IRL Resources for Campaigning¶
A companion to the FOSS tools list. Software wins you sovereignty over your infrastructure; this page covers the work that happens off the screen — door-knocks, banner drops, jail support, zine tables, skill-shares, and the long quiet labour of building a base.
Curated for organizers in Treaty 6, 7, and 8 territories (Edmonton, Alberta, and across Canada) with a strong bias toward things that are free and toward the public-domain / anti-copyright corner of the movement library. Maintained by The Bunker Operations. Suggestions welcome — corrections especially welcome.
If you only follow five links
The Commons Social Change Library (the meta-index — start here), Beautiful Trouble Toolbox, Sprout Distro PDF catalogue, CCLA Know-Your-Rights for Protesters, and the Parkland Institute for the Alberta lens. Everything else on this page deepens one of those five.
Edmonton & Treaty 6 — Start Local¶
The campaigning resources nearest to home. Most international FOSS and movement-library lists skip this part; this is where it goes.
Bookstores, infoshops, zine spaces¶
| Place | What it is |
|---|---|
| Audreys Books | Edmonton's oldest indie bookstore (since 1975, Jasper & 107). Strong Indigenous, Canadian, and local-author selection; hosts launches. |
| Edmonton Zine Fair | Annual all-ages free event for DIY zinesters and small-press creators. |
| EPL Makerspaces | Stanley A. Milner branch: free 3D printing training, recording studios, sewing, laser cutter, book-binding. Free with a (free) library card; small materials fees. |
| Edmonton Tool Library | 600+ tools to borrow. Useful for postering rigs, banner-build days, event prep. $50/year individual. |
Glass Bookshop closed in January 2024
A common mention in older Edmonton activist guides — drop it from any updated handout.
Mutual aid, food, community care¶
| Group | What they do |
|---|---|
| Food Not Bombs Edmonton | Monthly community meals at Mary Burlie Park, "Helping the Humans" delivery program, community pantry/garden. Volunteers welcome. |
| Bear Clan Patrol Edmonton | Indigenous-led community safety patrols Mon/Wed/Fri from Churchill Square. Volunteers welcome. |
| Boyle Street Community Services | Frontline org for people experiencing homelessness (since 1971). Recently opened the King Thunderbird Centre in McCauley. |
| Bissell Centre | Anti-poverty work — housing, employment, FASD support. Volunteer + advocacy entry points. |
Print, gather, organize¶
| Space | Why you'd go |
|---|---|
| SUBprint (UASU) | Full-service printing in U of A's Students' Union Building; open to public, ethically sourced, large-format up to 60". Cheapest student-run shop in town. |
| EPL Makerspaces — Print + Bind | Free B&W printing for cardholders (with quotas); paid colour, 3D, laser cut, book-binding. EPL cards are free for any Edmontonian. |
| The Carrot Coffeehouse | Volunteer-run, Arts on the Ave–affiliated venue on Alberta Avenue. Rentable for community events; many free. |
| Latitude 53 | Edmonton artist-run centre on 106 St. Free to visit; membership unlocks studio/showing access. |
| Old Strathcona Farmers' Market | Year-round Saturday market, ~140 vendors. High-traffic site for tabling/petition outreach (with vendor permission). |
Edmonton bylaws prohibit unauthorized postering on public property
Wheatpasting on city assets carries fines under Bylaw 14600. Community boards, university kiosks, and private-with-permission walls are the legal options. The legal-versus-illegal trade-off is yours to make — but make it knowingly.
