Birmingham Friends of the Earth - Newsletter Dec 2013 - Jan 2014

Birmingham

friends of the earth

newsletter Dec 2013 - Jan 2014

Birmingham:

our future in a changing world Birmingham City Council has just released the draft of its hugely important Birmingham Development Plan which will set out a spatial vision and strategy for future planning decisions in Birmingham for the period to 2031. It has also released the Birmingham Mobility Action Plan, which sets out the councils aims for developing Birmingham’s transport network.

Continued on Page 13

contents 3 - campaigns’ digest 5 - in the media 7 - Warehouse news 8 - guest article - fossil free UK 9 - pedalling for laughs 11 - more than honey & bee tea 13 - Birmingham: Our Future in a Changing World (continued

from front page)

16 -big green debate: GM crops 18 -one good thing to do - Permaculture 19 -volunteer appeal 20 - a low carbon pioneer in Poland 21 - volunteer spotlight 22 - diary 23 - contacts

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campaigns’ digest Hello, good day and an obviously Christmassy welcome to your latest Campaigns’ Digest! Over the last couple of months since the last issue, we’ve been busy promoting and preparing for our comedy gig, Pedalling for Laughs. However we’ve also found the time to respond to numerous transport consultations and organised a film screening of More than Honey alongside a Bea Tea. Energy & Climate Change Unfortunately there was some more bad news on this front, as the Lords voted against a clean power target amendment to the Energy Bill. Readers will recall that the House of Commons rejected a similar amendment back in June by a majority of just 23 votes. This time around, the vote was even closer but still just short, with a government majority of just 14 votes. The rejection of a target for reducing emissions from the energy sector by 2030, means that the UK is much less likely to benefit from the green and renewable sector as those companies invest elsewhere, as well as making it more difficult to reach our Climate Change commitments.

There was more positive news when the Fossil Free Tour came to Birmingham on 31st October.

Featuring 350’s Bill McKibben, the event was part of a tour that included stops in Berlin, Amsterdam,

Edinburgh and London. In the UK, the tour aimed to kick off the People & Planet Fossil Free campaign, which aims to get universities to divest from the fossil fuel industry. You can read more about this campaign in our guest article.

Biodiversity Over the past couple of months we’ve been mainly working on organising a More than Honey screening in Sutton. Check out the article by Rebecca Pollard to find out how this went. By the time you read this the Government should be consulting on the National Pollinator Strategy, which will be the final chance to ensure that the Government’s action on the issue of bee decline is as strong as possible.

We will be responding to the consultation, and would encourage anyone with local knowledge and views on the subject of bee decline to do the same.

Transport We have been responding to some of the first proposals to come out of the funding Birmingham City Council received from the Cycle City Ambition Grant, about spending money on canals and greenways.

We pointed out that spending £6 million on canals, which can only take a certain volume of traffic, and are much less usable in the dark unless you spend even more money to ensure they are well lit, might not

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campaigns’ digest (continued from page 3) possible levels of funding. However, there were few concrete steps, and we also pointed out that a cycling journey target of 5% was not ambitious enough.

be the best use of funds.

The Council have also been consulting on proposals for 20mph limits in Birmingham. This would make all residential roads 20mph alongside some sections of main roads through local centres, as well as outsides schools and leisure centres. As this is something we have spent a lot of time campaigning on in the past, we’re naturally very pleased. However, we haven’t been resting on our laurels and have been actively trying to get people to respond positively to the consultation, as well as trying to generate support with our petition and getting people to sign our giant novelty 20mph Christmas card.

We also responded to Centro’s WM Cycle Charter, which contained Centro’s vision for cycling in West Midlands. There were some good statements of intent, including on

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The final bit of news on the transport front was the launch of Birmingham City Council’s Birmingham Mobility Action Plan.

This was the Council’s 20+ year vision for transport in the city. While not perfect it contained a lot of good ideas encouraging modal shift to public and active transport, as well as a connected transport system where each type of transport works together as part of a greater whole.

