action when you all sign this agreement as a group.

Step 8: Practices

Stopping traffic alone and sitting in the road will be an intense experience for the sitter. The initial moment of connection between the driver being disrupted and the Sitter as the disruptor can make an impact on the rapport and subsequent reaction from the driver. Use the exercises below with the Support Team to experiment with the feelings and experience of Road blocking.

Your eye contact, having a soft facial expression, open body language and confident ‘stop’ hand signal may all affect the response from drivers. If able to, see if members of the Support Team will do some of these exercises also, so they have the opportunity to experience the feelings too. (This list is by no means exhaustive! Email in your fresh suggestions or bring them to a Preparation Check-in session to share with others there.)

  1. Using a zebra crossing very slowly.
  2. Using a pelican crossing and staying behind a bit longer after the lights turn green.
  3. Road blocking to help someone retrieve an earring (or other small breakable) from the middle of the road.
  4. Oh no! Accidentally breaking a shopping bag handle in the middle of the road, collecting together all the items very slowly.
  5. Stopping a bus (by standing in front of it when stationary) to help someone who is running to board it.
  6. Road blocking to help a car reverse from driveway.
  7. Take a ghetto blaster and do a strip tease to ‘You can leave your hat on’.
  8. Newer to rebelling and civil disobedience? Get some experience under your belt and come face to face with traffic for the first time by practicing some simple Swarming with your group.

Please use caution when practicing these exercises, to ensure that you and any other participants are safe.

Step 9: Pre-Action Check In

This pre-action check-in provides a space before the action begins for the rebels in your group to (1) bring their focus and intention to the action (2) have a deep check-in and (3) make sure they are ok to take part in the action. At the start of the check in, decide who will facilitate the session.

Grounding exercises

Facilitator holds their arm up to call for silence and asks the group to (1) close their eyes and take slow deep breaths, (2) observe their breathing (is it relaxed?) and (3) observe how they feel physically and emotionally.

Deep check in (do not place a time limit on this)

Everyone takes it in turn to (1) read their letter which describes their personal reasons for taking part in the action and (2) describe how they are feeling physically and emotionally and their expectations of the action.

Post-action meeting point
Before taking action, set a place and time (if possible) to reconvene after the action together. Choose a place that is a short walk from the action location but that is private enough to congregate (this might be the same location in which you hold the pre-action check in). This place can also be a ‘cooling off’ space for anyone to come back to during the action if needed.

Final checks

Facilitator asks everyone to close their eyes and ask themselves if they are ready to take part in the action. Facilitator reminds rebels that there is no pressure to take part in the action and that they should only do so if they feel ready. Anyone who doesn’t want to take part should raise their hand (while everyone’s eyes are still closed).

  • If there are rebels with hands raised: Facilitator checks everyone has raised their hand if they want to and then asks everyone to open their eyes. Anyone with their hand up is then given the chance to explain, if they want to, why they don’t want to take part in the action. Once everyone who has their hand up has spoken, the Facilitator manages a conversation with the group to decide on the next steps. There is no judgement to this decision.  
  • If there are no hands raised: you are ready to take action! It is advised that you set a time together for the Sitter to ‘take’ the road and travel in 1-2s to this location to ensure it is witnessed as a spontaneous action.

Step 10: Post-Action and Debriefing

Post-action and post-release check out
This should take place in the pre-decided meeting place after the action. If arrests have been made, make plans to ensure Sitters have police station support in place and someone who can hold space for them to check out after their release if this is needed/wanted. Ro1 can be an intense experience, particularly if someone who has been arrested has also done some XNC (Extended Non-Cooperation) whilst in police custody. Ensure that there are one or two people who can be available to sit and talk to the Sitter immediately once released to allow them space to check out after the action/detention. Suggestions below can help to structure this time, although the Sitter might also just be in need of some listening space and emotional support.

Suggestions for post-action and post-release check outs -

  • You might want to congregate on the street or at an inside location if it is safe to do so.
  • Select someone to facilitate and keep track of time (suggestion 15-30 mins). Use the hand signal of raising a hand as a cue to round off your conversation and come back to the group.
  • Spend time in small groups and pairs informally recounting the action to process the intensity of what you might have experienced.
  • You might want to do a couple of rounds as a full team in a circle, sharing how you are feeling post action or a highlight from the action.
  • Check out together with something you are looking forward to or a gratitude.

Post Action Blues: Caring for Ourselves after Rebellion Of One

Olympians often suffer from depression and anxiety after the Olympics. The incredible highs often give way to lows after the games. Often they have to make great sacrifices such as not seeing friends and family for years because they are so dedicated to training.

