Solidarity never stops, and this month, it was a fantastic initiative linking the environment and neighborhoods that caught our attention.

What is Banlieues Climat?

Banlieues Climat is an association that aims to unite, raise awareness, and inspire people in working-class neighborhoods on environmental and climate issues in order to bring their voices and local projects to the forefront of public debate and empower them to take action.

Today, it is no longer possible to talk about environmental justice or collective emancipation for society as a whole without mentioning the vital role played by residents of working-class neighborhoods.

Banlieues Climat supports the dream of a greener, more environmentally friendly society driven by and for working-class neighborhoods.

All of its actions are based on three core values: defending the common good, listening, and hope.

Findings and Actions

For many years, climate change and environmental problems have caused widespread damage, which has mainly impacted the most vulnerable members of our society. Poorly insulated housing, unsanitary conditions, difficult living and working conditions, and heat waves have primarily affected the elderly. In many cases, the statistics curve shoots upwards when it comes to measuring the damage affecting these vulnerable populations.

ACTIONS – Focus Area 1: “Inspire and Unite” // Through in-person training sessions in neighborhoods. Banlieues Climat organizes workshops to raise awareness and educate people about climate issues. The aim is to convey the necessary knowledge about climate issues (energy, health impact, geopolitics, demographics, the question of rare metals, etc.) in order to inspire young people and unite them around social and ecological transformation.

ACTIONS – Focus Area 2: “Creating local and national alliances” // This focus area is dedicated to meetings with political institutions focused on ecology and actors in the field in several cities in France in order to develop local actions that can serve the populations concerned and empower them to take action at their level, individually or collectively.

ACTIONS – Focus Area 3: “Bringing projects to fruition” // This advocacy focus area allows young people from working-class neighborhoods to have their voices heard in political decision-making forums and bring about changes in legislation. Banlieues Climat aims to involve the working classes at the highest levels of decision-making. The association aims to promote scientific and academic projects that will enable young people to be a source of proposals and provide tailor-made solutions to mitigate the environmental impact on vulnerable groups.

A book coming soon!

Sanaa Saitouli, with her extensive experience in the field, is working to ensure that working-class neighborhoods join the climate preservation movement.
A new citizen voice.

Sanaa Saitouli's commitment to ecology for all is the result of a unique and diverse background. She recounts her story in this book. Born in Cergy, she grew up in the 1980s in a triple culture of Morocco, Mauritania, and the Croix-Petit neighborhood, where she developed a true spirit of solidarity. In the fall of 2022, she co-founded, notably with Féris Barkat, Banlieues Climat, a pioneering school that has trained more than 800 young people from working-class neighborhoods on climate issues, spreading to more than 20 French cities as well as Morocco, Germany, Italy, and elsewhere. This success is no accident, but the result of more than twenty years of dedication to the most vulnerable, and a desire to rebuild ties through popular education and action.
True to her compass, Sanaa Saitouli is now a recognized figure, alongside Laurence Tubiana and Al Gore (2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner) for an ecology that speaks to everyone.
Enracinée is the story of a woman who has shaped her life so that other children from working-class neighborhoods can invent their own tomorrow, in the face of the climate emergency.

A salutary and hopeful document.

By (author):Sanaa Saitouli
Other:Anne Pédron-Moinard
Preface by:Laurence Tubiana

To order this book, click here!

The association in photos

***

And if you too would like to support their actions and commitments, click here!