See Robert’s and Adam’s article on a future vision for the city for more details on this Planning The big news on the planning front is that the Council’s Cabinet have passed the draft Birmingham Development Plan, which will now go to consultation in January. The Birmingham Development Plan is the statutory planning document for the city, and determines the Council’s priorities in terms of land use and development. It has a massive impact on what kind of developments are approved or rejected when they come for planning permission, and so it is vital the Council get it right. You can also read more detail about what’s in the draft by reading Robert and Adam’s main article.

Julien Pritchard

in the media Media coverage has mainly centred around transport issues over the past couple of months, which certainly makes a change from wheelie bins!

First up was an interview for Midlands Today about the “Car 2 Go” scheme. You may remember that I was interviewed on this subject back in the summer. Three months into the scheme and I was interviewed again. I pointed out that if people were jumping in them to go a short distance across town, then it would be increasing emissions compared to a trip that was probably done by bike or foot before. Whereas if it was being used in a way which meant people were giving up a car, and just using the scheme when they needed one, then there would be an environmental benefit. However with a “Car 2 Go” average journey of 3 miles, it would appear to be very much the former.

I was also interviewed on the Radio WM Danny Kelly Show about a story from the Daily Mail about how we were all going to have 30 recycling bins outside our homes because of the EU. I made the case for separation of recycling, especially glass, in order to produce a better quality recyclate, but also acknowledged that we needed to make it easy for people.

and a great piece in the Birmingham Mail online previewing the gig.

Finally for the launch of the Birmingham Mobility Action Plan, I was interviewed on BBC Midlands Today giving the plans a cautious welcome as a holistic, sustainable and ambitious vision for transport that puts people first. While also pointing out that it needs the political will to make it a reality.

That’s probably it for media for this month, but I’m sure we’ll have plenty more opportunities to get our message across in the New Year.

Julien Pritchard

Our comedy gig also provided an opportunity for some media coverage with an interview to promote the gig on the Adrian Goldberg show on BBC Radio WM

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warehouse The shops and companies here have all come together because they are dedicated to working towards a healthier, more organic city.

So if you want to help make Birmingham a cleaner, greener place to live, or you just want to eat some good vegetarian food, then come to The Warehouse and see what’s going on.

SPROCKET Cycles

Sales, service, repairs, accessories. Bikes also built to your own specifications.

Open Monday & Wednesday to Saturday, 10am-5pm Established over 15 years ago in the Friends of the Earth Building in Birmingham The Warehouse Café has a reputation as a quality provider of vegetarian and vegan food in Birmingham.

“Real people serving real food with local, organic and fair trade leading the way” Guardian Unlimited.

To see the delicious menu go to www.thewarehousecafe.com For bookings and enquires Telephone 0121 633 0261 Email info@thewarehousecafe.com

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0121 633 0730

• 100% vegetarian and vegan; • A large selection of organic and fairtrade products, most supplied and delivered by a workers cooperative; • Vegan owners - no meat or dairy products sold.

Open Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat 11am - 5:30pm, Thurs 10am - 6:30pm, Sun 11am - 3pm.

warehouse news As an environmental organisation, you would expect us to be against car parking for environmental reasons but the problem stems much deeper than that.

It not only increases the number of cars pumping out asthma inducing and climate changing pollution in the city centre, but also has a significant impact on the local economy. If it hadn’t already been covered by the Birmingham Mobility Action Plan, then I could write about the amount of congestion on the roads and the number of hours wasted by people sitting behind a wheel, when they could be sitting behind their desk.

I could also lament the £2bn that congestion costs the West Midlands economy.

Instead, I want to talk about urban density, creativity and synergy.

From Mesopotamia to Silicon Valley, we can see that having lots of people in one place makes it vibrant and innovative. Indeed, this is the basis of the planning regulations in Portland, Oregon. In the 70’s, they decided to put a halt to urban sprawl, reduce surface level parking and introduce more cycling and walking facilities.

Portland politician Rex Burkholder said that these policies saved it from the same post-industrial fate as Detroit, which now has acres of empty properties and a chronic unemployment problem. Portland hasn’t just survived; it has now become one of the five best places to live in the world.

This is relevant to Birmingham Friends of the Earth’s building, The

Warehouse, because it is based in Digbeth, a.k.a the car park of Birmingham. If we want Digbeth to remain a cheap place for businesses to start and grow whilst increasing its vibrancy, then we need to fill in the spaces.

