Advocacy is not a straight line. It’s a wheel that keeps turning

Advocacy is not a single act but a continuous cycle—an advocacy wheel—that turns with every effort to create, reinforce, and sustain change. This wheel includes key stages such as raising awareness, mobilising communities, engaging policymakers, monitoring progress, and responding to setbacks. Each phase feeds into the next, and importantly, the process must repeat. Without repetition, even hard-won victories risk being reversed.

A powerful example of this cycle in motion is the environmental advocacy campaign in Athwelthota, Kalutara district. Environmental activists successfully opposed a proposal to build a mini hydropower plant at the Pilithuda waterfall—an ecologically sensitive site that is home to 32 fish species endemic to that specific area. The initial threat was countered through awareness campaigns and the mobilisation of residents and environmental organisations. This led to formal complaints, media exposure, and intervention by regulatory bodies like the Central Environmental Authority, eventually resulting in the withdrawal of the project proposal.

However, the story did not end there. The activists did not disband after their “victory.” Instead, they remained vigilant, closely watching for renewed threats. They have continued to raise their voices whenever signs emerge of possible development plans that could harm the ecosystem. Their repeated interventions are not acts of paranoia but of necessary, cyclical advocacy—the kind that recognises that power, profit, and policy interests often resurface.

This is why advocacy must revolve like a wheel. Each rotation—each repetition—strengthens the foundation of change. A single protest or petition may spark awareness, but lasting impact demands follow-up, review, and readiness to respond again. As the global civil society alliance CIVICUS aptly states, “Advocacy is not a straight line. It’s a wheel that keeps turning, powered by the voices of those who refuse to be silent.”

The Athwelthota campaign reminds us that advocacy is not about closure but about commitment. When communities and advocates accept that progress is dynamic and sometimes fragile, they understand that repetition is not redundancy—it is resistance. It is how lasting change is made and how fragile victories are defended.

Read the story of Athwelthota (Sinhala)