A new resource which aims to equip people to have their say in political and community life goes online today.

Mobilise! is a partnership project between Lancaster University’s Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts, the University’s Politics, Philosophy and Religion Department and Global Link, a development education charity based in Lancaster. It is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)’s Impact Acceleration Account (IAA).

This innovative project is designed to enable active citizenship and increase people's confidence about engaging in political and civic life. This could be anything from volunteering in the local community, to writing to a local councillor or organising a campaign for change.

Working with volunteers and Lancaster's asylum seeker and refugee community, the resources form a course on Active Citizenship, based on historical and contemporary stories of activism.

The course showcases in an accessible way case studies and material on many amazing campaigns from the last 200 years - from the Lancashire Nanas, who objected to fracking in their local area, to Conscientious Objectors of the First World War and the current Lift the Ban campaign which wants to change the law on allowing asylum seekers to work.

As well as learning about these fascinating stories, participants can explore themes and issues that the stories raise and try simple, yet engaging, activities to learn more.

The course material includes:

· An introduction to the main concepts of Active Citizenship – Community and Solidarity, Rights in Policy and Practice and Methods of Active Citizenship.

· Easily accessible videos on 8 main case studies, looking at stories of activism

· Resources, learning and activities based around the case studies.

Dr Christopher Boyko, who is leading the project at Lancaster University, said: “We want to make sure that everyone involved feels more confident about participating in political and community life.”

The stories were collected as part of two National Lottery Heritage Funded (NLHF) projects, Remembering Resistance, based at Lancaster University, and Documenting Dissent, managed by Global Link.

Remembering Resistance collected, shared and celebrated stories of women activists from the North of England over the last 100 years. https://www.rememberingresistance.com/

Documenting Dissent is a community digital history project charting dissent and activism in the North West of England http://www.documentingdissent.org.uk/

The Mobilise! launch will take place online today and the new resource will be available for the first time from 4pm on 27 October. https://www.rememberingresistance.com/active-citizenship.html

· Global Link is a Development Education Centre and charity based in Lancaster. Founded in 1993, Global Link’s mission is to support creative learning and action for a just and sustainable world. It runs a range of short and long-term projects which provide resources and practical support to educators, the public, and vulnerable communities, including asylum seekers and refugees.