Changing hearts and minds: Countering harmful narratives is a one-day event designed to equip civil society leaders with the tools, insight and inspiration to shape a more just and equal world.
Hosted by Agenda, the event brought together some of the UK’s leading experts on public attitudes, narrative change and strategic communications to blend cutting-edge science with real-world practice.
“From understanding people’s positions when it comes to far-right issues to countering difficult narratives with empathy; from having the courage and humility to talk to people you don’t agree with – or worse – threaten to do you harm to, of course, applying the theory to your daily work: we heard many ways to deal with the present and imagine a different future.,” said Vic Barlow, co-director at Agenda.
“Because changing hearts and minds isn’t just a nice slogan. It’s the work. It’s our best route through the fear and confusion and to somewhere more powerful.”
The morning sessions focused on learning. Georgina Laming, campaigns and communications director at Hope not hate, opened the day with a session on understanding Reform UK voters. Drawing on extensive polling data, she highlighted the issues that this ‘coalition of pessimism’ care about and indicated how these attitudes and opinions might influence support for the work of charities and trade unions.
Steve Ballinger, director of communications at British Future, shared insights into the psychology of belief and belonging. His session focused on how to craft messages that build empathy and inspire action, exploring the emotional drivers behind entrenched views and offering practical strategies for reframing divisive debates.
Steve was followed by Faryal Iqbal, founder of Own Drum, who shared insights grounded in neuroscience on how to counter fear and anger with courage and hostility with humanity. Using the case study of Abdullah Quilliam Mosque in Liverpool – which responded to last summer’s far-right riots with acts of radical hospitality – she showed how dialogue and connection can be powerful tools for change, even in the most hostile environments.
Finally, Agenda’s co-director Becky Slack shared three framing tactics that can be applied in a variety of different contexts, but which all aimed at helping messaging resonate within target audiences. A Q&A then enabled participants to dive into the speaker insights in more detail.
The afternoon was all about doing. Participants broke into facilitated working groups to apply what they had learned to real-world scenarios. Each group tackled a pressing challenge – from making the case for international aid to taking the toxic out of toxic masculinity, to ways to turn down the temperature on polarised issues – combining the day’s insights with their own expertise in a collaborative strategy sprint.
Facilitators included Vic Barlow, Becky Slack, Matt Ball, Niall Couper and Helen Campbell, who guided participants through a series of discussions designed to foster creativity, deepen connections and generate practical ideas to take back to their campaigns and content. Other experts were on hand to offer additional guidance and support, including Deborah Doane of RINGO and Dr Tom Roberts from the Institute of Sustainability.
Participants left with new insights, renewed energy and a stronger network of allies committed to shaping a better future through bold and compassionate communications.
We’ll be sharing deeper insights from the event over the coming days and weeks. To stay in the loop, sign up to our newsletter or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and BlueSky.
