Fantastic change and where to find it : possibilities for Lithuanian environmental NGOs to increase their impact and chances to mobilize the movement

Abstract: Currently humanity faces environmental challenges that require political action in order to maintain the integrity of human and environmental systems. However, political authorities are not always ready to make rigorous decisions to support the necessary changes. Thus, social movements as a recognised agent of cultural, political and social change have the power to push for these decisions. Over the last decades environmental movements had an outstanding impact on political and social domains. Being a powerful actor of change, environmental movements are needed to pressure the authorities to respond to current environmental challenges. This study is focused on environmental movement in Lithuania. Before Lithuania regained its independence, the movement used to be very powerful, however, within a couple of decades it diminished and became ineffective. Therefore, this thesis aims to study how the movement could recover and increase its impact on the authorities and society. This is a qualitative study of Lithuanian environmental social movement organisations. The foundation of the data collection for this study was qualitative interviews with activists working at these organisations. The data is analysed utilising Tilly’s WUNC (worthiness, unity, numbers and commitment) theoretical framework. The focus of the analysis is to understand how the organisations experience and display WUNC, also which factors make the constituents stronger or weaker and consequently how that contributes to the impact these organisations make. The interviews revealed that the organisations mostly suffer from the low numbers of supporters and lack of involvement and commitment from the activists. In this thesis possibilities are discussed how organisations could improve their WUNC and address the problems they are facing.