In our week 14 class, we did some research on a pre-existing NGO. The NGO we analyzed is 350.org which is fighting for safe climate and a brighter future. These are the questions we answered.
Q1. How was the NGO founded and what was the inspiration for it?
A1. It was founded in 2008 by a group of university friends in the United States along with author Bill Mckibben.
Q2. How does its name and/or acronym reflect who they are? Do you think it was well-chosen? How do you think it could be better?
A1. The name of the NGO is 350.org. The "350" was named after 350 parts per million - the safe concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Q3. What is its mission statement?
A3. Their mission statement is "Building a future that’s just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis".
Q4. What are the group’s goals?
A4. They have 3 main goals. "A fast & just transition to 100% renewable energy for all", "No new fossil fuel projects anywhere" and "Not a penny more for dirty energy."
Q5. What are the concrete ways that the NGO tries to achieve its goals?
A5. Since their goal is to end the use of fossil fuels, transition to renewable energy by building a global, grassroots movement are some of their ways to achieve their goals.
Q6. How is the group different from others in its goals or methods?
A6. 350 org is fighting coal power plants in India, stopping the Keystone XL pipeline in the U.S, and divesting public institutions everywhere from fossil fuels.
Q7. How does it keep itself running…
A7. They keep running thanks to the funding (the Tides Foundation)
Q8. What are some of its current campaigns and campaigns that it has carried out in the past?
A8. Japan is campaigning to foster Japanese citizens to divest from fossil-fuel banks and move their personal savings to fossil-free financial institutions through the Let’s Divest Campaign. By promoting personal divestment, we will create a larger social dialogue around the responsibility of Japan’s major financial institutions, supporting the transition toward a renewable-energy society.
Q9. How do they get press coverage and make use of social media?
A9. They takes advantage of SNS such as twitter by making hash tags like #CLIMATEMARCH to tell world leaders we must keep fossil fuels in the ground & move to 100% renewables.
350.org. (n.d.). ABOUT 350. https://350.org/about
The way that the entry was presented was really easy to read and I liked the question-and-answer type of layout. I also thought that the questions were answered in a short and understandable pattern. I thought that question 6 was great, when creating an NPO/NGO I felt that finding something to differentiate our own made ones from ones that already existed was one of the hardest things to do. However, from this we can see what kind of things other NPO/NGO’s are doing to keep themselves relevant and it gives us an idea of what we should be doing for our own.
ReplyDeleteI liked how simple and easy it was to read this blog entry. I especially thought that question 9 was different. Many NPO/NGOs do social media but 350.org has a hashtag that spreads awareness globally. And it’s something that can be used on different platforms. One thing that I noticed was that this NGO started with a group of university friends. It must be fun and more efficient to do with people who you are already close to and who have the same passion which in this case was fighting for a safe climate. In addition, the meaning of the name was unique but also a name that we can all remember. Overall, it was very inspiring.
ReplyDeleteYou identified all the key aspects of this NGO well. Also, it was appropriate for you to choose this particular NGO because it was one of the best known and most respected among the many NGOs that deal with green power generation, global warming, and ways to rein in the fossil fuel industry. The fact that it was co-founded by the respected environmental author Bill Mckibben, makes it a particularly trustworthy NGO.
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