Blogging Ideas : Pakistani Spectator

A -kind of- festive post for you before the holiday season kicks off for real… I read a few international blogs through the excellent global voices and one of the active ones is the Pakistani Spectator. Ghazala Khan does a regular series of interviews with bloggers from all over the place and it was my turn last week: 

Would you please tell us something about you and your site?

I write about public involvement in decision making. This is actually takes in quite a wide range of different issues, from the tension between different modes of governance and electoral systems to how individuals collaborate on decision making in their own communities, both locally and online. I blog here.

    Do you feel that you continue to grow in your writing the longer you write? Why is that important to you?

I think everyone learns as they write more frequently – it forces you to order your thoughts in a structured format and to try and imagine how others might understand your meaning. Having said that, I feel that the most important thing is to get out from behind the keyboard and monitor and to speak with a whole range of different people to gain inspiration whenever possible. That’s where you find opportunities to grow as an individual and as a member of several wider communities.

    I’m wondering what some of your memorable experiences are with blogging?

My favourite recent post was an interview with an Obama supporter on London bridge – I took a quick photo of him with my camera phone and it came out so well – really capturing the enthusiasm and spirit of the moment. I was affected by the belief of an individual that genuine change can come from those at the top rather than the cynicism that is often expressed towards decision makers in the UK.

    What do you do in order to keep up your communication with other bloggers?

I use RSS feeds to keep up to date – attempt to keep my netvibes page which pulls all of those feeds together in good order. Then of course, I read and comment when I have some spare time.

    What do you think is the most exciting or most innovative use of technology in politics right now?

In politics, it has to be the Obama campaign in terms of excitement and the interplay between online connection and offline action. This was a very powerful mix and am very glad to see this strong emphasis on online tools continuing. See obamacto for an interesting take on what should happen next!

    Do you think that these new technologies are effective in making people more responsive?

I do think that new technology can make people feel more personally connected than ever before, and more able to respond quickly and easily to causes or issues that they are interested in. Not only this, I think that it can supplement our existing networks in new ways which are only just beginning to be realised.

    What do you think sets Your site apart from others?

It focuses on public participation and involvement from a personal perspective. I work for an organistion called www.involve.org.uk which is based in the UK – this enables me to look at public engagement and participation from a more analytical viewpoint during the day – then my blog covers the aspect I feel is often not covered so well – what do these ideas and projects mean for real people in their working and home lives?

    If you could choose one characteristic you have that brought you success in life, what would it be?

Critical optimism!

What was the happiest and gloomiest moment of your life?

I’m not sure on this one – life is a journey and I’m usually looking forwards not back!

    If you could pick a travel destination, anywhere in the world, with no worries about how it’s paid for – what would your top 3 choices be?

I like this question – I’d go to Tierra del Fuego to see lava pouring into the sea, then drop by Venezuela to see the Angel Falls, and then maybe to Dongtan to see the eco city… in a year or two.

   What is your favorite book and why?

I don’t have a favourite – I love reading and lots of books have strong meaning for me – one would be ….read the rest here

Enjoy the holidays! 

(Yes, I know the life is a journey line is a bit Forest Gump –  is tough not to be able to edit your words after you write them…!)

Designing Climate Change Deliberation – Canadian style

I told you I’d get round to writing this up… here it is!

Just over a week ago I took part in a series of workshops, discussions and deliberations at the University of Edmonton in the province of Alberta, Canada. I was one of a handful of ‘deliberation/participation people’ who were there to have input into how the diverse group of Albertans present might best set up a successful, province-wide deliberative process on climate change issues.

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

The event was participated in by an impressively varied group of individuals – representing a significant range of viewpoints including;  energy industry representatives, radical environmentalists, political activists and government officials. The thing that all parties had in common was a genuine, and strong desire to move forward on the issue of climate change in Alberta. (They even gave up their weekend and worked 12hour days for free to be part of the deliberation – so I can testify to their commitment!)

So, what were we actually doing?

We wanted to put together a basis for how a public discussion on climate change in Alberta might best work – and help to move forward from polarised debate on climate change into more useful dialogue and action across the province.

Alberta is a focal point for climate change discussion as the Canadian economy has greatly benefited from the energy industry located there, including the booming Athabascan oil sands near Fort McMurray. This industry has been strongly criticised by environmental campaigners and scientists for its impact on the environment. Alberta embodies many of the environmental and economic debates taking place globally.

A key part of how myself and others present felt that progress could be made on these tough issues was through using deliberative techniques to bring people together in a more constructive and positive way than through debate and conflict.

How did you go about it?

