The world takes the JUmp: SPotlight on NZ
Take the Jump’s success story in Aotearoa-New Zealand shows how fast a movement can spread - if you use the power of local relationships.
It all began in 2020, with the Nelson-Tasman Climate Forum (a network of concerned residents and diverse community groups). The Forum was doing great work on the policy level, influencing councils and governments, but lacked a crucial dimension: reaching communities on the ground and supporting their potential for change.
An A-ha Moment
So in 2022, Forum members including Chris Wheatley found themselves searching for a behaviour-change campaign that would speak to and support local people. They came across a Guardian article on Take the Jump and had an a-ha moment- the vibrant design, approachability and joyful feel of the campaign felt just right.
Chris got in touch with Tom of Take the Jump and the pair began a friendship and collaboration that would see Take the Jump quickly gain ground across the Nelson-Tasman region and even nationally.
“Take the Jump was simple, clear and positive, offering a flexible and accessible set of resources that we could adapt to our local needs”, says Chris, “Here in Aotearoa-NZ, nature is already important and people are connected with the seasons in a way we wanted to recognise and support. So we added a seventh shift - Get Planting.”
Big wins for the website
The first big step of the Take the Jump team was to launch a website in 2023, which soon, without any promotion, started pulling in visitors and queries from across the country. Then Ambassador trainings started - first run by Tom and Paul remotely from the UK, and then taken over the local team. To date, they’ve run five trainings with a sixth coming up, and trained up 90 Ambassadors representing the whole of Aotearoa-NZ.
“Through the Ambassador trainings, we reached people working for local Councils, who went back and spread the word through Council networks. Through these, we also reached the Public Service Association (PSA), a union for local council employees, which has an eco-group of around 4,000 people, representing 90,000 members
“Being able to scale our presence across such a large network means we are now starting to develop a grassroots presence throughout the public sector, which is amazing,” says Chris.
Another network which has embraced Take the Jump is Ora Taiao,a network of environmentally focused health professionals, which has brought its own perspective to the shifts. They see the connection with nature as a source of wellbeing and a tool for the relief of climate anxiety, as well as a direct inspiration for taking climate action through the shifts.
The people behind the Jump
Chris adds that Take the Jump would never have got off the ground so quickly without the dedication of three part-time staff employed by the Nelson-Tasman Climate Forum. Co-ordinator Marlène Moreau, Volunteer and Funding Co-ordinator Christina Simkanin, and Comms Co-ordinator Louise Perzigian put around 25% of their time into Take the Jump - and they’ve been a huge part of this success story. A lively Whatsapp group (soon to be Signal!) and a quarterly newsletter help keep the inspiration and buzz alive and kicking.
The Aotearoa-NZ Take the Jump team have also held two winter solstice celebrations which have done a great job of reaching over a hundred local people, many from outside the climate echo chamber.
“We open our doors to everyone, using all our contacts in the local arts and performance scene to put on a party for the whole community,” says Chris. “Take the Jump hosts, and is very much around, but in the background. We don’t want to push any messages. Our celebrations are about having fun while the changes we need make their way into everyday life.”
