increase civic engagement locally

I ran across a pdf on the virtual agora project. I haven’t read it yet but thought it would have implications to this particular topic. For those interested, here’s an explanation of the agora.

Techy question to anyone who knows…can i “tag” posts such as this? Let’s say I wanted to call this a “resource” so I can find it easier in the future. Can I do that?

in going through feeds and all, i ran across an interesting post by Nancy White re: Recovery 2.0. it talks about the notion of using all sorts of social software to help out people following rather disruptive events (think tsunami, hurricane katrina, 9/11). already we’ve heard of craigslist helping to organize people. many in the blog world are sharing links, info, resources for others. i know there are some related goals here on 43things as well. is it me or does it seem like we’re on the cusp of something really big? something like those smart mobs?

tying all of this back locally, what if all the people who wanted to ban smoking in bars and restaurants in WA state did something similar to what we’re all seeing post hirricane katrina? that is, what if ppl started sharing all these links, resources, perspectives, pictures and all with one another, have some sort of uniform way of tagging it so others can find it easily, and so on? what would that look like? what would that feel like? and what do you do after that happens? my guess is that energy and momentum will lead to more energy and momentum. the trick seems to be to get that initial burst to get the attention of others, and sustain it for a period of time that will enable others to jump on and then take the momentum further.

thoughts?

In just the last 24 hours, I’ve been amazed at how quickly people and organizations have sprung into action to help out with the aftermath of Katrina. From random benefit concerts at the War Room advertised on the radio, to nationally broadcasted fundraisers on TV, or hosted pages at Yahoo or Amazon that help people donate to the Red Cross, the turnaround time is impressive. I understand that some moveon, indyvoter also have their own things going on to help. I’ve also heard that craigslist is being used to help people with housing or basic needs as well.

Tragedies aside, what can we learn from all of this with regards to civic engagement? What sort of tech infrastructure can we all use to help (in any situation)? ALready listed above are radio, tv, and web. What else is there? And how can we all use that to help?

Ran across this great video of a project that’s piqued my interests. Video (real format) can be found here:

http://www2.seattlechannel.org/media/video.asp?ID=3315

Synopsis of the video is:

International District Housing Alliance Community Perspectives 6/27/2005

A story of how WILD (Wilderness Inner-city Leadership Development), a youth program within the International District Housing Alliance program has used technology and a partnership between local youth and elders to strengthen the voice of residents in the international District neighborhood. In an approximately thirty square block neighborhood where more than forty languages are spoken, historically it has been difficult for residents effectively speak for themselves in the larger City system. See how local youth and elders use photography, multi-language interviews, and Personal Desk Assistants to use diversity as an asset and work toward removing language as a barrier to democracy.

the other day someone mentioned that civic engagement was similar to the mortar between bricks—certainly makes for a striking image.

methaphors aside, i think that civic engagement is certainly a necessary part for our democratic republic. related, i ran across this article in the economist the other week. good read on the role of organizations in the states.