Indigenous Organizing — Treaty Territory Resources¶
Indigenous-led organizations doing the work on the land we're guests on.
| Organization | Role |
|---|---|
| Idle No More | Movement hub for teach-ins, action toolkits, Land Back resources. |
| Yellowhead Institute | First Nation–led research at TMU. Publishes the Red Papers (Land Back, Cash Back), the Yellowhead Brief, and Special Reports — every one of them a public-use document, free to download. |
| Indigenous Climate Action | Indigenous-led climate-justice org with strong Treaty 6/8 leadership (Mikisew Cree). Toolkits, divestment guides, youth programs. |
| RAVEN Trust | Crowdfunds legal defence for Indigenous Nations protecting land and water rights. |
| Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations | Body representing 17 Treaty 6 nations; Edmonton-based. Useful for protocol questions and Treaty Recognition Day events. |
Alberta & Canada-Wide Networks¶
The orgs that show up at the same hearings, write the same letters, and have institutional memory most digital tools can't replicate.
| Network | What you'd reach for |
|---|---|
| Public Interest Alberta | Province-wide non-partisan advocacy on public services. Annual conference + advocacy training. |
| Parkland Institute (U of A) | 80+ peer-reviewed reports since 1999 on Alberta energy, health care, labour, taxation. Every publication free. Strongest single Alberta lens on this page. |
| Friends of Medicare | Edmonton-founded coalition (1979) defending public health care. Town halls, the Urgent Conversations tour, petitions. |
| Council of Canadians — Edmonton Chapter | Active local chapter: tailings/orphan wells, Alberta Beyond Coal, Pesticide Free Edmonton. |
| Climate Justice Edmonton | Direct action, banner drops, art installations, Indigenous solidarity. Instagram is the live channel. |
| Pembina Institute | Clean-energy think tank. Edmonton + Calgary offices. Free technical reports on Alberta's energy transition. |
| Alberta Federation of Labour | 26 affiliates, 170,000+ workers. Runs the Fight Back Academy — apprenticeship-style organizer training, free for affiliated members. |
| Edmonton & District Labour Council | Local labour federation since 1906. Solidarity Shopping campaign, Greater Edmonton Alliance partnership. |
| Greater Edmonton Alliance | Faith/labour/community alliance using Industrial Areas Foundation (Alinsky-tradition) methodology. 2-day and week-long Leadership Institutes since 2005. |
| APIRG (UofA) | Student-funded research/advocacy hub. Funds working groups, lends button-makers and other organizing kit, accepts community (non-student) members. |
Online Zine Libraries & Anarchist Archives¶
The free, downloadable, anti-copyright corner of the movement library. Most of these were built by volunteers; treat them well.
Where to start¶
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Hundreds of practical organizer zines — direct action, security, legal, anti-oppression, prisons. Every zine in print + screen PDF. The single highest-leverage site for an Alberta organizer.
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Crowd-curated archive with PDF / EPUB / imposed-for-print formats via Bookbuilder. Multilingual.
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Free zines, posters, agitprop. Recent: Make Ready: Safeguarding Our Movements against Repression (2025).
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Volunteer-run archive of labour history, anarchist theory, zines, and contemporary articles. Strong on workplace organizing.
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Internet Archive — Zine Archive
Curated IA collection with thematic sub-collections: anarchism, security, prisoner support. IA does not log IP addresses.
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14 print-ready PDF pamphlets on theory, housing, immigration, queer liberation, mutual aid. Bilingual EN/ES, CC BY-NC.
Dead URLs to scrub from older lists
zinelibrary.info— squatted, now hosts unrelated content. Use azinelibrary.org instead.mtlcounter-info.org— moved to mtlcontreinfo.org.treegroup.info— moved to effectivecollective.net.
Canadian counter-info¶
| Site | Region |
|---|---|
| North Shore Counter-Info | Anarchist news + locally produced zine PDFs. Southern Ontario rooted. The best Canadian-content first stop. |
| Montréal Contre-Info | French-language. Posters, tracts, periodicals (e.g., La Mauvaise Herbe) downloadable. |
| Anchor Archive (Halifax) | 5,000+ physical zine collection at RadStorm. Some catalog online; primarily in-person. |
| Toronto Zine Library | At the Tranzac, 292 Brunswick. Catalog online; physical borrowing only. |
| QPIRG Concordia Alternative Library | Free community lending library, Montreal. Anti-racism, anti-colonialism, queer issues, prisons, labour. |
| Broken Pencil — CA zine library directory | Master list of Canadian zine libraries (Halifax, Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Vancouver). |
Alberta gap
There is no major active online Alberta- or Edmonton-based anarchist zine archive. Canadian online presence is dominated by Ontario, Quebec, and Halifax. If you build one, the rest of the country will use it.
