Power Up to the people8 August 2011
Participants left Power Up feeling inspired and more informed about campaign tactics and their legal and planning rights.
This summer Power Up took place in Queen Mary's University in the east of London, Tower Hamlets.
Community activists from all over England took part in discussions over ways to outreach to their community whilst avoiding overwork and "burn out".
© Friends of the Earth
Workshops offered people the chance to use their creativity in the form of role plays, arts and crafts and even a bit of singing.
Participants were able to further explore community campaigning and the importance of planning from a local to global perspective through our panel discussion which involved:
- James Skinner, Wards Corner Community Coalition
Who shared stories about the community he works with in Hackney, London. - Nick Rau, Friends of the Earth
Who shared his work on the Paraguay empowerment project - campaigning and training local people. - Hugh Ellis, Town and Country Planning Association
Who shared the history of land-use planning in the UK and it's potential to shape and create inspiring living and working environments.
And we even screened our new film of an inspiring community's campaign against a proposed incinerator in Merthyr Tydfill, Wales.
One participant said:
Thank you for the opportunity to gain so much knowledge and experience to bring back to my local campaign and future work.
Clayton Lavallin
© Friends of the Earth
