**Advocacy means taking action to effect change in an issue that personally matters to you**. Advocacy makes up a large portion of activity undertaken in community science [projects](/projects). These projects often produce much-needed data about an environmental issue, and that data needs someone to speak for it [1] to different audiences: * Your neighbors * Elected representatives * The press * Regulatory agencies * In court This page is a place to collect and organize resources on advocacy. Visit the [advocacy tag page](https://publiclab.org/tag/advocacy) to see the latest community posts about advocacy on Public Lab, and get updates on this topic by following: Subscribe to Advocacy Also visit related pages on organizing, community science, and law and policy. Sources: [1] @kgradow1’s [presentation about the bucket air monitor](https://publiclab.org/notes/amocorro/05-12-2021/talk-recording-mobilizing-people-to-act-on-air-pollution-with-the-bucket-air-monitor-a-community-science-tool).
On this page you can:
Learn about different advocacy methods
Join the conversation
Read stories from community scientists advocating for change
Find further reading and resources on advocacy
# Advocacy methods **Within the five main types of advocacy efforts** (communicating with your neighbors, the press, elected representatives, regulators at government agencies, and through litigation in court), **here are some particular processes that projects may seek to generate or contribute to:** Connecting with peers * [Telling your story](https://publiclab.org/notes/joyofsoy/08-07-2020/tips-for-environmental-storytelling) * Relationship building (see section on audiences, below) * Awareness raising & education * [Community organizing](https://publiclab.org/wiki/organizing) * Mobilizing with those working on adjacent, interconnected issues Increasing your reach * [Getting media coverage](https://publiclab.org/wiki/creating-a-media-campaign) * Nonviolent direct action Bumping it up a level * Power mapping to know where to focus your efforts * Pressuring elected officials to act on an issue * Making an issue a focus of an upcoming electoral campaign season Engaging with environmental governance processes and political realities * [Providing public input](https://publiclab.org/wiki/public-comment) to established regulatory processes such as permitting for land uses that are continuing, changing, or new. * Documenting exceedances or violations to trigger agency investigation, administrative action, and/or enforcement action * Identifying gaps in regulatory coverage and designing new regulations * Providing political cover to regulators so they can stand up to corrupt political/economic influence (Example: showing proof of valid grounds to sue the government agency for not acting) * Litigation against government agencies for not meeting legal standards for environmental protection Interacting with more powerful corporate neighbors * Mediation with industry * Litigation against industry **Types of audiences projects may seek to reach:** * Others who are affected * Neighbors who are also constituents * Community leaders in churches, schools, civic associations, care businesses * Landowners making private land use decisions * [Elected representatives](https://publiclab.org/notes/stevie/03-20-2017/thinking-about-local-level-advocacy) * Agency civil servants * Industry employees, management, ownership, or board of directors * Journalists * Environmental lawyers Additional methods published on Public Lab and tagged with `advocacy` will appear on the [advocacy methods page](https://publiclab.org/methods#advocacy)
## Activities Activities on Public Lab that have been tagged with `activity:advocacy` will appear here [activities:advocacy]
## Research notes Research notes on Public Lab that have been tagged with `advocacy` will appear here [notes:advocacy]
## Wikis on advocacy [wikis:advocacy]
## Join the conversation ### Questions from the community + See if other community members are asking questions like yours + Ask a question so other community members can offer support + Sign up below to be notified when someone asks an advocacy-related question Questions tagged with `question:advocacy` will appear here [questions:advocacy]