Specific zines worth printing tonight¶
| Zine | Topic |
|---|---|
| What is Security Culture? A Guide to Staying Safe | The standard intro. |
| Security Culture: A Handbook for Activists | Canadian-context primer covering CSIS, RCMP, informants. |
| Digital Security for Activists (Riseup) | Pairs with EFF's SSD below. |
| Dean Spade — Mutual Aid | The canonical mutual-aid framework. |
| Big Door Brigade — Mutual Aid Toolbox | Spade's curated in-browser toolkit (bail, food, housing, immigration, disability). |
| Autonomous Tenants Union — Tactics Vol. 1 | Tenant organizing tactics. |
| A Practical Guide to Prisoner Support | Court support, jail support, the long arc. |
| Recipes for Disaster (CrimethInc.) | 62 sections covering everything from wheatpasting to affinity groups. |
Canonical Organizing Handbooks¶
The texts that show up on every organizer's shelf, free and otherwise.
| Resource | Why |
|---|---|
| The Commons Social Change Library | Curated index of thousands of campaigning, organizing, and narrative resources. Treat as a meta-library — most links below are also catalogued there. |
| Beautiful Trouble Toolbox | Web pattern-language of tactics, principles, theories, case studies from 175+ frontline activists. CC-licensed. |
| Training for Change — Tools | 100+ free articles and exercises on facilitation, direct action, group dynamics. |
| Marshall Ganz — Public Narrative Worksheet | The Self/Us/Now storytelling worksheet, in PDF. |
| Marshall Ganz — What Is Public Narrative? | The original 2008 essay. |
| NDI — Public Narrative Participant Guide | Full Ganz-derived training workbook. |
| Saul Alinsky — Rules for Radicals (1971) | Internet Archive. Read it; argue with it. |
| Midwest Academy Strategy Chart | The single most-used campaign-strategy chart in North American organizing. |
| adrienne maree brown — Emergent Strategy | IA borrowable copy. Print is paid via AK Press. |
Labour Organizing¶
| Resource | Notes |
|---|---|
| Labor Notes — Secrets of a Successful Organizer Handouts | Every exercise, worksheet, and roleplay handout from the book — free, EN + ES. The book itself is paid. |
| Strike School (Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, with the McAlevey method) | Six-week free online course in deep organizing. McAlevey passed in 2024; the school continues. |
| Jane McAlevey — No Shortcuts | IA borrowable full text. |
| CUPE — Organizing Toolkit | Public-facing CUPE advocacy toolkit. |
| Workers' Action Centre (Toronto) | Multilingual fact sheets on Ontario workplace rights. Principles transfer; specifics don't. |
| AFL Fight Back Academy | Apprenticeship-style organizer training, AB, free for affiliated members. Most directly Alberta-relevant labour training on this page. |
Movement Strategy & Theory of Change¶
| Resource | Notes |
|---|---|
| Bill Moyer — Movement Action Plan | The 8-stage MAP (1986 Dandelion edition). Foundational text on movement lifecycle. |
| Bill Moyer — Doing Democracy | Book-length expansion. IA borrowable. |
| Erica Chenoweth — Why Civil Resistance Works (data) | The 3.5% threshold research. Free downloads of the corrected tables, 185-page web appendix, NAVCO replication files. |
| ICNC Resource Library | Hundreds of civil-resistance guides in 70+ languages, including Hardy Merriman's campaign-planning workbook. |
| This Is An Uprising — Resources | Engler brothers' momentum-organizing companion materials. |
| Ayni Institute — Movement Ecology / Swarm | Self-paced courses. Free with unlimited scholarships. |
| Sunrise Movement Resources | Students Rise Up Guidebook, GND talking points, action guides. |
Climate & Environmental Campaigning¶
| Resource | Notes |
|---|---|
| Climate Resistance Handbook (Daniel Hunter, 350.org) | Direct PDF. Multiple languages. |
| 350.org Trainings Hub | Online courses, books, training tools across 8 languages. |
| Pembina Institute — Publications | Alberta-focused energy/climate research. |
| Climate Action Network Canada | Reports, position statements, NDC submissions. |
| Council of Canadians | Per-campaign toolkits and email-action templates. |
| Sierra Club — Activist Toolkit | 6-phase campaign roadmap, comms templates. US-based but transferable. |
Know Your Rights — Canada¶
No Alberta-specific protester KYR card exists
The Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre defers to CCLA's national guide. If your org wants a printable Alberta-specific tip card with provincial trespass / loitering / public-assembly law, that's a content gap nobody has filled. Consider this an invitation.
