Stronger as One
The first Stronger As One meeting took place back in January and it was fantastic to see so many of you there and to hear from many other groups who are keen to be involved.
We are holding a second meeting – on Thursday 30th March, at the Unitarian Meeting Hall in Brunswick Square, St. Pauls, BS2 8PE.
Doors will open at 6pm for drinks (non-alcoholic) and simple, plant-based food.
The meeting will be from 6:45pm to 8:30pm, with time at the end for informal catch-ups before we close at 9pm.
Notes from the first meeting
The meeting in January was expertly facilitated by Manu Maunganidze, co-director of the Bristol Green Capital Partnership and founder of Nature Youth Connection & Education. Manu led us through a series of questions in which we considered the barriers to and consequences of not working more closely together, and the opportunities and challenges in doing so.
The responses of the tables (in the form of lots of notes on lots of pieces of flip-chart paper!) revealed a shared recognition of the value of more collaborative working, of deepening mutual understanding and of developing better channels of communication. There was also a great deal of enthusiasm for meeting again.
What also emerged was that the all-too-familiar structural inequalities that exist everywhere in society are experienced within the activist space, and that these can present barriers to us working together. Whilst this may be no great surprise, it reminds us of the importance of ensuring that, for whatever we do next, we actively mitigate those imbalances of power from the outset.
Next steps
With this in mind we would like to suggest that in our second meeting we will…
– Create an opportunity to connect and share plans and ideas for taking action on social and climate justice, and define what the group needs to make this possible – building positively on the energy from the first meeting.
– Address the need to do this within a diverse, equal and inclusive space where everyone feels welcome, heard, seen and able to participate. To create a shared commitment that will be embedded in our practices and that will shape our priorities and focus as a group.
– Form a Stronger As One coordinating group, made up of representatives of groups from across the Bristol social and climate justice activist movement. As you will be aware, these initial meetings have been arranged by Extinction Rebellion Bristol, but it is important that this does not remain the case going forward, even if we are represented.
If you would like to speak at the next meeting on the issue of inclusivity then we’d love to hear from you. And if you have any ideas, thoughts or feedback you’d like to share then please get in touch.
Please also consider if you might be able to give some time to helping to coordinate this group and what skills and ideas you can bring.
If you have any questions about Stronger As One or this second meeting please email xrbristol.regional@protonmail.com.
Best wishes
Kathy Fawcett and Nigel Shipley
We look forward to seeing you
Previously
See our Call for Conversation page.