For narratives to be relatable and nuanced, we need to leverage collaboration with diverse communities and actors. Additionally, working together with people with diverse skill sets and experiences will help foster creativity and impact. Ultimately, it is as much (if not more!) about the process than it is about the outcome. Narrative work is an opportunity to come together around core values, to develop shared visions that inspire, and to join forces to create systematic change.
Foster solidarity, security and care
Narrative work is a collective journey. No single actor can shift narratives alone. We must invest considerable time and energy to foster deep connections, to build trust, and to create safe and inclusive spaces where everybody can meaningfully participate.
In many countries, civil society actors face hostile narratives that fuel mistrust: portraying CSOs and NGOs as foreign agents, blockers of national development, or self interested actors. When we communicate alternative narratives, we must be prepared for a certain extent of backlash. In restrictive contexts, this often comes with added pressure or resistance from state authorities. Solidarity helps addressing these narratives, share risks, and avoid working in isolation.
To build this kind of solidarity, it helps to be part of wider networks. Joining networks, alliances, or events focused on narrative work can provide support, motivation, and protection. These peer spaces help us stay connected to a wider movement for change.
And as we connect more deeply with others, we also need to make sure everyone is safe. This is why a holistic approach to security is essential. Safety isn’t only physical, it also includes digital and emotional wellbeing. Strong protocols matter: staying up to date on digital security practices (like secure cloud storage, VPN use, and careful sharing of tools), and creating supportive offline environments.
Narrative work can also feel overwhelming. When dominant narratives threaten our freedoms and lives, it’s easy to feel powerless and scared. That’s why care, both individual and collective, is a core part of the work. Additionally, it is important to respect everyone’s choice if, how, and when they want to share their personal stories as part of a collective narrative. Consent to reshare stories should be established and confirmed on an ongoing basis. Sustaining ourselves and each other is not an option; it’s necessary for long-term resilience and success.
Adopt an intersectional and cross-cutting approach
It is essential to recognise that no struggle exists in isolation. Issues that seem separate often share deep roots. For example, climate change and inequality are deeply connected. People living in poverty, especially in low and middle income countries, are among the most exposed to climate hazards. Bangladesh, despite contributing very little to global carbon emissions, suffers some of the worst impacts. Every day, thousands of people move to Dhaka because of rising seas, destructive floods, and cyclones. Their situation shows how climate vulnerability is never only about the climate itself, but also about poverty, gender norms, class, and social exclusion. Narratives can help reveal these connections and unite the people for aligning poverty reduction and climate mitigation efforts.
Narrative strategies offer ways to bring multiple perspectives into defining both problems and solutions, recognising shared struggles and opportunities for action. Creating a bigger tent means connecting issues under broader, shared narratives, making inequality and exclusion more visible, and involving more diverse groups and populations. This means looking beyond the usual CSO or NGO circles and inviting in educators, artists, cultural workers, youth groups, local officials, and many others.
At the heart of this approach is building genuine personal connections. It is not about networking for visibility, but about relating to people on an emotional level and grounding the work in trust. This requires valuing collaboration over speed and scale, listening to those who may not share your priorities, and being willing to let go of control. Real solidarity grows from relationships rooted in openness, curiosity, and mutual respect.
Invest in the sustainability of the ecosystem
Sustaining narrative work is often not about duplicating or replicating initiatives, it is about strengthening the whole ecosystem so actors have the capacity, ways of working, and resources to keep experimenting and evolving their approaches. This means long‑term investment in relationships, people, and community agency, rather than only funding tools or one‑off trainings.
Narrative work relies on a mix of financial and non‑financial resources: staff time for coordination and documentation, access to external expertise (for example in storytelling or community mobilisation), and the flexibility to adapt strategies as the work and context evolve.
Sustainability also comes from shared learning. Peer exchanges and cross context conversations help enrich our own work while reinforcing others’. Structured learning journeys, such as convenings or communities of practice, strengthen connections and spark new ideas across diverse contexts.
For donors, supporting sustainability means offering flexible, long‑term funding that allows organisations to test, innovate, and adjust, without rigid timelines or milestones. Narrative work should be recognised as core to how organisations operate, not treated as a short‑term project.
At organisational level, sustaining the work requires embedding the approach into ways of working and strategies as well as planning for continuity. Narrative work requires in-depth institutional change, shifting away from traditional strategic planning and programming. It invites shifts in how we imagine our mission, relate to and work with partners, approach daily work, and use diverse forms of expression. Internal transformation is inseparable from external change.
Want to go further?
- Safer Storytellers provides a range of resources, guides, courses and emergency assistance for visual storytellers under (legal, physical, emotional, or digital) attack.
- Amnesty International’s Security Lab offers a wide range of explanations and resources to raise awareness about safe digital practices.
- If appropriate, incorporate methods of radical healing, love, and care into your narrative processes, as presented in the Feminist Influencing Basket of Resources.
- Consider joining the Communicators for Civic Action network launched by Civicus to strengthen pro-civic space narratives, counter misinformation, and amplify grassroots voices. This dynamic network brings together communicators, journalists, and narrative builders to innovate, localise, and expand the reach of people-centered stories, foster greater solidarity and ensure civil society thrives.
- Elemental is a funder learning and grantmaking initiative that works with organizations and individuals globally that seek to explore, develop, or deepen an approach to resourcing narrative infrastructure and ecosystems. Reach out to them if you are curious about working together and benefit from their expertise!