Mikko Kapanen and Shauna Magunda are two students at UCE in Birmingham who used their final year project to experiment with podcasting to tell the stories of refugees in the city. This programme talks to them about how and why they did it and also hears excerpts from some of the remarkable people who spoke to Shauna and made it onto Refucast.
Tag: Birmingham
Talk like a Brummie day
image from peteashton
Jon Bounds – the man behind BiNS, the chap who put this site together and the bloke I worked with (he did it mostly) on upyerbrum, continue his one man online campaign to show the true strength of this fabulous city.
He has declared July 20th 2007 Talk Like a Brummie Day.
Orlroit bab!
How often do we hear or read this on a slow news day? “The Brummie accent has been named the least intelligent” “least trustworthy” “least friendly” “most dishonest”? When the media needs a quick stupid stereotype what sort of voice do they pick?Well us moaning isn’t going to change anything – let’s face it we’re bloody good at whinging and it hasn’t worked yet – so we should celebrate our accent and dialect and encourage everyone to ‘Talk Like a Brummie’ for one day. Come on everyone, don’t gerra cobb on, we ain’t yampy.
We’ll be celebrating, no matter how dark it gets over Bill’s mothers.
Of course this has to be a global collaboration – fluent speakers can add to the brummie dictionary, whilst anyone can vote for this on upyerbum, add the date to their diary, pop this countdown to the day on their site, practice from the dictionary and remember that July 20th is a day of solidarity – a day to talk like a brummie. of course their more besides – perhaps someone fancies doing a youtube guide – and maybe I should get round to a podcast.
Showdown at Black Patch Park – a new podcast on the Grassroots Channel
OK so a slightly dramatic headline as you can see from the smiling photo. This programme is one of those occasional episodes when we manage to bring an active citizen together with the politician who’s thwarted their efforts (you might like to listen to Albert Bore and Natalie Brade).
For four years Simon Baddeley (the tall one) has campaigned with other Friends of Black Patch Park to protect this urban green space which is in Sandwell but sits just on the boundary with Birmingham. Sandwell Council had zoned some of the land for industrial development. The friends campaigned widely – including making their own media on youtube and using Flickr and Wikipedia to keep tabs on facts and images – until finally something moved. Earlier this year Councillor Bob Badham (cabinet member for Transport and Regeneration) said the council would review those plans, with the aim to preserve the park as a park.
This podcast is the first time the politician and the campaigner have had a chance to really talk, and I have to say that is part of what we try and do from time to time, create a space where relationships can grow a little.
We also mention a event coming up to explore neighbourhood policing in Birmingham. The Chamberlain Forum is hosting the Chief Constable of the West Midlands and Bishop of Birmingham to explore how policing is responding to what communities want. You are welcome to come to the free event in Digbeth on the morning of June 13th. Details of how to book can be found here.
Other relevant links are:
Neighbourhood Policing (PDF)
Are you Powered Up?
Next month in Birmingham is a two day training event to help active citizens wield more power in their communities. Organised by Friends of the Earth “Power Up” will cost you £60 and should help you:
Talk tactics and share strategies with the experts
Meetgovernment agencies and other community support organisations
Get practical tips for shaping your community
Meet like-minded inspirational campaigners
Examine real life local case studies.
It is for:
…anyone involved in community campaigns or site-specific environmental campaigning. You need not be a member of Friends of the Earth to join us, nor do you need to be an expert.
I’ve mentioned Friends of the Earth before for their online efforts (which now also include this local blog) and, so it’s good to see them also extending their efforts at face to face networking and skills sharing.
Hat tip: Involve
technorati tags: birminghamuk environment community foe active citizen training upyerbrum