A lot of the car parks exist because property developers bulldozed their buildings to avoid paying business rates and car parking makes more money than building. There is the potential for them to remain land banked car parks until property prices are high enough for them to build and recoup their pre-crash investments. Many of them are eyesores: rubble, litter and vermin strewn, giving a bad impression to all who visit Birmingham.

It doesn’t have to be like that, though. Nottingham City Council has introduced a car parking levy for car parks bigger than 11 spaces and uses the money to fund public transport and cycling infrastructure improvements. Those that need to drive as part of their job can afford to pay for the levy because of the amount of time they save through reduced congestion. Those who use their cars just to commute have access to improved public transport and cycling as a way of reducing costs.

Rather than leave the remaining land empty, a land value tax could be used to deter land banking, whilst breaking it up and selling it to smaller developers would encourage building.

Phil Burrows A fully referenced version is on the website.

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guest article - fossil free UK spoke very inspiringly about what motivates her to campaign for the climate. Bill McKibben’s presentation was creative and informative, and this part of the tour certainly left our campaigners feeling very inspired.

Launched with the Fossil Free Tour last month, the Fossil Free Campaign is one of the fastest growing campaigns we have seen in recent times. There are almost 200 campaigns running at universities and colleges across the United States and since People & Planet launched the campaign in the UK with the Fossil Free Tour, 35 campaigns have already started on campuses across the UK. The Fossil Free tour, which included stops in Amsterdam, Berlin, Edinburgh, Birmingham and London, featured US climate campaigner Bill McKibben alongside hip-hop artist Filastine as well as local climate campaigners.

For the Birmingham leg of the tour, there was passionate and experienced University of Birmingham People & Planet campaigner Alice Swift, who

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The Fossil Free campaign aims to get institutions to divest from the fossil fuel industry. The rationale for this is that if it’s wrong to wreck the climate, then it’s wrong to profit from wrecking the climate.

In the UK, People & Planet groups are concentrating on getting their universities to divest from fossil fuels, as well as cutting other ties to the fossil fuel industry and not rewarding the executives from the industry, e.g. with honorary degrees.

However, the campaign isn’t just about universities, important as they are. There is a sister campaign, Operation Noah, which aims to get churches to divest their fossil fuel investments. The beauty of the campaign is that, overall, it is about getting any and all institutions to divest from fossil fuels, so any group of people or organisation can campaign to get their particular target to do that.

After many failed climate negotiations, the Fossil Free campaign is about people taking on the climate crisis themselves, instead of relying on national governments and international negotiations. And, so far, it’s been quite inspirational.

pedalling for laughs On Wednesday the 20th of November BFOE hosted its second comedy gig at the Glee Club. We were trying to build on the success of last year where the money raised in our Bee Cause gig helped create 3 bee friendly projects in Birmingham.

This year our focus was our Let’s Get Moving campaign encouraging cycling and walking as a way to reduce the dangerous levels of air pollution in our city.

We had enlisted the help of many great comedians with connections to Birmingham. Many hours of planning and negotiations went on behind the scenes to make the gig a success.

The night arrived and the volunteers decorated the club, as outside the crowds started to queue patiently on a very cold November evening.

Once everyone was seated and encouraged to buy raffle tickets the comedy began.

Our compere for the evening, Barbara Nice, the face of Birmingham, began proceedings.

Barbara kicked off with some crowd participation in the form of following her dancing. One of the dances was to the relevant Queen song “Bicycle Race”. We were then introduced to James Cook who was kind enough to return after last year. James is a resident of Kings Heath and a former resident of Moseley and made several jokes about this. He also recalled how he was named after a famous king, just like Burger King. After James had entertained the crowd next up was Joe Sutherland. Joe made the factually correct observation that men earn more money than women and that decided his sexual preferences. Joe also warned us of the perils of reading the Guardian to your children as they might end up like him!

