The Collective Action Toolkit (CAT) by frog
Last week, frog was pleased to announce the release of their free open-source guide to design-thinking: the Collective Action Toolkit (CAT). The CAT is a package of resources and activities that enable groups of people anywhere in the world to organize and collaboratively create solutions for problems impacting their community. The toolkit provides a dynamic framework that integrates knowledge and action to solve challenges. Designed to harness the benefits of group action and the power of sharing, the activities draw on each participant’s strengths and perspectives as the group works to accomplish a common goal.
Developed over the past year, the CAT contains no mention of “design.” Instead, it relies on a simple vocabulary to describe skills like building a team, carrying out research, and developing solutions. Want to figure out a way to help people in your community eat healthier? Have an idea for a small business? The CAT offers templates for activities to help get the idea off the ground.
You can use the CAT with a group within your organization or your community to:
Solve problems: No matter what size of problem you’re looking to solve, the activities in the CAT can help your group investigate and generate solutions for community problems. For example: you might be motivated to help people around you get access to healthier food, reduce how many people are becoming sick because of an infectious disease, construct a new building, or start a small business.
Build new skills: Gain important life skills with you group and understand how to best put them to use. For example: critical thinking, listening to others, asking better questions, generating ideas, active collaboration, creating better stories, and inspiring and sustaining collective action.
Gain knowledge: By pooling what you know and who you know, you can better support each other in your group and beyond. For example: with your group, you can gain perspective on a community problem or need, as well as reach out to more people that could support those solutions.
You can download the CAT here.