Rebels have often expressed similar feelings after a major rebellion. Often the focus and determination on a rebellion and the amount of work that goes into it, means that similar sacrifices are made and also the feelings of adrenaline and exhilaration give way to feelings of being low or depressed.

Rebellion of One can seem like a daunting prospect. There will be lots of preparation and training to complete before the big day and many different emotions will be experienced before, during and after. Checking in with a counsellor, attending a co-counselling course or checking in with friends and family to let them know how we are feeling are good ideas to make sure we look after our mental health during the pre and post action process.

Support Team debrief & Wider Ro1 debriefs

A sequence of emotional debriefs will be available to rebels after the action on 1st May. It is strongly advised that each support team has a post action check-out immediately after the action and an emotional debrief within one week of the action if possible. Support teams may also want to regularly check in with each other after the action in a similar way that would take place with an affinity group.  

Suggested Outline for Support Team Debrief:

  • Aim to hold this session within one week of the action
  • Select someone to facilitate this debrief to keep track of time and ensure everyone has equal speaking rights/times.
  • Check in allowing more time to emotionally connect and process - doing this in groups of 2-3 can be helpful in giving more time for this within a 1 hour meeting.
  • The debrief structure of Roses, Thorns and Buds works well. In rounds share Roses (good bits), Thorns (not so good bits) and Buds (compost thorns into learnings for future actions). Again, splitting into groups of 2-3 can help everyone to have more speaking time, then feeding the main points from each group into the main session, or recording the breakout groups thoughts into a minutes document that everyone has access to.
  • Allow time for responses and clarifications after each round. Due to the separation between the sitter and the support team during the action, there can be a lot to unpack together, particularly if the sitter has been arrested and therefore unable to check out post action with the whole team.
  • Next Steps: will the Ro1 team meet regularly to keep connected? Could you plan a follow up action together? Would support team rebels like to be supported by the team and sitter on another Ro1 action in the near future?
  • Check out by sharing a gratitude from the run up to that action, someone in the team or from the action itself.

Trained Emotional Support Network (TESN)
XR vetted psychologists are always available for active listening sessions to all rebels, either for one-to-one calls or for group work through TESN. Contact xr-tesn@tesn.uk to request support at any time before or after Rebellion of One. When contacting TESN please do not include any information about specific actions or illegal activity. One-to-one calls with psychologists are always confidential.

  • XR Rebel2Rebel - one-to-one active listening session with rebels trained to provide support. Session will be up to 50 mins and can be requested multiple times if needed.
  • Support for Group Sessions - TESN can also provide trained psychologists for group sessions. This is advised when debriefing emotionally after an action, sharing strong experiences or working through tensions as a group. Ideally, get in touch with TESN at least 2 weeks before the session date to ensure someone is available.

TESN and the RO1 Project are aiming to co-run sessions after 1st May to invite sitters for an emotional debrief. When taking part in any XR action, it is essential that every rebel participates in some form of debrief to share experiences and discharge emotions post-action. This is part of how we create a regenerative culture of learning and love; for ourselves, others and the planet.

Support with Press & Journalists

XR Guidance document “How to handle the hostile press” here

If you are contacted by a journalist, ask the press team for help: press@risingup.org.uk 

See also “Social Media Fallout” advice in Section 5 of this document.

Arrest/Court Support

Guidance for arranging ongoing post-arrest and court support for rebels can be made by contacting XR Arrestee Support on xr-arrestwelfare@protonmail.com

Preparation Checklist

You’ve reached the end of the RO1 Preparation Pathway! Before participating in the action, please review this checklist to pull all the steps together and reflect on how prepared you are feeling:

  • Do you have an active Support Team?
  • Have you done your necessary training(s)?
  • Have you written your letter?
  • Have you made your sign? “I’m terrified … because of the climate crisis”
  • Have you done at least two check-ins (in-person or virtually) with your Support Team?
  • Have you taken some time to reflect and explore your feelings and reactions?
  • Have you chosen the intended road you plan to block? Do you have a plan for how to block it safely?
  • Have you set a time / place to meet on the day of action?
  • Do you feel ready and prepared in yourself to maintain nonviolence during this action?
  • Have you agreed with your support team any hand signals or signs for if you want or need help?
  • Do you have a plan for what to bring with you on the day? (eg. your letter, no phone in case of arrest, warm layers, your sign, etc.)
  • Have you made group agreements for the day, eg. non verbal cues?
  • Have you written and signed a Commitment to Nonviolence?