Following the interval where the audience was invited to visit the BFOE stall to find out more about the campaign, our very own Campaign Support Worker, Julien Pritchard, took to the stage. He had clearly listened to the health and safety brief from the Glee Club as he was wearing a Let’s Get Moving high-vis jacket!. Julien performed the productive task of thanking all of those involved in organising the gig, with a special mention to the project manager for the gig Sandie, without who, the gig wouldn’t have happened. Julien also briefly talked about why we were campaigning on

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pedalling for laughs (continued) air pollution and how cycling and walking could help fix this urgent problem.

Stella Graham a comedian from Coventry, followed. Stella‘s act mainly focused on poking fun at her home town. Another interval followed, where there was further encouragement to buy raffle tickets.

In the final section of the gig we had the wonderful raffle. Last year the fanciest prize was a decorative box (Lush prize), this year there were several hampers amongst other prizes. The penultimate act, Steve Day was fantastic. He is deaf and worked this into his set expertly. For example, informing us that if there are any other deaf comediens he hasn’t heard! Steve spoke about the woes of being a parent and even talked about being a keen cyclist.

In a shocking twist it was revealed that Adam Kay had been involved in a traffic accident and was not able to be at the Glee Club. Fortunately

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a replacement was found in Andy Robinson. Andy was another resident of Kings Heath and even included our volunteer’s bike into his act. Andy was a great headliner and we were very thankful that he stepped in at the last minute. As the volunteers cleaned up after the gig had finished, we were left to reflect on what was another great night for BFOE. We had raised both awareness and money for our cycling and walking campaign and had many a laugh on the way!

We shouldn’t forget that this Comedy Gig was made possible by our very generous comedians, who gave their time for free to perform for us on the night. So thank you very much to them! Also thank you to the Glee Club for their support in whose support in putting on the gig was invaluable!

Shaz Rahman

more than honey & bee tea On Saturday 23rd November, Sutton Coldfield saw its very own Bee Cause film screening of the award winning film ‘More Than Honey’. The film beautifully portrays the hidden lives of bees and beekeepers around the world as well as revealing the devastating effects that the loss of these busy, bumbling insects could lead too. With wonderful cinematography and highlighting the negative effect humans are having, it certainly resonated with the viewers of Sutton.

Guests arrived from groups such as EcoSutton, Sutton Coldfield Beekeepers, and Friends of Sutton Park to show their support for the Bee Cause. After enjoying a small Bee Tea made up of locally produced apples (pollinated by bees of course!), honey and homemade cakes made by our very own volunteers, as well as perusing our stall material, everyone settled down to watch the film.

it, with many not realising just how much bees are involved with food production and several asked where they could buy the film from to show their own groups!

There was also a lot of enthusiasm for contacting Andrew Mitchell (Sutton Coldfield’s Conservative MP), to ask him to show support for The Bee Cause by writing to Lord DeMauley asking for the National Pollinator Strategy to be as effective as possible. We hope that hearing how much his constituents care about our campaign, Mr Mitchell may be moved to act for the Bees!

It is crucial at this point in our campaign, just before the National Pollinator Strategy is announced, that as many MPs as possible pledge their support, and Conservative MPs in particular will certainly help give the cause some weight!

As always if you would like to get more involved in campaigning for the Bee Cause please get in touch with Bex on rebecca@ birminghamfoe.org.uk.

Rebecca Pollard

Speaking to guests after watching the touching film, it seemed that everyone there had really enjoyed

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Birmingham: our future in a changing world Birmingham Friends of the Earth has been invited to give our views on these draft documents and we will be pouring over them in depth over the coming weeks. This article will set out our initial thoughts on the direction our great city should be heading with our usual focus on ensuring Birmingham becomes a sustainable city that can meet the challenges of 21st century population growth, climate change and peak everything.

In the Birmingham Development Plan, we applaud the Council’s plan to ensure Birmingham’s residents will be experiencing a high quality of life, living within attractive and well-designed, sustainable neighbourhoods’ and that jobs and services ‘will be accessible by a range of sustainable transport choices’. We also applaud their desire to provide high quality connections throughout the City and with other places including encouraging the increased use of public transport, walking and cycling, and create a more sustainable City that minimises its carbon footprint and waste.

