We invite you to participate in our online Earth Day programme: strengthening our spirit and cities taking the lead.
We are planning to repeat the two-hour programme at 10:00, 14:00 and 19:00 BST on Wednesday 22 April to allow you to choose the most convenient time to participate.
We’ll be sharing prepared contributions on caring for the Earth and for each other: through faith reflections, creative responses and practical actions cities are taking. There will be opportunities for participants to make contributions before, during and after the online conference.
This is a free event, please register for the online programme so that we can send you details of how to join (and how to use Zoom if you are not familiar with it).
Programme (via Zoom) beginning at 10:00, 14:00 & 19:00 BST
Strengthening our Spirit
Shared faith, creative and musical contributions, including:
- Birmingham Faith Leaders
- Guided meditation
- The Choir with No Name & Beatfreaks poets
- JaiJagat 2020 (a global campaign for Justice and Peace)
- Young people’s ‘Gifts to the Earth’
There will be opportunities to share your own faith reflections.
Cities Taking the Lead
How cities are tackling climate change: we will be exploring how Birmingham and other cities are taking the lead in addressing climate change and reflecting on what we are learning from the Covid-19 Pandemic. Contributions including:
- Birmingham Climate Emergency Declaration
- Remy Pagani (Cabinet Member Geneva City Council, former Mayor of Geneva)
- Climate Action Network West Midlands (CANWM)
There will be opportunities to share online responses to the speakers and how your own cities are responding.
Image: ‘Floella’s Future’ flower display by Birmingham City Council: highlighting the need for action on climate change, at the Chelsea Flower Show 2019. See video below for more info:
Coming together in difficult times
This year, 22 April marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and the founding of a world-wide environmental movement. Some months ago, climate action was chosen as its main theme as this represents the biggest challenge to the future of humanity and the life-support systems that make our world habitable.
But 22 April will now also be the moment in time when our cities are in the grips of a global COVID-19 virus pandemic with serious health, economic and community implications. Footsteps’ face-to-face gathering and carnival through Birmingham has had to be cancelled. The CANWM workshops have postponed until later in the year, so that they can take place in-person.
We now invite you to gather together online with Footsteps. We are drawing strength from the recent Birmingham Faith Leaders’ group statement on the Covid-19 Pandemic:
“Our thoughts and our prayers are with those who suffer through the impact of Coronavirus… and our responsibility towards the vulnerable in society…
Above all, we call on all people, during these difficult times, to live as people of hope; that the threat we all face can be overcome, and that we will emerge stronger, more resilient and wiser from the experience.”
So rather than cancelling the Footsteps’ face-to-face activities planned for Earth Day 2020, we invite you to participate in our online Earth Day programme: strengthening our spirit and cities taking the lead.