| Resource | Coverage |
|---|---|
| CCLA — Know Your Rights: Protesters | Flagship Canadian KYR guide for demonstrators. Print, fold, hand out. |
| CCLA — Downloadable Resources Hub | Filming-police, racial-profiling, queer-students guides. |
| BCCLA — Protest Rights Trifold | Pocket-sized; print-and-fold for marches. |
| BCCLA — Arrest Pocketbook (2023) | EN/FR/ES/Cantonese/Mandarin/Punjabi. |
| Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre | U of C–affiliated. Responds to public civil-liberties questions; runs presentations. |
| ICLMG | 45-org Canadian coalition tracking national-security/anti-terror law impacts on dissent. |
| Movement Defence Committee (Toronto) | Working group of Law Union of Ontario. Legal-observer training, demo legal support, arrest-hotline support. |
Direct Action — Postering, Banners, Props¶
| Resource | Use |
|---|---|
| CrimethInc. — Field Guide to Wheatpasting | Recipes, design, deployment. The definitive zine. |
| Rainforest Action Network — How To Make Wheatpaste | Plain flour-and-water recipe. |
| Justseeds — Downloadable Graphics | High-res protest graphics from a 30-artist printmaker collective. CC BY-NC-ND. |
| Beehive Design Collective | Anti-copyright large-format graphic-narrative posters (Mesoamérica Resiste, True Cost of Coal). EN/ES/FR/DE. |
| CrimethInc. — Tools (posters, stickers, agitprop) | Print and go. |
| Backbone Campaign — Banner Building | Giant banners and overpass-drop how-tos. |
| Bread & Puppet Theater | The "Cheap Art" pedagogy: cardboard, paper-mâché, scavenged-material puppetry. |
| Carolyn Swiszcz — Free Zine Template | One-sheet fold-and-cut zine, letter-sized, CC. |
Protest Medic & Jail/Court Support¶
| Resource | Notes |
|---|---|
| Riot Medicine (Håkan Geijer) | 486-page open-source street-medic textbook + 8-panel zine. CC0/Public Domain. |
| Chicago Action Medical — Street Medic Handbook (2nd ed.) | The widely-circulated handbook. |
| Rosehip Medic — 20-Hour Manual | Full curriculum. Service in Portland, but the manual is universal. |
| Rosehip — Chemical Weapons & Police Violence | Tear-gas / pepper-spray aftercare, action-prep infographics. |
| Mutual Aid Disaster Relief — Health & Wellness | Hosts Chicago Action Medical handbook + other medic PDFs. |
| The Commons — Jail Solidarity & Supporting Prisoners | Cross-jurisdictional curated guides on responding to arrest. |
| Montréal Contre-Info — How-To Index | Anarchist how-to guides, Canadian. |
Demonstrations, Marshalling, De-escalation¶
| Resource | Use |
|---|---|
| Streetwise & Steady — Action Marshal Workbook | Choose Democracy workbook on de-escalation, crowd coordination, safety. |
| NVDA Marshal & Peacekeeper Training Guide | Practical curriculum. |
| The Commons — Resources for Marshals | Curated roundup. |
| Activist Handbook | Open-source wiki, 450+ guides on march planning, posters, de-escalation. |
| CrimethInc. — How to Form an Affinity Group | Foundational small-group action structure. |
Facilitation, Consensus, Meetings¶
| Resource | Notes |
|---|---|
| Seeds for Change — Consensus Handbook | 228 pages. The standard practical guide. Short version too. |