We appreciate that the city’s population is projected to grow considerably over the period to 2031, but would like to point out that the assertion that a continuous supply of land and full range of premises will be made available for all forms of development is not a sustainable or possible policy.

That’s the thing about land, as Mark Twain correctly observed,

(continued from front page)

they’re not making it anymore, so it’s difficult to promise a continuous supply! We must move away from the existing cultural paradigm that treats the planet as though it were an unlimited resource.

We believe every piece of open land

as Mark Twain correctly observed, they’re not making it [land] anymore (regardless of current biodiversity) is extremely valuable to this city as a future site for growing food.

The current globalised food system is unlikely to survive with the pressures of climate change and oil depletion. We will need to learn to be more self-sufficient as a city.

We note with regret that the Council is intent on allowing the development of Green Belt land.

We feel that our Green Belt should be protected at all costs. It is the key reason Britain has remained as green and pleasant as it is today despite being one of the most crowded countries on Earth. The most recent consultation on the Green Belt development undertaken by the Council in November 2012

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Birmingham: our future in a changing world prompted a petition with 2,626 signatures opposing it.

Birmingham Friends of the Earth feel that spaces for growing food should be an integral part of every neighbourhood and access to these spaces a right of every citizen.

As well as maximising potential gardening space all over the city, this should be part of local planning policy on new developments.

We want to see as much of the city’s space as possible utilised for growing food, but being a city means it will always need food bringing in from outside. The most sustainable and economical way to do this – and the way it will be done in the future – is to grow food immediately outside the city’s limits – which is why Green Belt land must not be concreted over.

Birmingham has understandably painful memories of previous attempts at high rise living but we believe that building upwards rather than outwards is preferable, providing the quality is high and the infrastructure is comprehensive. It

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(continued from page 13)

can work - think Manhattan’s East Village rather than Castle Vale!

We would strongly encourage the Council to redevelop Brownfield sites for housing, since contamination often means that ground level can’t be immediately used for food production unlike the city’s outskirts.

Instead, roof gardens, like that at the new library and living walls, like the one at New Street, can create great growing conditions.

The Birmingham Mobility Action Plan informs us that The European Union (EU) recommends that all cities develop and adopt what it calls ‘Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans’ (SUMP). Above all they recommend that future transport planning should be centred around people’s lives.

It sets out that, with a growing population and changing travel demands, the 2.8 million journeys made by Birmingham residents every day – half of them by car – is set to rise to as high as 4 million journeys by 2031.

Encouragingly, the Birmingham Mobility Action Plan does lay out some excellent and innovative ideas for how our transportation might be transformed. It wishes to remedy the fact that Greater Manchester has almost 250 hybrid electric buses currently compared to only 50 in the West Midlands. It aspires to create a transport network where anywhere in Birmingham can be accessed within a maximum journey time of 45 minutes. The Birmingham Cycling Revolution strategy sets an initial target of increasing the modal

share of cycling to 10% by 2033 (although we feel it should be more ambitious with 10% by 2025). It is encouraging to see the council taking inspiration from case studies of cities like Stockholm, Lyon, Amsterdam, Montreal and Osaka to develop a modern transport system. The Action Plan looks at: developing transit interchanges, the introduction of swift cards – like the London Oyster cards, a concept for a solar powered inductive bus charging shelter, numerous ideas for better utilising road space and pavements so that more sustainable transport forms are better accommodated and developing strategic walking networks in the city centre.

Whilst Birmingham Friends of the Earth want to see modal shift from car to more sustainable transport and the Birmingham Mobility Action Plan hopes for the same, the fundamental issue of reducing the need for travel is not mentioned until page 98 of this 110 page document. The council says that new developments and employers will be encouraged to adopt working from home, flexible working hours, maximise digital infrastructure, utilise ‘hot-desks’ in offices and reduce the number of car parking spaces.

We feel that reducing the need for travel should really be at the heart of a 21st century city’s plans and that if there are going to be 4 million journeys in Birmingham in 2031, our planet is likely to be in a seriously

bad way. Rather than spending lots of money on new builds and new transport infrastructure until our planet looks like Coruscant out of Star Wars, could we not actually reduce the need for travel and city expansion to Greenfield sites, thus reducing expenditure? This would involve not only encouragement but action, so we really need to see contractors and legislation signed up to these positive development proposals.

