Faith and Climate Change, a project co-ordinated by Birmingham Friends of the Earth and part funded by Be Birmingham’s Working Neighbourhoods Fund, has has won the Guardian’s Green Community Heroes awards, in the Best Urban Community Project category.

The Faith and Climate Change project was established in 2006 after the multi-faith and climate change conference, which saw over 100 attendees from nine different faiths draw up a joint declaration on their commitment to tackling climate change. To date, the project supports 19 different places of worship and a range of faith communities in Birmingham and the West Midlands by taking practical action to cut carbon emissions.

Energy advice and Faith Ambassadors

Participants have benefited from this project in a variety of ways, from receiving advice on how to improve the energy efficiency of their place of worship, to how to live a more sustainable life at home. Some have taken ownership of the project, becoming Faith Ambassadors, willing to champion environmental sustainability and in particular CO₂ reduction projects within their faith communities. As well as achieving carbon reductions in Birmingham’s faith communities, the project has been a valuable way of improving relationships between communities in the city.

The Organic Iftar

A particularly popular event has been the recent multi-faith organic Iftar. Women of all faiths break the fast of Ramadan together by tasting local and seasonal dishes- a perfect way to share the Islamic culture with other faiths, focusing on eating food that has come from sustainable sources.

Maud Grainger, manager of the Faith and Climate Change project said: “For three years the Organic Iftar has been reaching women of all faiths. Women bring dishes from their cultures and share the importance of their food, discuss the challenges of local/seasonal food and how it links back to their faith. Women have applied the message of sustainability to their lives, others have taken it with them as they move away but most importantly, friendships have been made across faiths, neighbourhoods and cultures. These friendships will continue to build bridges for years to come.”

For more information on Faith and Climate Change, go to www.faithandclimatechange.org.