Sign ups are now open for 7 x Huddles exploring Economic Justice across Birmingham!
Economic Justice Brum is bringing seven Huddles to the world in January 2025. Funded by Barrow Cadbury Trust and stewarded by Huddlecraft, each of the Huddles will take a different approach to exploring how Birmingham can become a more fair, equal and sustainable city.
What is a Huddle?!
A Huddle is a carefully held, playful, participatory space. It is led by the people who make up the group (up to 12 in each Huddle), and spans a bounded period of time (4 months, in this case).
A Huddle will bring different communities together — people from diverse areas and backgrounds that perhaps wouldn’t otherwise meet– to pool their life experiences, power and resources, to imagine and experiment.
Huddles deepen participation and drive learning and action. They enable people and organisations to go on a journey together, to be curious explorers in community, and to take action in response to the questions and challenges we face in these uncertain times.
The Economic Justice Huddles aim to:
- Develop a shared culture in which people understand that the economy is for everyone, and we all have a right to participate and input into the systems that impact us on a daily basis.
- Create the conditions for new kinds of relationships to form, and for change to take root and spread.
- Create opportunities for a diverse group of people to pool their experiences and skills, deepen their understanding of economic systems and participate in creating a brighter future for Birmingham.
Economic Justice Brum (EJB) is a growing movement of citizens, made up of community groups, civil society organisations, campaigners and communities impacted by economic injustice. We are connected by a shared commitment to economic justice and we are joining together to support a shared vision to improve the lives of people in Birmingham and the surrounding areas.
Birmingham’s economy touches its citizens’ lives in dozens of ways each day. From access to safe, affordable housing, nourishing food, to good jobs, sustainable healthcare and other public infrastructures, economic change is possible on many fronts. The economy needs to transform to meet the needs of Birmingham’s communities — and we need strong relationships and a shared vision of the future to meet the scale of the challenge ahead of us.
By working, imagining, strategising and acting together, Economic Justice Brum is accelerating the pace of economic change in Birmingham.
Why Huddle?
Research shows that complex changes — like those required to organise for economic transition — are best spread through interconnected tight clusters of strong relationships. Our aim is to build these strong relationships through huddling, and connect these Huddles to spread the change created across the city.
Do I have to be knowledgable about the economy to participate in a Huddle?
No! The economy and economic systems can be confusing and complex. Most of us feel excluded and alienated from economic policy and unable to influence the economy around us. And yet they are a part of our everyday lives — from education, to transport, to access to green space, to our high street shops. We are all impacted by economic systems, and we all have a right to participate and input into them.
These Huddles are designed for us to learn together about how the economy shows up in our lives, to build our collective awareness, understanding and power so that we can better meet the challenges that we face.
Do it to:
- build tight knit community of changemakers across Birmingham
- build your capacity and skills around a specific learning question or project
- contribute to wider economic systems change via a network of Huddles
Invitations are now open for all 7 Huddles!
All Huddles will run between end of January and May 2025, and applications are now open. Find out more via the images and links below.
1/ A Life Well Lived
Find an overview below and read more here.
2/ Child Poverty Changemakers
Find an overview below and read more here.
3/ Creativity X Economy Huddle.
Find an overview below and read more here.
4 / Emergency vs Emergence
Find an overview below and read more here.
5 / Mindset Matters
Find an overview below and read more here.
6 / SEND Seen
Find an overview below and read more here.
7/ Transformative Economics
Find an overview below and read more here.
Come to an Open Session!
We will be hosting three open sessions across the next three months:
- Monday 18th Nov |12.30pm — 1.30pm
- Thursday 12th Dec |10am — 11am
- Tuesday 7th Jan | 5pm — 6pm
In these sessions you will be able to find out more about the Huddles and meet and talk to the Hosts. If you are interested in attending an Open Session, please complete this form and we will be in touch.
