Platform’s Values

Challenging Power

Platform believes in social and ecological justice, and consensus-based decision-making. We live in a world where excessive corporate and state power reinforces oppression. In solidarity with communities and movements, we work to confront undemocratic, abusive and ecologically destructive activities of corporations and governments.

As a London-based organisation, we recognise the need to challenge our city, its institutions, and companies to take responsibility for the colonial past and present that forms the basis for much of its wealth and power.

Listening carefully to and working alongside frontline communities, social movements, activists, artists, educators, campaigners and researchers, we aim to bring about a future which is just, desirable, creative and attainable.

Challenging our own power

Platform believes that how we work internally and with others should embody our values. Racism, sexism, classism and other forms of oppression manifest themselves throughout society. We recognise that in our own upbringings we were constantly exposed to oppressive systems. This often results in patterns of behaviour that consciously or unconsciously reproduce oppression. Social and ecological justice and anti-oppression must be lived and tackled in daily interaction. The how is the why.

We are committed to examining and challenging the way that power and privilege based on factors like race, gender, class or age manifest themselves within our own organisation. This is a constantly evolving process, and can raise difficult questions and uncomfortable situations. It requires a commitment to careful, active listening, and a willingness to speak up, learn, and acknowledge mistakes. We believe in supporting each other in this work, and we also raise these issues with external allies, collaborators and partners. We expect others to raise them with us.

Trust, respect and creativity

Platform believes in the power of creativity. We also believe that a thoughtful process of collaboration leads to flexibility, resilience and the ability to solve problems in unforeseen ways. This helps us to be open to change, long-termist in our thinking, and to create impact through our work.

People, work and organisations function best and most creatively with high levels of trust. This needs to be built through the expression of mutual respect, setting boundaries, taking care of and showing consideration for each other, but also respectfully dealing with differences. Trust and respect must be continually worked at and should not be abused or taken for granted. We are accountable to each other and to the work.

We expect each other and our collaborators to take creative risks, and have the freedom to make leaps. When those risks pay off we celebrate, and when they don’t we strive to investigate and learn from the successes and failures.

We expect to conduct ourselves based on these values, and our values inform our policies and procedures. We have not got all the answers, but these are the questions we ask of ourselves, of the people we work with, communities and audiences, and the wider world.