Dispatch from Michaela Steiner, a 350 Fossil Free Fellow this summer
South Park, Colorado – Greetings from Colorado! My work as a Fossil Free Fellow this summer was an amazing experience. I worked with a local partner nonprofit called Frack Free Colorado on a ballot initiative that, if passed, would allow communities in the region to ban fracking and other corporate activities that endanger their health and safety.
Fossil Free Fellow, Michaela on the far right
One of my favorite experiences from the fellowship has been going to a huge music festival in South Park, Colorado where we were able to gather about 700 petition signatures in a weekend. This was my first time going to a music festival and it was incredible being able to approach and talk to so many receptive people. Over the course of the weekend, we camped out with thousands of people from across the country and spread awareness and support for our ballot initiative cause. Our team easily approached large groups of people who were sitting outside their tents or meandering around the festival grounds.
That’s when it dawned on me: the kind of atmosphere often present at festivals and music events seems perfect for spreading the word about climate change. Not to mention, it allows a message to be broadcast to a wide variety of folks and is a fun way to connect music with social change. The community atmosphere that is so apparent at such events seems lost in our modern day society and there is a real need to bring it back into the mainstream; we need to make community living and values an everyday norm.
After such success at this event, the importance of building relationships in a campaign has really sunk in for me. I saw firsthand the benefits of taking the time to really get to know festival attendees. By giving space to meaningful time and conversations with festival folk, we were able to build a stronger network among the group and I am sure we will be maintaining many relationships we made this past weekend. Among other things, this summer has really taught me how successful campaigns come down to how well an organizer can build and maintain relationships. The conversational focus and layout of these festivals is a perfect opportunity for organizers to practice this skill and further our collective climate justice movement.