Action Briefing Oct 2006 - Nov 2006
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

FOE National Conference 2006

Losing my Virginity

With bicycle panniers packed to the brim and one Multi Faith exhibition strapped to my back, I looked like a butterfly as Karen Leach and I cycled through Nottingham. Being a new Birmingham Friends of the Earth activist, I went with an open mind to the National Friends of the Earth Conference, held at Nottingham University on the weekend 8-10 September.

Several hundred attended the conference in an impressive venue. Right from the start there was a buzz that really helped the success of the Conference. It is that atmosphere, that is hard for organisers to ensure, that puts that extra enthusiasm into people. While I knew few people at the start, I soon recognised a lot of faces, and whether I knew people or not, it was easy to strike up a conversation with anyone in any situation. Professional workshops, thought-provoking plenaries, good food and fast-flowing beer all helped a positive atmosphere at conference.

Solutions and “reaching out to new audiences” were the key themes of Conference this year. The solutions work was trying to encourage us to not just campaign against things but also in favour of things, as the environmental movement is all too often associated with negativity. Being in favour of local shops is important to emphasise rather than just campaigning against supermarkets. Reaching out to new audiences was shown to be crucial if real changes to help the environment, and therefore its people, are really to be accepted by the population at large.

Birmingham Friends of the Earth had much to be proud of at the Conference – our stall attracted a lot of interest and Maud Grainger’s seminar on our Multi Faith project was exceptionally well received and a key element in Friends of the Earth’s battle to reach out to new audiences.
For the conference virgins out there, get to the next conference and before long, you will be as experienced as Karen Leach!

Chris Williams