Whilst many of the innovative proposals in the Birmingham Development Plan and Birmingham Mobility Action plan are admirable, they do have an inherent contradiction. Whilst the transport planners are enthusiastic about modal shift from cars to active transport and public transport, the development planners continue to focus on building Birmingham outwards on Green Belt land – which increases car use - and expanding the airport. On the one hand, there is an attempt to create a more connected and sustainable city and on the other a more disconnected and globalised one.

Robert Pass & Adam McCusker

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the big green debate GM crops Hello and welcome to the latest Big Green Debate. We had a break last issue, but now we’re back with another thrilling debate, this time on the issue of GM Crops. As always this is very much a discussion of the issues and doesn’t necessarily represent our view on the subject! Also as previously there is a certain element of Devil’s Advocate, so this may not actually represent the views of the authors.

Julien Pritchard

yes

no

It is expected that Africa’s population will quadruple by the end of this century. In areas such as Engaruka and Tanzania families remain perilously close to starvation after recent droughts destroyed crops and killed 65% of the livestock. How will these poverty-stricken families cope with more mouths to feed?

Genetically Modified food is described by its supporters as the answer to world hunger and the challenges of feeding a booming population in the midst of climate change. A noble goal you may say, until you realise that the evidence reveals the dangerous, dark and greedy motives of the global agribusiness corporations for control of the global food economy.

Scientists are developing droughttolerant corn, something that could ease hunger across Tanzania and sub-Saharan Africa. This modified corn is expected to increase yields by 25% during moderate drought.

However, strict regulations by the government are effectively blocking the development of this project.

These inflexible regulations have been implemented due to misconceptions that scientists are operating as a front for multinational seed companies. Behind the individual projects, GM opponents suspect a conspiracy to slip American agribusiness into Africa.

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Since their introduction in 1996, GM crops have spread to cover 12% of the world’s arable land. So far Europe has resisted powerful corporate pressure to allow GM to be grown commercially.

There are several strong reasons for holding firm on rejecting GM crops. For a kick-off, control of the food chain by a handful of global corporations is a dangerous thing.

The GM model requires farmers to purchase patented seeds each year, forcing them into dependence on the giant companies. Just three of those

yes (continued) However, the UK’s environment minister, Owen Paterson, supports the development of GM crops in these countries. He understands that these crops are necessary to help address hunger in the developing world.

In places which have already adopted genetically modified crops, evidence suggests that they do help to alleviate poverty. For example, a recent study by Warwick University found that insect-resistant GM cotton plantations produce many monetary benefits to families in India. Indeed, it was found that aggregate incomes were higher than those of conventional cotton and 60% of the gains were found to accrue to the extremely and moderately poor.

GM crops can also lessen pressure from agriculture on the countryside.

For example, hardy plants designed with drought and salinity tolerance may reduce pressure to convert high biodiversity land to agriculture, as they would allow for the cultivation of suboptimal soils. Furthermore, some GM crops tested in the UK were actually found to enhance biodiversity. Thus, tarring all GM crops with the same brush could lead to missed opportunities that could be vital to reduce suffering.

Certainly, European activists need to ensure they do not place ideology above Africa’s food security!

Emily Williams

no (continued) companies control a staggering 70% of global seed sales.

Thousands of farmers who use herbicide-tolerant GM crops are now struggling with the cost of fighting herbicide-resistant “superweeds”.

They are also locked into buying chemical fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides sold by the companies who developed the seeds to respond to their chemicals. GM cotton in India has been widely blamed for an epidemic of farmer suicides due to spiralling debts from high seed and pesticide costs, and failing crops.

The cost of developing each GM seed variety runs into the millions of dollars and the only way for the corporations to get a return on that investment is to ensure farmers are planting huge monocultures.

This is resulting in a dangerous drop in global crop diversity; the world needs maximum genetic seed diversity to meet the challenges ahead.

Most importantly, we don’t need to genetically modify our crops.

