THURSDAY Birmingham Settlement Neighbourhood Futures Festival

Founded in 1899 as part of a movement for social reform, Birmingham Settlement provides a range of services in some of Birmingham's most marginalised communities.

Now in its second year, the Neighbourhood Futures Festival brings together people in the city to celebrate and enjoy our green spaces - and explore their future.

Join us at our Nature & Wellbeing Centre in Ladywood - right next to Edgbaston Reservoir - for 4 days of friendly activity, family fun, walks & talks, wellbeing sessions, arts & crafts, music & performance, conversations, educational workshops, and interactive sessions - all in the beauitiful surrounds of nature.

We will have lots to engage with during the festival so come down, soak in the summer at the Reservoir and get involved!

If you can afford to, please consider making a donation to Birmingham Settlement when booking your ticket to help support our work.

THURSDAY PROGRAMME

West Midlands Urban Greenroom: Co-creating Healthy & Sustainable Urban Futures - With The University of Birmingham Centre for Urban Wellbeing and community partners.

A forum for residents, community organisations, local and regional policy makers, businesses, researchers, public health professionals, urban planners, and developers who share a commitment to shaping sustainable cities to improve physical and mental wellbeing, and to address health and wellbeing inequalities.

The Urban Greenroom addresses issues including:

• Physical and mental health and wellbeing inequalities
• Barriers to accessing green space
• Connecting communities for urban change
• Regenerative urban systems
• Green leadership
• Establishing key principles for reducing environmental deprivation in new or brownfield urban developments
• Climate adaptation and its relation to climate action

10.30am-11am Morning yoga on the festival field

11am-11.30am Networking/coffee/welcome & sign-in

11.30am Opening provocations and keynotes with...

• Jessica Pykett, , University of Birmingham – Chair
• Martin Holcombe, CEO of
• Mike Webb, , Natural Capital Programme Manager
• Charlotte Garner,
• Immy Kaur,
• Dr William Bird,
• Beth Collier & Nicola Worrica,

12pm–1pm Panel discussion and Q&A

1pm-1.30pm Break for lunch & conversation

1.30pm-2.30pm Workshop led by BVSC Community Researchers "Connecting to Nature Matters: Enabling Access to Urban Green Spaces for All."

• BVSC and The Centre for Urban Wellbeing have been working alongside a community research panel to explore access to green space and urban wellbeing.

The panel are all individuals who live in the Birmingham locality and are interested in wellbeing, the future of their local area, inequalities, environmental issues, parks and green space and climate action. Hear their research findings exploring socio and cultural barriers to green spaces and nature across Birmingham.

Plus workshops, talks and drop-ins: (Timings tbc)

Workshop: Taking a Bus Tour Through the West Midlands National Park With,

• This workshop explores Birmingham’s landscape at scale, using the route of the circular number 11 bus as a prompt for discussion. We will introduce the vision and aims of the West Midlands National Park, and invite participants to think about how this could shape their city.

Workshop/talk: WMCA on Local Nature Recovery Strategy – Community Workshop with Elspeth Sage, WMCA Local Nature Recovery Strategy Co-ordinator

• Throughout 2024 48 regions covering all of England will develop these and connect these plans to help nature recovery be bigger, better, and more joined up. This workshop will introduce Local Nature Recovery Strategies in the context of the West Midlands Combined Authority Region, followed by questions and discussion.

Talk: - Shira de Bourbon Parme

• Life-centred urban design, social wellbeing indicators and night-time ecologies

Workshop: A 'Chai and Chat' with and , founder of Fungi Futures

• Mycelium Networks and Mutual Aid - what we can learn about society from these fascinating underground networks?

Workshop: Pride of Place Across All Our Neighbourhoods with Jonathan Bostock, Your Place, Your Space

• With reference to work that is ongoing within neighbourhoods across Birmingham, this workshop will explore the role digital can play in nurturing pride of place and how everyone (digitally included or digitally excluded) can be empowered to be involved.

Conversation: What Next for the Field? with Axis Design Architects and Martin Holcombe, Birmingham Settlement CEO

• Exploring Near Futures for the Nature & Wellbeing Centre at Edgbaston Reservoir

4pm - Sharing circle and end of day unwind

SPONSORS

Neighbourhood Futures Festival is supported by Lavenders CIC. Lavenders Club aim to improve the quality of life of older adults in Smethwick/Bearwood through a variety of support services, ranging from befriending to day trips - reducing isolation, promoting social inclusion and reducing the risk of dementia.

Host or Publisher Birmingham Settlement