Friends of the Earth Local Groups Conference 2006
Virginia went to this year's Conference and reports: It was I think the most enjoyable and inspiring of those I've attended to date. The emphasis was on communicating with the public and on finding and presenting solutions. There isn't space here to tell you about everything that went on during three very full days, but here are some of the highlights:
The John Preedy Memorial Lecture, with three speakers discussing how to make people see environmental issues as enriching and celebratory, rather than misery- and guilt-inducing – if our basic message to the public is “people are crap” they won't want to listen to us! We need to communicate that the future can be controlled, it can be made better. The challenge of climate change should be viewed as the biggest adventure of the 21st century. We also need to understand what people's concerns are, and work through these, rather than preaching our own agenda. We must think about the language that we use, and avoid meaningless terms like “sustainability”. We have to think more about feelings. People join movements from emotion and passion, not theories and statistics. Always remember that “the environment” is not an abstract idea – it is ordinary places where people live, work and play.
Review of the Year (which offered fleeting glimpses of several Ealing FoE members) and presentations by local groups on successes during the past year, such as Manchester FoE's Love your Bike campaign to promote cycling over driving for commuting into the city by comparing Fast Lane (cycle path) with Fat Lane (road), and Portsmouth's Can-Do composting project for schools, community groups and the wider public.
Interview session with Penney Poyzer (the eco-dominatrix from the TV series “No Waste Like Home”). Penney told us about how she and her partner made the decision to retro-fit a Victorian house rather than buy a new eco-home. The good news is that it can be done, which is great as there are still lots of energy-inefficient Victorian houses out there just waiting to be made over! You can find out how they did it on: www.msarch.co.uk
And much much more – seminars, workshops, networking with other group members .... and the bar, the swimming pool, the lovely campus grounds, the excellent (and plentiful) food, the music. Inspiring, informative and fun – what more could you ask? I hope some of you will come to next year's Conference which takes place in Reading from 7 – 9 September 2007.