Traditionally bred crop varieties in Europe are giving higher yields than that of the GM-dominated Midwest of the US. Traditional hybridisation is delivering increasing disease resistance and higher yields at a tiny fraction of the cost.

Every year around 40% of the food the world produces goes to waste.

If we can address this problem and reduce our meat consumption, no one need go hungry.

Robert Pass

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one good thing to do – permaculture

After spending some of the summer tidying up and preparing the garden behind The Warehouse for a natural makeover, a permaculture design is being drawn up for us. And seeing as we have a few permaculture courses at the Warehouse arranged, we thought it an opportune moment to briefly go over the subject.

Permaculture is a term coined by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, two Australians looking for practical solutions to world problems, but it is also referred to as agroforestry or forest gardening. It is a system of food production and an allencompassing science which observes natural ecosystems and tailors them to produce for human needs, incorporating a wide variety of plants into a small area to encourage symbiotic biological relationships.

Because it is a system designed to mimic what works in nature, and because nature knows best, permaculture is a far more

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efficient way of producing food than agriculture. So much so, that Martin Crawford, Director of the Agroforestry Research Trust in Devon, reckons up to 10 people per acre could be sustained by an agroforestry system in temperate regions. There is even a small urban homestead in California which claims to produce 3 tonnes of produce per year on 1/10 of an acre – the same size as The Warehouse garden.

The three guiding principles of permaculture are: Care of the Earth, Care of the People and Return of surplus. The most industrial agriculture is designed not to produce food, but to make money. And because agriculture doesn’t recycle its nutrients, it has to continually feed in more work or come up with dangerous new technologies, like GMO and chemical fertilisers, to keep the system going.

The further we direct our landuse systems away from natural ecosystems, the more work we have to do to maintain that landuse system, only to see worsening

results. Permaculture, which doesn’t put all its eggs into one basket, requires little work (there is no such thing as weeding in permaculture), yet produces enormous abundance and resilience.

Permaculture systems also sequester carbon and a global permaculture movement could be the best route to a low waste, low labour, egalitarian, sustainable economic system. As Geoff Lawton, permaculture teacher, says “All the world’s problems can be solved in a

garden.” So let’s hope we can make a start at the Warehouse!

Adam McCusker http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ixx1c3RSw_8 http://wakeup-world. com/2013/03/13/inspiring-urbanfarm-grows-an-astonishing-threetons-of-produce-a-year-on-a-mere110-of-an-acre/ http://www.geofflawton.com/ sq/15449-geoff-lawton

volunteer appeal Care about the city and the people of Birmingham? Want to help Birmingham become a nicer and more environmentally friendly place? Feel you can help plan and lead a campaign? Then Birmingham Friends of the Earth have the perfect role for you!

be responsible for helping plan the campaign and keeping it on track, as well as keeping up to date with campaign-related developments.

Your work would be playing a vital role in helping make Birmingham a cleaner more pleasant city to live for its inhabitants.

Birmingham Friends of the Earth (BFoE) are looking for an enthusiastic, knowledgeable, organised and passionate individual to help lead our main local campaign: “Let’s Get Moving”, which aims to tackle the levels of city air pollution by encouraging people to take more active transport such as cycling or walking.

This is a great opportunity for someone to gain experience of running and planning a campaign and for someone who is looking to gain experience in the campaigning sector.

By volunteering with us you would

If you’re interested in the role please contact Julien Pritchard on 0121 632 6909 or at campaigns@ birminghamfoe.org.uk

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a low carbon pioneer in Poland

This summer I took the chance to visit Poland on a placement with the EU Low Carbon Pioneers programme. This exchanges people involved in building a low carbon society in their own region with others across Europe. First was a placement about renewable energy in Birmingham, then five weeks abroad.

Poland struggled with rebuilding after World War 2, and then moving on from Communism.

An independent environmental movement has only begun to emerge, so the downsides of development are not much discussed. I was shocked to see a Tesco superstore in Wroclaw on what had been allotments. Much

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coal is burned for winter heat and electricity generation so carbon reduction seems a big ask. However, travelling through Germany I saw wind turbines and solar arrays everywhere, waiting to spread when a feed in tariff for clean power comes to Poland. The project we worked on was an Ecopark. I showed slides of green space in Birmingham, and the Bee Garden idea was picked up.

