The 'Initiativgruppe Leben' [Initiative Group Life] (IGL) was founded in Leipzig in 1987 out of the long-existing Working Group on Environmental Protection within the framework of the youth rectory. The IGL combined environmental policy demands with societal reforms. Individual project groups concentrated in other areas apart from ecology and included Civic Rights, Questions relating to conscription, the political situation in Rumania, and Perestroika in the Soviet Union. The IGL sought to engage more actively with the public and move beyond the safety provided by operating under the aegis of parochial association. The ’Pleiße marches’ of 1988/89 are among the most well known IGL initiated events in Leipzig. In autumn 1989, members of the IGL played a major role in mobilizing for the Monday Demonstrations