Why We Started Aktivismo
Sometimes a shared project does not begin with a grand plan, but with a recurring feeling that builds over years: there is so much will, so much intelligence, so much courage in our civil society and yet an astonishing amount of it never makes it into the world, because the path from idea to action is often unnecessarily hard.
What we kept seeing
We saw people in initiatives, associations or loose groups getting stuck in endless email chains, unclear responsibilities and the question of how to begin at all without having to do everything perfectly straight away. Often the motivation was there, but the time was missing, or the structure, or simply a first tangible step. And sometimes it was just that quiet sense of being overwhelmed that arrives when you realise how big an issue is and how small your own window of time feels. We recognised ourselves in that and that is exactly why it would not let us go.
The longing for a first doable step
In many conversations the same pattern kept appearing: first comes the idea, then the flutter of nerves, then the search for words, then the worry about saying the wrong thing and at some point energy turns into a knot in the mind. We wanted something that helps us and others loosen that knot without handing over responsibility. Something that does not pretend there are easy solutions, but still helps bring order to thoughts. When we talk about clarity at Aktivismo, we often mean exactly that: not knowing more than before, but knowing better what is possible next.
How we thought about a tool
As Johann, for a long time I believed that good structures are simply something you have to work for, with discipline and patience. That is true, but it is not the whole truth. I noticed how much energy gets lost to repetition: in phrasing, in finding the right tone, in sorting what is already there. At the same time, Madeleina kept looking at how a process feels, whether it invites you in or puts you off, whether it leaves room for humanity. Little by little, the idea took shape to build a tool that does not lecture, but accompanies and does not replace, but supports.
Why it became the Campaign Creator
We ended up with the Campaign Creator because it starts exactly at that sensitive point where so many ideas get stuck: before anything becomes visible. A draft is not yet a campaign, but it is often what makes the next step possible at all. We wanted to create a place where you can quickly turn a thought into a first text, a structure and a few manageable building blocks, not as a finished truth, but as material to test, discard and develop further. What matters to us is that you do not need a professional façade for this. We know that effectiveness does not depend on speaking the vocabulary of the campaign world.
What matters to us about AI
We use AI because it can save time and reduce blocks, but we do not trust it with the responsibility that belongs to us as humans. For us, that boundary is not technical, but a matter of attitude. We do not want anyone to think the machine decided what is right, or that a good text can replace good action. At the same time, we see the risks, including the ones you would rather not dwell on for too long: harmful content, bias, the hunger for resources. That is why we try to stay clear, build in safeguards and keep reminding ourselves that every output has to pass through our hands before it is allowed into the world.
Where this project belongs for us
For us, Aktivismo is an attempt to make engagement a little more accessible and more human without simplifying it. It should remain free, because we do not want an idea to fail first at the point of payment. And it should earn trust, because without trust there is no space where people dare to think in unfinished ways. We are a small team and we know we cannot do everything and we do not see everything. But perhaps that is part of the origin story: we did not start Aktivismo as a finished answer, but as an invitation to get stuck less often together when it is really time to set off.
