Here we share what environmental initiative worked in our community (in our parish, in our school or in our shared building). What was it, how do we know it worked and any tips to help other communities try it too.

If you need inspiration, have a look at a list of ideas here. Many of these may be easily adapted for communities.

To share initiatives that worked on a personal, individual or family level, use the sister page here.

What was it?	Laudato Si’ goal (if known)	Measure of success?	Tips to help
Starting a Live Simply group	Community Engagement and Participatory Action	Actions are now happening in the parish	Talk to the priest and try to promote it in your community newsletter
Organising a Pledge for the parish	Community Engagement and Participatory Action	Parish-wide participation. See the article	Arrange this with your priest and try to get a minute to explain it to everyone before, during or after the service.
Regular drop-in sessions	Community Engagement and Participatory Action	New ideas from new people. See update	A regular half-hour after Mass every week makes it visible and accessible
Children’s Presentations	Ecological Education	Many children have come forward to present a Laudato Si’ topic they are passionate about (e.g. recycling or animals).	Keep it short – 2 minutes. Slides can be a few photographs. Adults may wish to help with slides.
Environmental Rap event	Community Engagement and Participatory Action	Lots of participation. See the article	Use a story or a presentation to start and someone needs to go first to encourage full participation and creativity.

We will update this summary table to reflect your comments below. Read the comments for the full and latest feedback.

Maybe we tried something and it didn’t really work? We can share that too: what was it, why it didn’t work so well and what you would change about it if others wanted to try it.

What was it?	Why it didn’t work so well?	How would you change it if you were to try again?	Things to avoid (if relevant)
Trying to get a bike rack at the front of a church	Expensive and needs planning permission	Talk to the local council and look for grants	Try not to spend much effort on it before engaging with the local council
Long event during tea and coffee after Mass	Some parishioners felt the long activity disturbed too much their opportunity to socialise and chat	Announce the event and find another space to move to so that those that don’t want to be involved can continue with their tea	Avoid taking more than a couple of minutes for the announcement or short presentation. Don’t start too early – give parishioners around 20 minutes to settle with their teas and coffees before starting.

Share your community experience of integral ecology in action