Year 1 of the unique and innovative Birmingham Faiths for Eco-Action collaboration between BCF Footsteps, Bahu Trust and national charity Ashden Climate Action has been successfully completed!
High points of the first year include:
- getting five eco-action projects from across Birmingham started;
- welcoming Maria Fernandes as our eco-action projects facilitator;
- learning how to work together as three very different organisations.
Substantial second year funding from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation has been released and will be used to support ten further eco-action projects during the coming year. In particular we are looking to identify and develop more eco-action projects with the Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Jewish faiths; and with smaller and excluded faith groups. Maria, our eco-action projects facilitator has a background in the Catholic Focolare Movement. We are drawing on her extensive interfaith experience to support the project and reach out.
Eco-action projects come from faith communities themselves and we can support a wide range of faith-based initiatives, including energy saving, healthy living, sustainable transport, green skills. Full details are on the Bahu Trust website.
As the collaboration progresses, we will be working with Ashden to share the learning widely across the UK. It will be a great opportunity to highlight the depth of cooperation between faiths in Brimingham and BCF and Footsteps roles as leading UK interfaith initiatives, not just on social cohesion, health and well-being, and responding to crises, but also on faith based environmental and climate action.