In 2021, a group of activists, campaigners, communications experts, researchers, artists, journalists, filmmakers, organisers and creatives from around the world, and from across different movements, began a vast collaboration.

What united the group is a deep belief in the importance of narratives to create systemic change and an understanding that this can only happen when movements themselves possess the knowledge and resources to effectively use narrative strategies and take collective action. 

Through a creative and radical co-design process, this collaboration gave rise to the Global Narrative Hive (the Hive), a new network which works to connect and grow the global ecosystem of those who are using narratives to advance their visions of a more just world. 

As part of its launch the Hive is publishing a new resource Conditions to Flourish: Understanding the Ecosystem for Narrative Power. The report is a synthesis of the main themes from hundreds of conversations with members of civil society movements, and the narrative and communications workers supporting them, that took place over two years.  

The report highlights what practitioners and members of movements are themselves saying about the contexts in which they are operating and what they need. This is a perspective that we believe is too often missing from analysis of this ecosystem.  

We The Hive intends for this to be a resource for anyone thinking about the power of narratives to support social change, and to those who are developing strategies to build powerful narratives. At FICS, we want to draw attention to the recommendations and examples in the report for funders, who are crucial in ensuring that this ecosystem – which has shown powerful potential and yet remains so unequal and fragmented – has the resources and relationships it needs to create a better world.  

You can read the report in English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.  

You can learn more about the Global Narrative Hive on their blog.