BE PART OF AN EXCITING COMMUNITY LED PROGRAMME TAKING CLIMATE ACTION IN TOWER HAMLETS
WE’RE RECRUITING!
We’re on the look out for a Programme Manager and Mobiliser to drive a five-year programme to create a Just Food and Climate Transition – Just FACT.
Supported by the Climate Action Fund (The National Lottery Community Fund) this is a unique opportunity to lead a partnership programme to develop and deliver an ambitious piece of work that will:
- Reduce CO2 emissions from food in Tower Hamlets
- Create a resilient food system designed by and for diverse communities
- Grow a stronger movement for a just food and climate transition
- Produce a replicable and scalable Blueprint that can inspire positive transitions in other urban areas like ours
- Center community-led solutions and amplify diverse voices within decision making.
ABOUT JUST FACT
Creating a tried and tested community-led blueprint for a sustainable and socially just urban food system.
This exciting, transformational piece of work aims to reduce the environmental impacts of our local food system, enabling genuinely community led alternatives.
This project believes improving our food system will be a vital part of the solution by creating a more resilient food system that works better for the happiness, health and wellbeing of our communities. That is why we’re calling this project Just FACT – A Just Food and Climate Transition – because we believe that any action we take on climate change must have justice at its heart.
HOW WILL IT WORK
We’ll be working with local residents, community groups, and organisations to create a blueprint for our local food system. We will create Community Hubs that will run workshops and discussions to support local people design a climate-friendly food system that tackles the issues which are specific to an urban borough like ours. With the blueprint as our guide, we will be funding Community Labs that will be testing and scaling up solutions across the borough.
We hope at the end of all this to have created a genuinely groundbreaking model for how inner city areas can transition to a just food system.
OUR PARTNERS
Our Just FACT partners are eager to welcome new staff and get started! There is a great energy behind this project that builds on long established relationships and some exciting new connections. Below is a bit more detail about our partners and and how we will work together to make this happen:
BLUEPRINT ARCHITECTS
This project will bring together a community-led group of ‘Architects’ representing community leaders, organisers and local residents. Together with London LEAP and Wen, they will share their expertise, understanding and research to create the Just FACT Blueprint for Tower Hamlets.
COMMUNITY HUBS
The project will fund 3 estate based hubs engaging diverse communities to take action, develop their own projects and supporting people change behaviours. On the Teviot Estate in Poplar, Leaders In Community will put young people in the lead creating local campaigns for change; in Bethnal Green the new Parkview and Cranbrook Climate Taskforce (PACCT) will be enabling local residents to develop new community initiatives, and on the Burdette Estate, Wen’s new Limborough Community Food Hub will supporting families and community groups share skills and resources.
COMMUNITY LABS
We already know communities have developed innovative solutions to the climate crisis, so we have over £200k funding given to Community Labs including 5 ‘Beacon’ projects building on existing best practice and 5 new ‘Ground Breaker’ projects supporting innovation and upscaling responding to the Blueprint. This includes: R-Urban’s prototypes of closed loop system and MicroAD, Sunny Jar Eco Hub’s campaign to reduce single use plastic, and St Hilda’s Food Coop who have led the way providing cost price organic food to lower income communities.
LEADERSHIP CIRCLE
Building on Wen’s track record of feminist organising, this project will be led by an evolving participatory group bringing together partners.
JUST FACT FORUM
Sitting within the Tower Hamlets Food Partnership we will create a forum to bring together strategic partners such as the Local Authority, housing providers such as Poplar HARCA, academics and experts who can advise and resource the project, make changes in their own decision making to reflect the blueprint and share learning.
WHY JOIN WEN
The two new roles advertised will be working alongside many of Wen’s passionate and talented staff to deliver this project. Having worked in Tower Hamlets doing women’s empowerment and food growing projects for over 15 years, Wen has a wealth of connections and strong relationships to make high impact change.
Wen has a participatory organisational model encouraging staff to take on roles within the leadership team and we are seriously committed to talking about power and privilege within the organisation and the work that we do. We are doing the work to be a leading inclusive, intersectional and feminsist organisation working on environmental issues in the UK.
We particularly encourage applications from people of colour, who are currently underrepresented at Wen. Wen’s work, including this role, is open to all genders and aspires to be a trans inclusive organisation. Deadline to apply: 5th October 2020.
