ABSTRACT
In an urbanizing world, our cities are growing phenomenally, and their populations are increasingly diverse. Giving voice is a process that involves approaching settled multicultural communities that have been socially excluded, or about reaching out to newcomers. In the United Kingdom a large proportion of settled multicultural communities are the legacy of Empire. Black Environment Network work stimulated a rethinking within the environmental sector. This shift of vision recognizes that motivation for involvement with the care and protection of nature works across two interlinked fronts. It is about caring for nature and caring for people. As people moved across the earth, unique cultures emerged through periodic isolation when natural barriers such as mountains, rivers, or seas defined territory. Giving voice has a different focus across the stages of engagement, starting from outreach to make contact with minority multicultural communities, and over time in integrating them into representative structures at the highest levels.
