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…!)

Obama McCain : The world is watching… and participating!

Ahmad Foroughi : Iranian Obama Campaigner

 

I love this picture of Ahmad Foroughi standing on Waterloo bridge. I met him a few weeks ago when I stopped to talk as I was curious to know what was motivating him to stand there, giving up his time on a windy Saturday afternoon.  He was wearing a cool T-shirt and carrying a sign that said ”We’re searching for Americans! Can you help? Are YOU American?”

I assumed that he himself was a US citizen – enthused by Obama’s message of change – trying to spread the zeal and get others to vote Democrat too on November 4th. I was off the mark – he is in fact Iranian by birth- and unhappy with the US’s current foreign policy around terrorism and extremism. He himself is unable to cast a vote in the US election, so gave up his Saturday afternoon to stand on Waterloo bridge trying to find any American who hadn’t registered in the hope that it’ll help Obama win tomorrow.

I asked him why he was so passionate in wanting Obama to win – he went on to discuss his family and roots in Iran and the impact of US foreign policy in previous years and what it might be the future. He then went on to tell me in a matter of fact way: ”Its time for a real change and I believe Obama can do this.”

The world is not only watching this election – they want to be part of it in whatever way they are able to, and its not just happening online, there are people like Ahmad willing to give up more than a mouseclick moment to the campaign. Inspired by politics, inspired by a politician, belief in the possibility of real change… write it off as  Obamamania if you like – but the passion and interest in participating has to be good for people’s rights and for generating the demand for real democratic process and real opportunities for people to influence power across the world.

I’d like to see this level of enthusiasm in the UK election next time around…

Guardian:response to the White Paper-Involve

Here it is: http://tinyurl.com/6lpe5b

The cut to the chase section:

This white paper is undoubtedly a significant step forward, but for it to capture the imagination of all in society, especially the disengaged, it needs to move beyond traditional notions of community as well-meaning people in community centres, to freeing up human potential wherever we are.

Hazel Blears Blog

It has arrived…

7 day blog:http://tinyurl.com/6zarqb

7 day twitter feed: http://twitter.com/communitiesuk 

7 points for attention from the white paper:

1. being active in your community
2. access to information
3. having an influence
4. challenge
5. redress
6. standing for office; and
7. ownership and control

 Am feeling strangely biblical all of a sudden… ;)

However, the thing that really stands out for me in the first posting is the sentence:

“We want to make these changes because we believe that local people are capable and willing to take difficult decisions and solve complex problems for themselves. ”

Along with the ever-present challenges around spreading good practice in an accessible way, the challenge of helping local people to believe that they themselves are capable of taking difficult decisions and solving complex problems is absolutely key to making enagement work at community level in the future. The promotion of personal empowerment.

(Also, making sure that the people involved do indeed want to have the responsibility of stepping up and taking control is another major consideration – this links into the co-design/co-production issues that are currently being debated… Institute for Innovation in Public Services recently produced interesting work in this area.)

Public Engagement in Local Government Conference

Went along to speak at an engagement conference yesterday. Here’s a selection of themes that came up around the room in the session I attended:

1. How to avoid the problems presented by traditional ‘town hall’ meetings.
2. Are we ‘marginalising the mainstream’? Engagement funding is targeted at deprived areas (and with good reason) but who else is getting left out at the community level?
3. People still don’t know who represents them – the elected representative to citizen ratio is so high
4. We may be in danger of making communities ‘responsible’ for solving their own problems
5. Tension and confusion between representative and participative democracy – clarity and boundaries needed
6. How do we ‘mainstream’ engagement so it becomes more than a ‘3yr wonder’?

I have a few initial ideas and responses to two of those more practical points, others need more thinking-time and discussion. All of them need more heads working on the subject and sharing ideas

The problem with town hall meetings

You could try hosting your meeting in a community venue at more convenient times of day than weekday evenings. With Involve I’ve been working on the Say&Play approach where a school fun day is used as the site for a consultation and so attract mums and dads with caring responsibilites can bring their children with them to the event.

There are lots of different formats other than a Q+A session which can get dominated by the same voices and can put off potential participants at their first meeting. Try a World Cafe perhaps – look at www.peopleandparticipation.net for more ideas to make your meetings more interesting and interactive.

Finding your representative

Online tools are making it much easier for people to find out who their elected representatives are but also to interact with them. Sites like WIMPS are using postcode searches (combined with great video content) to match young people with their representatives. Council websites are catching on too – see Westminster’s postcode search here.

Apart from finding out the name and contact information for your representatives, a whole lot more can be achieved in terms of participation when they go online and seek to engage with communities by blogging. This way a 2-way conversation is instantly made possible.

