Birmingham (BUR-ming-əm) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. It is the second-largest city, urban area and metropolitan area in England and the United Kingdom, with roughly 1.1 million inhabitants within the city area, 2.9 million inhabitants within the urban area and 4.3 million inhabitants within the metropolitan area and lies within the most populated English district.Birmingham is commonly referred to as the second city of the United Kingdom.
Located in the West Midlands county and region in England, approximately 100 miles (160 km) from Central London, Birmingham, as one of the United Kingdom's major cities, is considered to be the social, cultural, financial, and commercial centre of both the East and West Midlands. Distinctively, Birmingham only has small rivers flowing through it, mainly the River Tame and its tributaries River Rea and River Cole – one of the closest main rivers is the Severn, approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of the city centre. W
Networks and sustainability initiatives[edit | edit source]
- CIVIC SQUARE, "A bold approach to visioning, building and investing in civic infrastructure for neighbourhoods of the future."
- Balsall Heath Is Our Planet
- Bioregion Birmingham, "A resilient, sustainable city embracing a bioregional approach to economics, governance and culture."
- Birmingham Friends of the Earth
- Kings Heath Transition Initiative
- Northfield Ecocentre
- University of Birmingham People and Planet Society on facebook
Environment quality[edit | edit source]
- Brum Breathes, added 16:12, 13 May 2021 (UTC)
Resources
- School Streets: Reducing children's exposure to toxic air pollution and road danger, mumsforlungs.org, Research concerning 4 cities: London, Birmingham, Bristol and Leeds, Jan 2021
Open spaces[edit | edit source]
Birmingham has 571 parks totalling over 3,500 hectares (14 sq mi) of public open space, more than any other European city. The city also has five Local Nature Reserves, one National Nature Reserve and a number of Wildlife Trust nature reserves.[1]
Martineau Gardens, (Wikipedia) - Wikipedia: Parks and open spaces in Birmingham, Cannon Hill Park
Trees, woodland and forest[edit | edit source]
Community involvement[edit | edit source]
- The Front Room, "the beginnings of an ambitious, long-term neighbourhood platform in Birmingham to be designed, grown and co-owned by local communities."
Arts, sport and culture[edit | edit source]
Communities online[edit | edit source]
Hyperlocal sites in Birmingham, June 2014
Community energy[edit | edit source]
BirminghamEnergy Savers, Birmingham City Council originated scheme
Cycling activism[edit | edit source]
Big Birmingham Bikes, information from Birmingham City Council - Bike North Birmingham, Birmingham City Council project delivered in partnership with Sustrans and Be Active, working to transform the profile of cycling in Erdington and Sutton Coldfield - Birmingham Cycle Revolution,part of the Birmingham Connected vision to reinvent the way people and goods move across the city - Critical Mass bicycle rides in Birmingham - Green Bike Project, community-led bicycle workshop and co-operative based at the University of Birmingham
Food activism[edit | edit source]
Growing Birmingham - Martineau Gardens, (Wikipedia)
Health and wellbeing[edit | edit source]
- The Active Wellbeing Society, community benefit society and cooperative working to develop healthy, happy communities living active and connected lives, added 17:16, 30 April 2020 (UTC)
Sustainable transport activism[edit | edit source]
- Birmingham Transport Plan 2031, Draft Birmingham transport plan
Birmingham is at the hub of England's canal network. There are 35 miles (56 km) of canals within the city, of which most are navigable.[2]
Towards sustainable economies[edit | edit source]
FutureShift, programme to encourage civic innovation in Birmingham and the Black Country[3]
News and comment[edit | edit source]
2020
'Cities have been invaded by cars. Now they are being liberated' - Positive News, Apr 7[4]
How a Belgian port city (Ghent) inspired Birmingham's car-free ambitions, Jan 20[5]
2019
"Play Out Til Tea" is a great Birmingham Impact Hub idea - but their "neighbourhood of the future" is even better, Jul 21[6]
From Impact Hub Birmingham to Civic Square, Jun 16[7]
2013
Pedal power to the people: Brum's £24m cycling boost, August 12[8]
Resources[edit | edit source]
Citizens data initiative[edit | edit source]
- Data to decarbonise in a decade, makes available a range of data sets including open data on housing, travel, waste, energy, and emissions. Easy to use, with some features to help with visualisation. added 15:43, 18 November 2021 (UTC)
Funding community action[edit | edit source]
LoveBrum, charity supporting 'hard-to-reach' projects across Birmingham that are often volunteer led and that deliver real change, with outcomes that can be seen, measured, enjoyed, and loved.
Maps for community action[edit | edit source]
Public Transport Maps:[9]
- Birmingham public transport maps are available from Network West Midlands as follows:
Other resources[edit | edit source]
Past events[edit | edit source]
2017
Beyond (un)employment, collaborative learning circle, Programme starts Wednesday 19th April 2017 birmingham.impacthub.net
2015
March 7 Birmingham GreenFest, Birmingham Botanical Gardens
External links[edit | edit source]
- Birmingham W
- Green Commission, Birmingham City Council