| Seeds for Change — Resources | Anti-copyright (better than CC for forking): consensus, facilitation, minute-taking, running workshops. |
| AORTA Cooperative — Resources | Anti-oppression facilitation co-op. Free zines + monthly newsletter. Workshops paid. |
| Effective Collective (Tree Bressen) | 100+ articles, handouts, workshop exercises on consensus and meetings. Includes the Group Works pattern card deck. CC BY-NC-SA. |
| Activist Trauma Support — burnout zine | Burnout is a strategic threat, not a personal failing. |
Digital Security for Activists (the FOSS↔IRL bridge)¶
The line between digital and physical security blurs the moment a riot cop has your phone. These guides assume both.
| Resource | Notes |
|---|---|
| EFF — Surveillance Self-Defense | Tool guides (Signal, Tor, etc.) and scenario guides for journalists, activists, LGBTQ+ youth, students. |
| Security in a Box | Front Line Defenders + Tactical Tech. Comprehensive HRD digital + physical security guide. CC BY-SA. |
| Holistic Security Manual | Tactical Tech's HRD wellbeing + digital + physical security manual. Hi-res, lo-res, single-page, and section PDFs. |
| Citizen Lab (Munk School, U of T) | Public reports on spyware, surveillance, transnational repression. Canadian-based — strong local pitch. |
| Riseup — Security Resources | Curated guides incl. EFF SSD, Security in a Box, Tails. |
Petitions, Door-Knocking, Canvassing — Canada¶
| Resource | Notes |
|---|---|
| Leadnow — Start a Petition | Free Canadian petition platform; community-petition coordinator support available. |
| Leadnow — Winning Petitions training | Strategy resources for Canadian campaigners. |
| Ekō (formerly SumOfUs) — Campaigns | Global advocacy with active Canadian campaigns. |
| Commons — Canvassing & Door-Knocking Roundup | Curated PDF: scripts, checklists, training agendas. |
| Commons — Deep Canvassing Scripts | Climate-action scripts incl. the BC-based Neighbours United toolkit. |
| Knockbase — Canadian Canvassing Regulations | Province-by-province canvassing law summary. |
Make Your Own Zine¶
The fastest path from "I should write something" to "I have 20 copies in a tote bag at the next meeting."
| Resource | Notes |
|---|---|
| Stolen Sharpie Revolution (Alex Wrekk) | Author hub. Print is paid; web resources are free. |
| U of Calgary — Zines libguide | Calgary academic guide to zine-making, layout, printing. |
| Douglas College — How to Print or Make a Zine | Library guide with Electric Zine Maker / Flipsnack tutorials. |
| Sarah Mirk — How to Make a Zine | Beginner one-page zine template. CC. |
| Microcosm — zines catalog | Make a Zine! and Making Stuff & Doing Things. Books are paid; CC reuse permitted. |
Get Involved¶
The Bunker Operations is a worker co-op in Edmonton. We build Canadian-sovereign, open-source digital infrastructure for grassroots organizations — and we run sessions like the one this stack was born in. Sliding-scale rates for non-profits and labour organizations. Coffee is free.
bnkops.com admin@thebunkerops.ca
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