4Structure as a collective to have more power to act

Our starting point :

• To encourage individual emancipation, the training processes are accompanied by strategies to structure populations in situations of vulnerabilities as collectives.

What we have learned

Impact studies of projects conducted by members of the Train to Transform collective were carried out in 2022. The cross-functional analysis of these studies highlighted lessons learned by the organizations regarding the concrete application of the six priorities for social transformation. Here is what we learned for priority 4 :

• Carrying out actions and "doing things together" contributes to structuring a collective.

• The trajectories of collectives are very diverse, with stages that can become entangled and be carried out in a disorderly manner. These stages are : emergence, consolidation, resilience in the event of difficulties, empowerment, putting at the service of social change.

• Many collective trajectories are marked by decisive contributions in terms of individual emancipation with the acquisition of resources (skills, confidence, funding), which allows for changes in the situation that benefit individuals, before being able to benefit everyone.

• Working together with a group of peers is a key stage in building an alliance : this preliminary stage enables people to gain confidence, capacity and security through peer support.

• Increasing the autonomy of collectives is a process, and not an end in itself, which can take several forms : economic autonomy, organisational autonomy, which refers to the collective’s ability to function internally, and political autonomy, which refers to its capacity for outward-looking initiatives.

What remains to be verified

• Forming a collective involves an articulation between individual support and collective support, and this in the long term : it is essential not to lose the follow-up of the motivation of the individuals even once the collective has been set up.

• Within the collectives, strategies are set up to reduce the discrimination and relationships of domination, and strengthen the power of the collective to act.

• The support for collectives in their capacity to recover from adversity (departure of members, political appropriation...) should be explored.

• There is a risk that once people are secure in a peer group, they will become detached from the rest and will act without consulting others.

An example of activities/actions : APEF in the Democratic Republic of the Congo !

Photo above : Collective reflection workshop organised by APEF in March 2018

APEF supports the structuring of women’s artisan collectives in terms of dyeing, embroidery and sewing. They are organising in small Units of Collective Production. The technical training via recycling, exchanging experiences, visiting other collectives, and organising open days for all collectives, for example, are some of the strategies implemented to promote innovation (to identify prospects) and emancipation.