A look back at the AGM
In June, Friends of the Earth Scotland members from around the country gathered in Edinburgh and online for our National Gathering and AGM.
Our AGM is your chance, as members, to get involved with the running of Friends of the Earth Scotland – elect our new board and agreeing motions that will guide our campaigns and activism. We also take the opportunity to share more about what we’ve been up to for the past year, get to know each other better and spend some time looking to the future.
This year, we were delighted to be joined by the creators of the Play for Torry, which was featured in the last edition of What on Earth. They read some of their script which they’ve been developing with the community, and provided much inspiration for us all.
We also had a panel discussion with Caroline Rance, head of campaigns at Friends of the Earth Scotland and Kirtana Chandrasekaran from Friends of the Earth International. They answered lots of questions about campaigning in the current climate and international solidarity.
We elected five new board members, who will serve for three years. A big welcome to Anna Brown (representing Young Friends of the Earth Scotland), Aoife Stephens, Doris Jamieson, Megan McHaney and Nick Cullen. They will be joining Robin Aitken, Chris Stanley, Harriet Munro, Ian Marlee and Andrea Forbes.
Since the AGM, Megan has been elected at chair of the board, Doris as treasurer and Robin as vice chair. A big thank you to all the board members who finished their terms this year.
Three motions were brought forward to the AGM and all were passed.
The first motion voted through was for Friends of the Earth Scotland to take a movement building apprach to climate campaigning. For us, movement building means growing the capacity and power of networks of people, communities, and groups seeking environmental, social, and economic justice. We believe a diverse approach to movement building will establish lasting change.
The motion puts new aim at the centre of our organisational strategy: to build “movements for system change” in Scotland. To do this we will create more meaningful ways for people to organise locally and nationally, deepen and widen our membership, and run new campaigns for local transformation and global justice. You can read more about this approach in the previous edition of What on Earth and on our website.
The second motion was for Friends of the Earth Scotland to stand in solidarity with trans people. The motion stated that “recognising that gender justice, particularly both trans and women’s liberation, is fundamental to the environmentally just world we are building”. This means seeing trans liberation as part of our shared struggle for a just world, and actively and visibly standing up for trans rights. It means facilitating the inclusion, comfort and safety of trans people within the movement.
The third motion was on ethical procurement. Members voted to commit to an ethical procurement policy, excluding BDS targets and Israeli products as far as possible. The BDS movement uses the historically successful method of targeted boycotts, and Friends of the Earth Palestine was involved in setting it up. Members voted on BDS as far back as 2013, and this year’s motion will ensure our resources are used in line with our values.
To accompany the debates and voting, members brainstormed their ideas about how we can make being a member of Friends of the Earth Scotland more fun, empowering and democratic – so watch out for more on this in the coming months.