Two main groups were involved in the design process over about four days:

One was a smaller group of around 15 and consisted  both of Albertans and of visitors interested in assisting with the deliberation and public participation aspects. This group was present throughout the entirety of the process every day.

The second group was a larger group of around 50 Albertans who were present at key points in the design process to act as a ’sounding board’ for the ideas that the smaller group had been discussing and formulating together during the day.

This format worked well in that ownership of the process and its aims began to be built from the outset amongst a very varied group of individuals, and the rapid response and interaction between the smaller and larger group helped to refine ideas very quickly over a short period of time.

By the end of the five days we worked together to uncover the bare bones of a process that could work for Albertans, wandered across a suprising amount of common ground and found several leverage points for instigating action. As we walked out of the room on the final day, an interim steering group had been set in place and action points had been established for moving forward… so watch this space.

The experience made me feel very positive about what can be acheived through using more deliberative approach to difficult issues like action on climate change - not a form of consensus building, but rather a way of better understanding one another and identifying areas for beneficial progress.

Getting Candid Answers on the Environment

I just got back from an intense week of work in Edmonton, Alberta, assisting the design and faciliation of a deliberative process on the environment. I’ll be writing in more detail on here next week about this unique experience which included a diverse range of people interested in using deliberative methods as a way of addressing future issues on climate change in Alberta.

For now – I don’t want you all to feel like you’ve been forgotten about… (I wouldn’t forget you!) so here’s something related for your browsing pleasure: Candid Answers 2008.

Candid Answers is a US- based ‘voter guide for the environment’ which aims to showcase candidates’ answers to five key environmental questions side by side in a clear format. I think the concept is great but for two things:

1) It is not run by a neutral body – but by the NRDC - an environmental campaigning organisation

2) There is nowhere near enough impartial information available through the site to help people understand the issues more deeply.

Other than that I love the concept and the simplicity… it would be greatly strengthened by addressing the two issues above.

Check it out for yourself!

Democratic Engagement Innovation Fund

The Ministry of Justice’s Innovation Fund is once again open for bids. The purpose and ethos of the fund is as follows, in the MoJ’s own words: 

 We want more people to participate in our democracy, and we want you to come up with ways to make this happen.

 The UK Government is working hard to connect with people – as you can see in the Governance of Britain programme and the Communities in Control White Paper.

 

Now we want to support projects that you will run to help people to address public issues and influence government.

 

If you can think of a way to get people talking, we’d like to hear it. We have £150,000 available to develop about ten proposals.

 

 

The way the fund is being administered this year encourages a more innovative and collaborative approach in itself as the call for ideas has taken place in an open format, and is now open online for submission and discussion. The process will work in three stages:

1) Upload your ideas to the website and discuss them online – there is an opportunity to colloaborate on ideas, strengthen initial bids and build partnerships at this stage.

2) Continuation of online discussion through September, with a possible event scheduled in during this month. Formal applications are invited to be submitted before 4pm on 26th September

3) The selection panel makes its decision in the second week of October

Check out: www.buildingdemocracy.co.uk to upload your ideas and for further info.

Power of Social Media : Zimbabwe

This site (Sokwanele) is one of the most powerful campaign sites I’ve come across.

Superb use of flickr, twitter, mapping, e-cards and blog to get the Zimbabwe pro democracy message out.

Zimbabwe 2008

 

“Sokwanele – Zvakwana is a peoples’ movement, embracing supporters of all pro-democratic political parties, civic organizations and institutions in Zimbabwe. Sokwanele and Zvakwana both mean ‘enough is enough’ in the vernacular.”

Thanks to GalloManor for original heads up.

Question famous powerful people…

Ask the PM a question on Youtube - he will then reply to the most-voted for ones apparently…. quite a cool idea – but would like to see more of this at local government and parish/town council level where it might connect more closely to the impacts of the answers …

This sort of public pressure for answers  is something that Yoosk have also been trying to get up and running by using their site as a gathering point for questions for prominent figures to be posted up – then voted on by the public to gain momentum behind them.

These are innovative and interesting ideas, but hard to see where this will connect into the democratic process in any meaningful way. Sure, its an example of social software for public interest, but without a satisfying answer – what changes? Also, without the public figure being in a position to give time and energy to interacting in this way this could frustrate the questioners still further rather than produce some positive result.

However, not wanting to be too gloomy about these things – I do believe that these examples are just the beginning of a re-shaping of interaction between citizen and decision-maker which will mature into something more focused and therefore with greater impact. With initiatives like Downing St. YouTube and Yoosk leading the way its a good first step into more meaningful interactions in future…