The Sacred Spaces, Resilient Places conference, sponsored by West Midlands Combined Authority, took place on the morning of Tuesday 13th October. Hosted at Birmingham City Council’s Banqueting Suite, the conference brought together faith leaders, local authority officers, community leaders, environmental groups and organisations to explore how places of worship in Birmingham and the West Midlands can act as climate resilience hubs.
The conference was opened by Councillor Julien Pritchard (Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economy and Sustainability), who spoke about the importance of programmes such as the conference in the face of recent climate events. Next, we heard a message from the West Midlands Mayor, Richard Parker, thanking the attendees for their efforts in helping communities respond to climate change, the importance of young people’s participation, and reiterating that places of worship play a vital role in building a better future for the region.
This was followed by a presentation from West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) on climate risk, adaptation and community resilience, encompassing WMCA’s role and how faith groups create community cohesion. Afterwards, we heard from Kamran Shezad of Bahu Trust, who spoke about the unique power of faith-based organisations and places of worship to enact change, making them valuable partners in working towards environmental justice. The final keynote speaker was Peter Rooks, on behalf of Birmingham Council of Faiths, Footsteps’ parent charity.
Finally, we moved to the main part of the conference where Footsteps interns Angella del Mundo, Maryam Alatmane and Mehtaab Kaur presented the Sacred Spaces, Resilient Places report findings, with help from Chris Martins, Footsteps Secretary. This was followed by a short Q&A, before transitioning to table discussions on a variety of topics such as “Places of worship supporting vulnerable local communities” and “Empowering younger people to lead climate adaptation and resilience efforts”. The conference was closed with comments from WMCA and John Nightingale (Footsteps Chair).