We want to invite you to a online SCI seminar on political communication! 

The world is literally on fire! The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the pressure on marginalized groups in society, it has fuelled right-wing extremism, hatred and conspiracy theories. Wars are continuing to rage the world. Racism, sexism, queerphobia, wealth inequalities and global injustice have direct effects on people every single day. And we didn‘t even list the climate crisis yet.

Silence is violence. Social media and communication have become a bigger part of SCI in the past two years of living through a pandemic, as it is one of the online spheres of influence that we have. During the Black Lives Matter protests and the social media hype around it in May and June 2020, it became increasingly clear that organisations should and need to position themselves in solidarity with the protests. SCI was comparably slow in responding and coming to a consensus on it. We often have the motto: „Sure, peace, but not too political!“

Questions that we ask ourselves: What is too political for SCI? How much do we need to position ourselves politically in order to be a believable peace organisation? How can we deal with sensitive political topics, when an SCI member organisation might face repercussions for speaking up? Whom is your communication for, whom is it not for? When is the right timing to be political?

We urgently need to discuss this. Rather than having limited time during an EPM or ICM for this topic, we would propose a complete week. This is why we invite you to a seminar where we can discuss existing communication strategies within our branches, but also as SCI on an international level – and develop new ones that are fit for the year 2022. Let’s develop clear strategies when we speak up on social media and how we speak up.

This seminar is outcome-focused. We will during the seminar develop new social media campaigns around political topics (similar to the COVID-19 campaign that Gender Blenders did in 2020 or the Nuclear Weapons campaign by the International Secretariat in September 2021). We will draft proposals for resolutions and recommendations for ICM and EPM. And we will create a guideline document on political communication for branches.

Who is this seminar for?

• Communication officers within SCI member organisations
• Members of the boards of SCI member organisations that might be involved in decision-making around political commmunication
• Staff and active volunteers in SCI member organisations, the IS and the IEC

All participants selected for this project must meet the following criteria:

• be 18 years old or older
• can live anywhere in the world
• be able to work in English
• commit to actively participate from the beginning to the end of the seminar

We explicitly encourage participants of all genders, sexual orientations, abilities and ethnic backgrounds to apply.

Dates of the seminar: 15-20 February + 27 February 2022

Place: Online

APPLY HERE