BANZAI organises its activities into circles. Each circle has a main coordinator and a specific focus. If you want to get involved with BANZAI (and we hope you will!), the best thing is to join one of the circles listed below.
Activism
Coordinators: Sue Lane and Nadine Edwards — contact the Activism Circle
We focus on campaigning and direct action to deliver Net Zero and biodiversity within our neighbourhood and beyond. Our focus is not only locally in the Bruntsfield area, but across the City of Edinburgh (with others). We also engage at national Scottish and UK levels on major campaigns that could make a significant difference and are non-violent or party political. Our members can of course choose to engage individually and BANZAI may collectively endorse certain initiatives. We will work with other BANZAI circles and external agents such as councillors and community councils to identify and collaborate on local campaigns.
Home Energy and Retrofit
Coordinator: Mick Patrick — contact the Home Energy Circle
The HEaR circle focuses on improving energy efficiency and sourcing for our homes, particularly for traditional, stone-built tenements and terraced houses through information, sign-posting and direct assistance. This includes techniques and aids to reducing energy consumption whilst remaining comfortable in our homes as they are, including draught-proofing, heating controls and maximising individual warmth. We emphasise that changes to our homes should be made ‘fabric-first’, putting an onus on building maintenance before significant retrofit. We promote the advantages of organising and working together as a building (or even a local community) as a means to better, more affordable retrofit with less individual burden and risk. We encourage and inform about local renewable heat and power sources. We also look to create volunteer-led projects to help more directly in home energy and retrofit, for example in infra-red heat surveys to help identify draughts and other forms of unnecessary heat loss.
Transport
Coordinator: Marina Wimmer — contact the Transport Circle
The Transport circle is currently focussing on three actions. First, we are keen to install bike hangers in Leamington Terrace where people who live in tenement buildings can store their bikes. Second, we are looking into the possibility of sharing an e-cargo bike. (If you have already been involved in such an initiative we would be interested to hear from you!) Third, we are keen to improve the safety of the crossing between Leamington Terrace and Gilmore Place, which is an important axis for commuters, walkers, cyclists, and children on the school run.
Food
Coordinator: Amanda Lake — contact the Food Circle
The focus of the Food circle is food systems and eating local, climate-smart foods. The circle will collaborate with the local food and foraging community and support existing and new initiatives with local community groups such as Dig-In, Bruntsfield Primary and Friends of the Meadows and Bruntsfield Links.
Gardening and the Environment (GaTE)
The GaTE group was very active in 2022 but currently lacks a coordinator. If you think you would be able to take this on, please get in touch.