Speaker

2018 - The Incredible Edible Network

Pam Warhurst CBE has been an activist and advisor for over 40 years. She has been involved in local politics and national policy as the Chair of the Board of the Forestry Commission, which advises on and implements forestry policy in Great Britain.

Pam cofounded Incredible Edible, an initiative begun in Northern England dedicated to growing food locally by planting on unused land throughout the community, she called it propaganda gardening.

Incredible Edible encourages community engagement through local growing. It started small, with the planting of a few community herb gardens in Todmorden, and today has spin-offs in the U.S. and Japan, counting over 100 groups in the UK and 600 world-wide. Incredible Edible empowers ordinary people to take control of their communities through active civic engagement, redefining prosperity through the power of small actions.

Today Pam chairs the Incredible Edible Network, supporting and amplifying the work of groups around the UK, she also chairs Pennine Prospects which works with local authorities, government agencies, businesses, voluntary organisations and the local community to deliver a range of initiatives including the objectives of the “Heritage Strategy for the South Pennines”.

She is currently developing an expression of Incredible Edible across the Northern Power House called Incredible North and works as part of a global network of social entrepreneurs, as an Ashoka Fellow.