Who is Friends of the Earth?
Friends of the Earth International was founded in Sweden 1971 and has since grown to become one of the largest federations of organisations in the world, with member groups in over 60 countries. Each group is unique and autonomous within the FoE International network. This allows for incredible diversity between groups. The main characteristic that distinguishes FoE from other high profile environmental advocacy organisations is the recognition that environmental sustainability and social justice are fundamentally linked. This is reflected in the campaign priorities of FoE groups throughout the world.
Friends of the Earth Australia officially began in 1971, with a group in Adelaide. For many, the establishment of FoE in Australia was important because it offered, and continues to offer an alternative to the often hierarchical structures of other environment groups by choosing to work on a grass roots activist level. Traditionally, FoE Australia has campaigned strongly on issues such as Uranium mining, Indigenous Solidarity, Native Forest protection and Waste minimisation. FoE Australia is currently comprised of 13 local groups and 3 regional contacts.
Who is Friends of the Earth Brisbane?
Friends of the Earth Brisbane was formed in late 1997 following a campaign to stop the opening of a new sand mine on North Stradbroke Island.
The group working on the campaign felt a desire to work on a wider range of environmental and social issues and to help build a radical social change movement in Queensland and in Brisbane in particular. Over the years, many groups have formed to work on environmental and social justice issues and then disbanded a matter of months or a couple of years later. This has meant that little momentum has developed to build a social change movement and a culture of resistance. Experience and skills are rarely passed on to young activists and there is little "value adding" to good work that has been done in the past. This results in much "reinventing of wheels" and wasted resources. While single issue groups will always have a valid place, there is also a place for a grassroots organisation which is well resourced and continues to build capacity in working for social change towards an ecologically sustainable and just society.
See our Vision Statement [here]
Constructive and Oppositional Politics
There has tended to be a division between organisations that are working at a reactive level (ie. campaigning to stop inappropriate developments and resource extraction) and those that are working at a more proactive level (ie. on community development and sustainable employment initiatives). Given that the poor social and environmental outcomes that we consistently see are manifestations of underlying social dysfunctions, it seems to make sense to integrate both proactive and reactive work - to focus on both 'constructive' and 'oppositional' politics. At a basic level, if we are saying 'NO' to something, we also need to be saying 'YES' to something else.
With this basic understanding, the vision for Friends of the Earth Brisbane is for it to be a self-funded, politically independent social change organisation that engages effectively in social change action, at both a reactive and proactive level, towards a socially just and environmentally sustainable future.
Projects and Campaigns
FoE is currently involved in a large number of campaigns and projects on national, regional and local levels. We are striving to operate in ways that are consistent with our vision. This means challenging dominant paradigms (eg. patriarchy and elitist hierarchy) within the organisation and trying to integrate a proactive, social change approach into all of our activities
Since it formed in 1997, Friends of the Earth Brisbane has initiated three 'sustainable' businesses - Reverse Garbage, the Bicycle Revolution and EcoGeek, which have been established as independent, non-profit, worker-run cooperatives. We also operate (via Reverse Garbage) a recycled paper buying group called 'Papernet' which provides genuine (100% post consumer waste) recycled paper to local businesses and other organisations. These projects are part of FoE's long term funding strategy as well as our efforts to promote alternatives to an increasingly alienating and environmentally destructive economy. [projects]
How to get involved
If you’re interested in any of the FoE’s projects, campaigns or ideas and would like to get involved in Friends of the Earth Brisbane, we’d love to hear from you.
FoE Brisbane is a volunteer based organisation and is structured as an activist co-operative. It is a two-tiered organisation – with supporters (who have no decision making powers but who receive newsletters, Chain Reaction etc) – and members who have active decision making rights in the organisation. In order to become a member, people need to do a minimum of 10 hours FoE work per month – this helps to ensure that it is the people who are doing the work who make decisions about where the organisation is going.
Come to an Info session!
We hold information sessions every 2nd Monday evening for new people who want to find out more about FoE and who want to get involved. Please phone the FoE office for details – ph 3846 5793.
Alternatively, if you support the work that FoE does, but don’t have time to get involved, please consider becoming a financial supporter of FoE, FoE supporters receive copies of the newsletter ‘Groundswell’ as well as copies of the FoE Australia magazine, Chain Reaction .
See events for the next one!
30 year of Creative Resistance, A History of FoE Australia documents the grass roots work of our organisation. RRP $20. Ph: 07 3846 5793 to order a copy. All proceeds go to FoEBs environmental and social justice campaigns.