ROCHDALE

On Sunday of the Earth Day weekend as part of the Eid al-Fitr celebrations at the end of Ramadan, The Great Imagining seeded in Rochdale, Greater Manchester in the form of an inter-faith panel discussion at the Bangladesh Association Community Project facilitated by Mohammed Rahman and the Rochdale Science Initiative. The day began with intergenerational Carbon Literacy workshops exploring greener food choices and what they look like among different diets; later, faith leaders from the Muslim and Christian religions discussed the role of faith communities in addressing climate change and our ecological crises, a discussion facilitated by long term collaborator Robin Clyfan. From the generation of young people and teenagers in the room to adults, reverends and Imams, there was a strong consensus across the intergenerational audience that any transformation towards a greener fairer wiser future starts at the heart of the community. When people especially young people feel supported to make a difference in their own lives, this in turn empowers them to inspire change at a higher level and to lead their wider networks towards a future-orientated regeneration. This is at the heart of our developing Purposeful Lives programme for schools and communities.