How Do We Build an Open, Tolerant and Inclusive City?
Wed 20 Oct 2021, 19:30 – 21:00 panel discussion
Written by Sado Jirde, BSWN Director
It was an honour to join the Mayor’s State of the City Panel Discussion on Wednesday with Ian Goldin, Musa Okwonga, Liz Zeidler and Mayor Marvin Rees to discuss How Do We Build an Open, Tolerant and Inclusive City.
Key highlights from the discussion included:
· The notion of ‘Building Something New’ rather than ‘Building Back Better’ from a system that has been revealed once again to be inherently unequal and exploitative by the strikingly rising figures of inequalities during the pandemic.
· The disproportionate impact on Black and Minoritised communities, disabled people and intersectionally on low-income communities accompanied by a record number of new billionaires in Britain showcasing the fundamental unfairness of our system.
· The recognition that global challenges have historically sparked a momentum for radical change and the opportunity is here to accept and understand that we need to radically change our way to build a fair future for all.
· The learning from other cities and governments on the importance of consultation, collaboration and compromise within activism and political action to tackle primary challenges collectively, e.g. housing crises, climate change and poverty.
· The need for a change of focus from national to local investment to build capacity within cities to take the lead on tackling decarbonisation and inequalities.
· The central challenge of inequality within education and London’s recent response to it as an example of feasible and effective good practice that can be replicated.
· A timely needed transformation of dominant narrative, culture, and language from ‘tolerance’ to ‘embracing’, from a GDP-centred notion of growth to a social value-centred inclusive growth that locates people and the planet at its core.
· The crucial importance of building infrastructure within communities and re-framing our economic and environmental services design with a bottom-up approach that is truly led by individuals.
· The urgent and brave notion of public spending for future generations to develop a real long-term sustainable funding model.
And lastly, Bristol as pioneering city that has the leadership, tools and potential to break this unjust cycle and set the targets to achieve true equity.