Cased

Well - I made it along to Pangea day in the end. When I say in the end, I mean that I got round to it after a fashion, because when the weather is glorious and you begin barbecuing then its mighty difficult to break off and go to some event perceived as being ‘worthy’.

Exciting though the concept is; once indelicately armed with a chicken drumstick and a white wine spritzer, it became rather difficult to get up the enthusiasm to go into town and watch ‘meaningful’ stuff.

“For god’s sake! I work during the week don’t I? I deserve a rest at the weekend without soul-searching and trying to understand other cultures and perspectives through a series of specially commissioned films…. [waves drumstick for emphasis] … don’t I?”

Well- my inner goodwill won over spritzer-induced-evil and I made it up to Somerset house in time to see some of the films and to experience the live broadcast across the globe, and ‘m very glad I did make it out of the comfort zone and onto the cobblestones of Somerset House.

I’ve said before - I like the idea of Pangea day - bringing different perspectives forward through human stories that all sides can understand, and making the whole thing into a global event. Marvellous. And it was pretty good - but the main problem was really that…

The event finished. After going through the journeys and making connections with new ideas and points of view through film, you were kind of left hanging there asking… what next?

“Log on to the website” just isn’t enough to sustain something more than a one-off emotional connection.

Let’s see what develops next year when these initial foundations can be built upon…

I like Avaaz. 

Avaaz is:

A community of global citizens who take action on the major issues facing the world today. The aim of Avaaz.org is to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decisions. Avaaz.org members act for a more just and peaceful world and a globalisation with a human face.

…that’s how Avaaz put it.

What I would venture to add to that is that for me Avaaz is representative of a form of ‘new politics’ - a movement with a global outlook that justly enjoys its success because it has tapped into the zeitgeist of modern popular politics  - the single issue campaign.

But its success is down to more than just that, it also uses new technology combined with traditional offline campaigning methods, clear and appealing branding, speedy responses and updates and a clear demonstration of ’what happened’  and what did not happen as a result of the individual’s involvement.

I believe that this type of ‘political engagement’ has much to offer party politics in terms of its relevance, style and responsiveness. My main issue would be how to shift the energy of the campaigning process away from being oppositional to supportive and positive. That’s when a more rounded picture could emerge from such activities.

However, the next challenge presented by such success on the campaigning and mobilisation front is how to actively involve citizens in meaningful deliberation that goes deeper into the causes behind issues and policy on a similar scale.

I couldn’t resist picking up on a few of the reactions to the Mayoral election results. It’s refreshing to see this democratic exercise has actually made people feel passionately about politics!

Here are some of my favourites:

• A Henley-on-Thames view can be read here. Ending on the comment: “Whether (in spite of his goodwill and determination) Boris will really be enough to reduce the number of young black men being shot in London remains to be seen.”
• ‘Have we elected the snorkmaiden?’ Find out here as JonNagl points out - ‘he’s the kind of candidate Nathan Barley would vote for isn’t he?’
• A Lib Dem standpoint from James Graham of quaequam blog can be read in the Guardian’s Comment is Free
• David Thompson’s round up of comments worth a look, including an interesting quote from Vivienne  Westwood saying the results “expose democracy as a sham. Especially if people don’t vote for Ken.” Which does seem to indicate a delightful misunderstanding of the entire democratic system.
• An alternative, green viewpoint from philobiblon
• ‘What a disgrace!’ - an angry reaction against Boris’ racist comments from Charcol Ink
• ‘Bertie Wooster elected!’ runs the headline on John Naughton’s blog. He also makes the point that ”Labour has been in power so long that it’s become boring. The man on the Clapham omnibus thinks it’s time for a change. It’s nothing to do with a belief that Cameron & Co are wonderful, or even competent.”
• A totally different mini-insight into the election observers - backroom bods behind the headlines.
• A brief thank you to Ken from Miranda Grell.
• News Post India’s view on Boris’ win, the successes of the BNP and the acheivements of Ken

Ken is probably feeling glum this morning and wondering what he’s going to do on Tuesday instead of donning the chains of office. Perhaps a spot of gardening….

Boris is probably nursing his hangover this morning and wondering what he’s going to do on Tuesday when he actually has to go to …. work

Meanwhile, London Elects are in all likelihood rejoicing at the part their high profile awareness campaign played in ensuring voters were registered and able to turn out at the polling booth.

