Action Briefing Dec 2002 - Jan 2003
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

BME Environmental Forum

Reaching the parts other environmental campaigners can't reach . .

One of the main problems faced by the environmental sector as a whole, and especially in a multi-cultural city like Birmingham is the fact that its members, employed or voluntary, are for the most part white and middle class. Black and Minority Ethnic Groups are largely neglected. What the forum seeks to do is to examine why this is, look at what we can do as a partnership to change this, and then to take action to achieve it.

Early days, but so far we’re planning an energy efficiency competition for schools in the Handsworth area linked into issues of fuel poverty, to begin at the start of the January term, and a careers fair aimed at black and minority ethnic pupils and students. We’ve also been working with Martin Glynn of Embrace, who specialises in Social Enterprise but who has been very helpful in providing pointers on how to get new groups interested in what FOE does.

A lot of the BME communities in Brum are based in some of the poorest areas of the city with the worst environments, so these should be our target audiences if we want to spread the word about environmental justice and empower people to campaign for clean, safe surroundings. Watch this space to see if it works!

Jenny Thatcher