Runnymede Monthly Email
We apologise for re-sending the July newsletter to those of you who have already received it earlier this week.
Upcoming Events/Activities
European Anti-Discrimination and Diversity Training
Runnymede is involved in an EU-funded project, Capacity Building of Civil Society dealing with Anti-Discrimination, which aims to provide training on European and national anti-discrimination law and policy to non-governmental organisations and trade unions across the UK. Acting as the UK partner on this project, Runnymede, together with a team of national trainers will design two seminars with approximately 40 representatives of NGOs from across the UK. The first seminar will take place in London on 21-22 November 2007; the same seminar will be delivered in Glasgow in early 2008. Please click here for further information and registration details for the seminar.
Mixed Heritage The Commission for Racial Equality is hosting an E-Conference in partnership with Runnymede, London South Bank University’s Families & Social Capital Research Group and Communities and Local Government. Looking into issues relating to Britain’s 'mixed-race' population (mixedness) and mixed families (mixing).
The E-Conference will feature a number of short papers written especially for the event, along with the upcoming Runnymede Perspectives paper Mixed Heritage: Identities, Policy and Practice. The public will be able to discuss and debate the issues raised in a number of forums alongside policymakers, academics and people working in the voluntary sector. From September 4-6, the conference will focus on the three discussion themes of Equality, Interaction and Participation. For more information on the E-Conference and how to register, please visit Mixedness and Mixing Website.
Recent Work at Runnymede
Respect Launch
Runnymede’s first ‘State of the Nation’ report was launched at a small seminar held in Canada House on 4th July. The report discusses the idea of ‘respect’ as a justification of policy, and argues that a respect agenda – if coherently and fairly formulated – could be beneficial for all Britons. Omar Khan, the author of the report, presented a short summary of the report, followed by responses from Professors Jonathan Wolff (Philosophy, UCL) and Francesca Klug (Law, LSE). To download a copy of the report, please click here.
UKREN
In March, UKREN held the seminar entitled Impact of the European Integration Agenda in the UK. To download the final report, please click here, and to see the report of the ENAR seminar held on the same topic in Brussels, please click here.
UKREN held its 5th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 26 April 2007 at the Commission for Racial Equality offices in London. The UKREN AGM adopted a resolution on the Constitution to correspond to the growing range of responsibilities UKREN is involved in and to allow for a new management structure. Please click here to read the amended Constitution.
The latest issue of ENARgy (issue 20) - Driving the future of the European anti-racist movement- has now come out. This issue features articles on social inclusion, the role of equality bodies and examples of successful campaigning and advocacy. To download, please click here, otherwise contact Katalin Halasz on 020 7377 9222 or by email - ukren@runnymedetrust.org - if you would prefer hardcopies.
Real Histories Directory
The Real Histories Directory continues to explore issues in commemoration of the abolition of Transatlantic slavery through the Topic of the Month. The topic for July is The Art of Slavery written by Vastiana Belfon.
Work in Progress
Response to Discrimination Law Review
Runnymede’s project considering Race Equality Impact Assessments has entered its consultation stage. The implications of the project are two-fold: (1) more effective use of REIAs will help to promote greater trust between service users and service providers; and (2) it will help to inform government plans to roll-out the current duty to assessments of how policies impact upon people of different sexualities, age groups and religious groups. To this end, Runnymede has posted a consultation paper on the website which we encourage you to respond to. To download the consultation report, please click here
Call for Open Letters
With the change in government leadership and call for a renewed relationship between the state and the citizenry these are times full of potential. Runnymede is preparing a feature for the September edition of the Runnymede Bulletin which will ensure that we publicly record our hopes for the coming years in terms of improving race equality and race relations. The feature will consist of a series of open letters to Gordon Brown as the new PM, and Trevor Phillips as Chair of the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights. We are inviting people and organisations who have a long track record in the field of race equality to share with us their hopes for the coming years in the form of a letter to either or both new leaders.
The letters should be between 200 and 400 words in length and be submitted to Rob by Monday 20th August. Alongside invited letters, we will also be making an open call for contributions and be hosting a special page on our website to share them with a wider audience.
Financial Inclusion
In the past year Runnymede has produced research papers on financial inclusion. While income poverty is of course an important concern for all Britons, lack of access and knowledge to financial services and products may also influence patterns of disadvantage in the UK. We are now beginning a more wide-ranging project to examine whether black and minority ethnic Britons have disadvantaged or different experiences of accessing financial products including pensions, savings, bank accounts and other investments.
Video ART (Anti-Racist Trails) Postcards initiative
Manifesta and Runnymede have joined forces to deliver Video ART (Anti-Racist Trails) Postcards, a youth and digital media initiative designed to inspire young people about contemporary struggles against racisms and injustice –looking at the legacy of slavery and the abolitionist movement, and reflecting on the colonialism/anti-colonialism of a later era.
This month two groups of 20 young people from Newham will engage with two learning activities - they will explore sites related to historical racism and anti-racism in the East End of London and learn to express their interpretation of this heritage creatively, using digital media. Each young participant will have produced a personal short video work 'postcard', informed by their workshop learning which will then be showcased at museums, community centres, TV and online platforms, and a dedicated web-site. In addition, selections of the postcards will be incorporated in a toolkit and other educational materials, for use in formal as well as non-formal learning situations. For further information on the Video ART Postcards, please contact Marion
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