This listing was last updated by the Birmingham organiser on: 2020-07-05
CONTACT: Malcolm Currie info@globallylocal.net
LOCANTA RESTAURANT
31 LUDGATE HILL
ST PAUL'S SQUARE
B3 1EH
food and drinks from 6.00p.m. - guests and/or main topic introduced at 7.00/7.15p.m. See further background information at bottom of page.
We are the Birmingham Green Drinks, part of a global network with over 500 locations around the world.
*************
Birmingham Green Drinks MEETINGS are of course suspended. Should you be interested in a restart as from 14 July (2nd Tuesday of each month), do get in touch and I'll provide further information.
We continue developments with Banner Theatre and Birmingham Museum Trust, working online and as per the following notes. Email contact is welcome:-
Linking Banner Theatre and the Museums Trusts
Well, we think it's time for some genuine cross sector collaboration - AND time to recognise the positive impact the Performing Arts can have in getting to the heart of complex issues. Banner, with its 4 decades of incisive social, political comment, is taking on a new challenge - to produce a mult-media Performance on environmental themes. this will take a minimum of six months for the initial production and up to one year to be ready to insert as discussed, into pre Commonwelath Games programmes.
Here, we're linking Birmingham Museum Trust (BMT) with Birmingham based Banner Theatre. We're looking to the Council House Complex (primary home for BMT) as a lead venue for the show - so maybe we need a new name for the site??
In the UK we find it particularly difficult to scramble out of our silos and work constructively with those in other sectors, even when we share common aims! The 'environmental movement' has long neglected the Arts and Heritage as allies, despite mounting evidence of the positive and therapeutic impact of performance, music, poetry on people's wellbeing and therefore on their capacity for radical change.
BMT is one of our ‘anchor’ institutions with its 150+ staff and over 1000 committed volunteers. It occupies a prime city centre location plus eight other sites across the city, which together with its strong regional, national and international working relations, makes for an impressive portfolio.
In addition, its successful Access, Education and Trainee programmes provide working relations with cultural, ethnic and faith groups and in particular, with young people, across the region.
BMT has to be one of Brum’s hidden gems! Join the conversation with us on Tuesday 10 March!
FOR THE LONG TERM
MITIGATION or ADAPTATION?
As the International Community fails to keep even remotely in line wiht ICPP recommendations, it's time to consider how for the long term we prepare for adaptation to radically changed environments. As the cittaslow manifesto states, paying attention solely to the physical environment will not ensure that long term resilience. 'The Good Life' comes from an holistic approach to the challenges. Therefore, we'll continue to work for example with RSA (Royal Society of Arts ...) on ALTERNATIVE ECONOMICS and also on FOOD AND FARMING.
We'll also be working with the think tank PLANET CENTRED FORUM (PCF) with their commitment to go beyond the normally acceptable limits to our thinking. PCF have already arranged sessions in Birmingham looking at the population issue as well as at economic and political aspects to the major challenges to civilisation.
We'll look in more detail at what the international cittaslow movement is doing and how they approach the challenges in a comprehensive and holistic manner.
Malcolm Currie
Globally Local
email: info@globallylocal.net
*******************************************************************
BRUM GREEN DRINKS - GENERAL GUIDELINES
Of course, you don't have to have a meal in order to join in, although it helps us to have an idea of meal numbers in advance. Erkan, our host, provides an excellent menu, plenty of choice, including vegan and vegetarian - just ask. Over the next few months we'll be experimenting with a buffet format to facilitate easier movement and there'll be snack type options in addition to the main menu. Also there'll be at least one dish produced using locally grown (in the city) vegetables and fruit.
Food and/or drinks are available anytime from 6.00p.m.; and we introduce any "guest" and topic for the evening at about 7.00p.m. People stay for as long or as short a time as they wish or are able. As a guide, the main discussion usually lasts about an hour to an hour and a half, after the initial 5 to 10 minutes [maximum] introduction of the topic.
The role of the guest speaker is to promote discussion; to challenge, rather than deliver an after dinner speech! Just 5 to 10 minutes is all they are allowed as an introduction.
*********
GREEN DRINKS
A NEW VERSION OF AN OLD IDEA WE ONCE CALLED "CAFE SOCIETY" ...
"...a place where anybody can come, alone or with friends,
to enjoy a meal...
a place to air and share opinions, in a friendly and
convivial atmosphere... - about the issues facing us all;
The local restaurant becomes a focal point where people can go for a satisfying evening out, knowing that they will meet others who wish to talk about any of the issues - social, economic, cultural or whatever - they feel concerned about.”
“Who knows whom you might meet!
They’ll listen - they’ll answer back -
and together we’ll create
a new kind of
society..."
extract from Theodore Zeldin's "Intimate History of Conversation"