Session 4 – 12th April – 10.15 – 11.05

Title of Presentation:           Ethnicity & Participation in

                                               Environmental Action

Presenters:                            Judy Ling Wong

Organisation:                       Black Environment Network

Summary:

The paper examines the scope of strategic development of ethnic environmental participation in North Wales. The engagement of community groups with the programmes of organisations within the environmental sector potentially offers a wide range of opportunities for informal learning and enjoyment to disadvantaged groups. There are now initiatives within the urban context, where it is logical first of all to attend to the needs and potential of ethnic communities where they are in the largest numbers. However, in the context of equality, geographical areas where ethnic groups are in sparse numbers warrant attention.
BEN (Black Environment Network) has worked and developed effective methodology on outreach and engagement of urban based ethnic groups over some years, but this research is pushing the boundaries for laying down the basis for a first development project to begin to develop methodology to engage ethnic minority persons in areas of sparse presence.
Funded by Countryside Council for Wales, this piece of research has implications not only for North Wales but will begin to open up action for moving towards developing ethnic environmental participation in any area of sparse population.

Context: A range of 25 statutory, voluntary and community organisations, plus key ethnic community representatives were included in the research. There is no initiative in North Wales enabling ethnic environmental participation. Recognizing that environmental, social, cultural, and economic outcomes are linked, there is need to attend to areas of sparse ethnic presence
Recommendations: The research identified a clear detailed remit for infrastructural action. There was a consensus expressing the need for:
- A dedicated network or forum set up to support organisations wishing to involve ethnic communities in environmental participation.
- A developmental project in North Wales to support the development of ethnic environmental participation.

www.ben-network.org.uk for more information on the work of BEN