Green connections

It has long been a not-so open secret that the environmental and green sector in Bristol (indeed, in the UK as a whole) is overwhelmingly white and doesn’t accurately reflect the multicultural city we live in. Listeners to Radio Ujima may remember that during the Green Capital Year this prickly issue was picked up on by the station’s ‘Green and Black Conversation’, a campaign to raise awareness of green issues within Bristol’s black and ethnic minority community. Out of this has emerged a project designed to initiate real change in this area: Green and Black Ambassadors has been developed collaboratively by Ujima Radio, Bristol Green Capital Partnership, and the University of Bristol’s Cabot Institute and Public Engagement team.

Jasmine ‘Jazz’ Ketibuah-Foley, a researcher and broadcaster, is one of the new Green and Black Ambassadors. She got involved in environmental campaigning as a student at Bristol University but soon noted that “there wasn’t necessarily anybody else there who looked like me”.

“Bristol is really famous for being innovative and for trying to find new ways of doing things. But in many parts of the environmental sector, personally, I’ve felt as if I wasn’t invited or wasn’t accepted,” she told the Spark. “It’s often felt really academic and jargon-heavy. It wasn’t accessible and the people there weren’t actively approaching people from diverse backgrounds to join in those conversations.”

Spreading the word, sparking engagement

Her colleague, PHD student Zakiya McKenzie points out that this sort of exclusion isn’t unique to green organisations. “It’s all over. I’ve lived in a lot of places and Bristol is very weird in that it’s quite divided and segregated. It’s a longer legacy which we’re dealing with here, really.”

As ambassadors, Jazz and Zakiya have used their presence in the media – both are Ujima volunteers – and in the community to talk about green issues. They’ve held workshops and initiated projects such as Photo Walks to encourage people living near the Bristol to Bath cycle path to take photos of the environment around them.

Their job is to do research in the community and launch projects to encourage stronger dialogue across BME and environmental sustainability communities; to share what’s been learned and “champion inclusive, diverse projects on local, national and international platforms,” and to be a voice for marginalised communities, engaging with organisations and institutions in Bristol, challenging and influencing decision-making.

One of their first tasks was helping Slimbridge Wetlands Centre better engage with diverse audiences. “Slimbridge approached us and said ‘look we never really appeal to people from an ethnic minority background and we have no idea why’,” says McKenzie.

The Ambassadors facilitated two visits to the Centre and a workshop in December 2016 and January 2017 to find out what the barriers are to BME groups in Bristol and 14 people took part in a day of discussions and activities. “We got people to have a really honest conversation and explain why they didn’t want to come [to these kinds of places], which was essentially because they felt less welcome,” she explains.

Because of feedback from the first trip and workshop, the second visit to Slimbridge started with a game of ‘bird bingo’.

“It meant that people could potentially find birds, just half an hour outside of Bristol, that they may have known from another country,” said their report. “While a small gesture, it gave the participants something to relate to.”

An uncertain future

The future of the project is currently in the balance as it awaits news on funding, but the ambassadors are keen to continue their work. “We’re looking to expand the team,” explains Katibuah-Foley. “Myself and Zakiya want to act as mentors next and bring in more people from different backgrounds and make it more dynamic.”