Methods for change

SSNC seeks to evoke and strengthen love and respect for nature. We humans are connected to and completely dependent on nature for our well-being. We all have a responsibility to take care of nature for current and future generations.

Letting our senses rest, moving around and just being in nature is something that makes us feel good. By spending time in nature, we also understand it better and create relationships with nature areas, plants and animals. This often evokes a commitment and willingness to protect nature in both small and large contexts. SSNC educates and organises activities that make it easier for everyone to discover and experience nature, regardless of age, origin and prior knowledge.

In addition to the fact that nature is important for public health, for many people and communities across the world, the local nature also constitutes the only means of livelihood.

Successful advocacy efforts require that there are many of us. We want to make it easy to get involved, regardless of time and level of knowledge, and to present different options that fit the level of engagement. Through powerful and educational campaigns and proposals regarding concrete environmental initiatives, we enable everyone to stand up for nature and give it a voice.

We are a democratic popular movement operating throughout the country where we meet people and highlight our issues. Engagement grows in a community with others. Through inclusive leadership and systematic further training, we organise our members to be engaged in the long term. Our leaders are relationship builders who know how to engage and motivate others. Together, we create approaches and working methods that help people develop and deepen their engagement, and we continuously work on education and acquiring knowledge to get even better at organising more people.

Through the association’s international work, we contribute to strengthening people’s commitment to the environment in other countries and in the global environmental movement. There is a mobilising force in the realisation that many people in many countries, just like us, seek to protect nature and habitats for future generations.

The decisions made today are crucial if we are to succeed in protecting life on Earth and secure a good life within the planetary boundaries. That is why SSNC seeks to influence decision-makers in politics, the business sector and the public sector in Sweden, the EU and globally. The basis of our advocacy efforts is the power and solid knowledge of the popular movement.

We engage in advocacy efforts to transform society at the necessary pace. We seek to ensure that companies and public actors not only comply with laws and regulations but also lead the way.

In our advocacy efforts, we work constructively and in dialogues to identify problems and propose solutions. Our proposals are based on expertise, familiarity with political processes and a long-term perspective.

We engage in advocacy through direct contacts and dialogues with actors in the sphere of politics, the business sector, authorities and organisations. We participate in studies and advisory panels and respond to consultation requests in order to influence decisions through formal processes. We investigate, organise campaigns and make public statements to shape public opinion in favour of our proposals and influence current processes. We also exert influence by appealing court cases with a significant environmental impact and by pursuing issues of strategic importance related to environmental law.

When people come together, motivated and prepared to push things forward, they can influence how society develops. Social movements are important for changing the system. This, in turn, encourages companies to further develop their business ideas and gives politicians the courage to tighten the regulatory framework.

The key to new consumption patterns is to change people’s attitudes and behaviours. SSNC supports private individuals, companies and public actors in terms of making wise choices contributing to a sustainable consumer culture. Consumer information on, for instance, harmful chemicals and the benefits of organic food serve to encourage changes in attitudes and behaviours. Ecolabelling and guidance in terms of making resource-efficient choices make it easier to make the right choice. Public procurement represents a way of specifying environmental requirements for products and services, which also makes the supply more sustainable.

With active members and networks, SSNC operates at various levels to promote sustainable consumer behaviours. We also push for regulations and policy instruments moving towards sustainability. Events and activities offer people an important and fun context that helps shape shared sustainable norms serving as a basis for sustainable lifestyle choices and social movements.

A prerequisite for solving the challenges of today and tomorrow is to collaborate with others. That is why SSNC collaborates with other organisations, networks, companies and authorities at different levels, in Sweden and the EU as well as in other parts of the world. Through collaborations, we not only reach more groups in society – coming together and speaking with a single voice may also reinforce a message, proposal or demand.

Collaborating with other actors serves as an important interaction and a form of learning in which SSNC influences and is influenced by others. Crucial aspects regarding SSNC’s decision to enter into collaborations with partner organisations include their environmental work and their credibility when it comes to the environment. However, we do not exclusively collaborate with actors already engaged in active environmental work but also where we may achieve the greatest environmental benefits.

SSNC’s partner organisations in many countries are affected by the shrinking civic space. There are also forces in Sweden wanting to reduce the influence of civil society. Being a voice for the right of civil society to operate thus constitutes an important element of our international collaborations.