Although the historic Tory victory is naturally the main story of the day as far as most are concerned. For me, the excitment and engagement of the public in traditional politics as reflected by the unprecedented turnout of 45% is just as interesting.

Hopefully, a sign of things to come … whoever wins the next General Election.

At last, there’s a real contest afoot!

Involve  have just produced a really interesting new study looking at community cohesion and participation.

The report is available to download for free here.

Karin Gavelin, one of the authors has written an article about the findings here.

An extract from that article is below. I highlighted some of the points that really stand out for me.

“Many of the people we spoke to welcomed the significant investments that  government is now making to support cohesion and integration, as set out in the government’s response to the Commission on Integration and Cohesion.

However, they also raised concerns about the ability of national government to succeed with an agenda that is ultimately about building relationships at the neighbourhood level. They spoke of the spontaneous ways in which people interact with each other locally; meeting at the school gates, in the post office or walking the dog. They argued that for many people it is these casual interactions with other locals, perhaps not more than a nod and a smile on the way to work, that makes them feel connected to the place where they live. In contrast, a local authority initiative to build community cohesion through public participation can come across as contrived.

The idea that community cohesion can be built through public debates about citizenship or moral values was met with particular scepticism from the people in our study. Many felt that such exercises are just too far removed from the real-life problems and inequalities that are at the root of the divides and tensions in Britain’s communities.

As one community development worker commented: “Trying to achieve cohesion is a tall order when people are living in deprivation and perceive the authorities to treat them unfairly.” Other times, an activity will fall flat simply because the local authority has yet to learn that just opening the doors to the town hall will not be enough to draw in the crowds, or indeed make much difference for wider community relations. Many people will not take the time to attend events run by the local council, but they may have plenty to say if the council comes to them.

Again and again, the people we spoke to stressed that social relationships are unlikely to flourish in a formal political setting. If local authorities want to improve community relations they need to tap into and learn from the ways that people interact organically within communities, rather than solely add more opportunities for participation in council activities. Moreover, for any participation activity to have resonance with local residents, it needs to build on issues that they care about, rather than the visions and rhetoric of civil servants and elected members.

For local authorities, this means that before they embark on any activity involving the local community, they need  to stop and take stock. The research shows that it pays to take the time to find out what is already going on in the area: who lives there, what motivates people, what connects and divides them? In practice, this means going to where people are, whether at the school gates, in sport centres, the corner shop or a local pub, rather than expect people to show up at the town hall. It means talking to local residents to find out what they care about, and then bring them together around real-life issues that connect them.”

PS. The report is called “Everybody needs good neighbours”. I never did get over Helen Daniels’ death…

WARNING : This blogpost is for social media geeks - that’s why it makes only a teensy bit of sense….

Basically, the gist is - students/learners - don’t go to your tutor/mentor’s creepy treehouse - build your own!

A Creepy Tree House is what a professor can create by requiring his students to interact with him on a medium other than the class room tools. Examples of this would be requiring students to follow him/her on peer networking sites such as Twitter or Face book.

For further info on the creepy tree house idea click here.

For a Guardian article on students telling universities to ‘get out of myspace’! Click here.

Enjoy your weekends!

ICELE (international centre for local edemocracy) have just launched their bloginabox - aims to support people to get blogging on local government stuff. I haven’t tried it myself but seems worth a look!

“Movies alone can’t change the world. But the people who watch them can”

I’m going to go to Pangea day - are you going to be there?

The idea of Pangea day came from filmmaker Jehane Noujaim who won the TED prize in 2006. The prize was $100,000, and the chance to make a public wish to change the world. Her wish was to create a day in which the world came together through film.

As a result, 24 short films are going to be shown on May 10 2008 across the world - including screenings in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio.

The films were chosen with the hope that they will inspire, transform, and to help those viewing to see the world through another person’s eyes. More details on the content of the films (which were chosen through an open competition) can be found here. 

The message will be spread through web and via mobile phone, using self organised local events alongside discussion forums. Ideas and information on how to take social action will also be

After/during the screening the idea is that ”everyday people will be connected with extraordinary activists and organizations.”

It’s a great concept, and I hope it’ll be a big success - that’s why I’m going along - to support the idea and to find out how well it worksin practice.