Eastern Europe can benefit from the experience of our environmental movement. They can also look to their own land and traditions for the future.

John Newson Pioneers into Practice is recruiting for 2014 see www.innovationbham. com

volunteer spotlight Julien Pritchard interviews Cath Palgrave

It’s not hierarchical – you can suggest things that we can work on and do. Then, of course, you actually have to do them!

What have you learnt from volunteering with BFoE? That a small group of dedicated people really can achieve something.

I think we are made to feel most of the time that we can’t make a difference, but working in a group like this shows that simply isn’t true.

[Citizen Science] ...joins education and environmental issues in a very hands-on way.

How long have you been volunteering with BFoE? Since about May last year. I popped in to get some leaflets for my class and ended up getting a lot more involved - not really sure how that happened!

What do you do here?

I’ve mostly been involved with the Citizen Science project, which is educational outreach.

It joins together education and environmental issues in a very hands-on way.

What do you like about working here?

What do you think is the most important environmental issue and why?

Climate Change, because we can see extremes of weather already causing devastation across the world and habitats being destroyed due to human indifference.

What’s your best green tip/ advice?

Drive less! Even if it’s just one journey a week where you walk/ cycle/take public transport, you’ll help reduce air pollution and maybe reconnect with the space around you instead of being shut away in a little box!

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diary Campaign Meetings - mondays 7.30pm 2nd December - General meeting 9th December - Action meeting 16th December - Christmas Party 23rd December - No meeting 30th December - No meeting 6th January - General meeting 13th January - Training meeting 20th January - Action meeting 27th January - Action meeting 3rd February - General meeting

Other Events December 2nd till 22nd - Kings Heath Christmas Market, Kings Heath Village Square December 4th & 11th - Love your bike session at New St Station 4.306.30pm (free bike security marking and safety checks) December 7th - Vegan Midlands Cruelty-Free Christmas Fair, Carrs Lane Church Centre, 10.30am - 4pm December 12th - 24 Carrots Christmas Market, St Paul’s Square, 4pm 9pm Santa rides - Contact Bike Right on either 0121 200 2266 or info2@ bikeright.co.uk to arrange your own Santa ride See Northfield Eco Centre (www.northfieldecocentre.org) & Birmingham Environment Education Project (www.BirminghamEnvironment.org) for more events and workshops

Farmers’ Markets Birmingham University: 4th Wednesday of the month 9am-2pm Harborne: 2nd Saturday of the month 9am-2pm Kings Heath: 1st Saturday of the month 9am-3:30pm Kings Norton: 2nd Saturday of the month 9am-2pm Moseley: 4th Saturday of the month 9am-3pm

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contacts Contact us: Friends of the Earth (Birmingham) The Warehouse 54-57 Allison Street Birmingham B5 5TH

Chair: Robert Pass Campaigns Co-ordinators: Roxanne Green & Robert Pass Campaigns Support Worker: Julien Pritchard

Tel: (0121) 632 6909 Fax: (0121) 643 3122

General Manager: Philip Burrows

E-mail: info@birminghamfoe.org.uk Web: www.birminghamfoe.org.uk

Treasurer: Margaret Lynch

Friends of the Earth is:

Aviation: Adam McCusker

- The largest international network of environmental groups in the world, represented in 72 countries.

- One of the UK’s leading enviromental pressure groups.

- A unique network of campaigning local groups, working in more than 200 communities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

- Over 90% of its funds come from its supporters.

Birmingham FoE: Campaigns at a local level to effect environmental change (in ways which feed into national and international policy) through: - Lobbying - Education - Empowering others to take action - Participation and representation through public fora

Climate Change & Energy: Jacob Williams Biodiversity: Rebecca Pollard Transport: Adam McCusker Waste & Recycling: John Newson Planning: Benjamin Mabbett Newsletter Editors: Catherine Palgrave Steven D Quirke Zoe Wright Website Editor: Philip Burrows Stalls & Event Co-ordinator: Samuel Jones Talks: Jacob Williams, Rebecca Pollard & others All enquiries and callers welcome.

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birmingham 2033?