Here are a few examples of councillors wot blog:

Antonia’s Blog

Ann Garner

Iain Lindley

Hope those quick reflections give some pause for thought. I’ll be picking up on the other issues in separate blogposts in future.

Also will be sharing my presentation on slideshare – as soon as I get the images to work properly! (Who would use new technology eh??)

 

 

 

 

 

Sh!… Sex and the city of London

This week I went along to the sixteenth birthday celebrations for one of London’s lesser known empowerment institutions - Sh! – the erotic emporium for women based on Hoxton Square.

The party marked the acheivements of the business not only in terms of its growth as a shop, manufacturer and trend-setter but as a resource and safe community for women to learn about and experience better sex.

In those 16 eventful years Sh! has been a truly pioneering place - first to introduce the now world famous Jessica Rabbit to its shelves (see Sex and the City), and now working with over 20 different NHS trusts to help women with sexual dysfunction. The Sh! philosophy is to provide friendly, clear and informed advice to those who want to know more, and to do this in a safe, sexy and comfortable environment…with a lovely cup of tea!

All in all, a very personal empowerment experience! 

Empowerment – South Africa Style : AIDS HIV

Yes, the rumours are true – I am on holiday and have failed to inform you in advance… bad blogger! However, in my defence, I did mean to post this up last week, but haven´t been able to get to the computer until now owing to being ill. (Yes, on holiday- ill! Send your sympathy cards this-a-way!).

Anyway, as I´m in sunnier climes this week I think you should also be treated to some sunshine. So I am delighted to post up this Q+A with my friends Frerieke and Anasuya over at Love To The World, who do great empowerement work in South Africa with those affected by AIDS and HIV. I think it gives citizen empowerment in the UK some perspective and grounding.

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Q: So … what is Love to the World?

A:  Love to the World grew out of two great initiatives (Let Love Lead  and Umeebee) Let Love Lead was designed to inspire, heal and empower people infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS and Umeebee to get more “everyday change-makers” to get involved and make a difference to the lives of the disadvantaged in a fun, personal way. Now we´ve joined together to do this!

 

Q: Sounds like a big job! I know you´ve been pretty active already although you´re a new organisation. What have you been up to, and how exactly do you go about empowering and working with the people affected?

 

A:  We are busy! We have done and are doing quite a few things, yes! For example, at the moment we are working on an Arts and Leadership Academy in Khayalitsha township, one of the poorest of the country, where we use the arts as a tool of exploring what leadership is. These teenagers are discovering that a true leader is not what they thought it was. They are developing projects in their communities that they will lead to fulfill a need that they themselves have identified. It is really exciting what they are creating as the awareness of themselves being the ones we have been waiting for!

 

We also led a Art and Self-Esteem Workshop to a HIV+  support group in Gugulethu, a township in the Western Cape Province. Participants expressed the gifts they had to offer of love, support and encouragement to those around the world who are just discovering their HIV Positive status. There were letters and paintings and all were very moving and uplifting.

 

Another arts-focused project we worked on were the Global Peace Tiles workshops we ran with black African children in the rural areas of one of the poorest provinces of South Africa, the Northwest Province. Forty students aged 6-12 years old painted what happiness means to them. For many there were pictures of nature, but for so many it was food, family members, school.

 

Excitingly we also completed our first Global Conference helped by the Diva Foundation that brought together HIV+ women from America to partner with their South African counterparts in to love, heal and empower each other in saving more lives and living positive, passionate lives! The week was filled with tears, hugs, heartbreaking stories and stories of great triumph! No woman is the same as she was before participating.  So many of the quiet women, who had never shared in their lives, have now taken on leadership roles in their support groups and communities. They clearly learned that there is no safety in silence. Silence only brings a quick death!

 

 

Q:  That is a lot of work for a small group! How do you manage? Where do you currently get your funding from?

A:  I wonder that myself! Currently we are in desperate need of funding to continue offering workshops to children and adults, as well as to keep our Academy open. Our funds have come from donations from individuals who love what we are doing and want us to keep going. We need more people like that on our team!

 

Thank you for speaking with me! 

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The Love to the World website has donation buttons where you can pledge support to help raise funds to continue the fantastic work being carried out by Anasuya and Frerieke. There is also a great, very active blog with lots of information, pictures and videos to look at so you can see exactly where your donation is going. I think this is a great way of giving.

:)

 

 

 

Tonight 9pm : mystreet

Worth checking out mystreet tonight. (TheSun Telegraph TheMail Guardian)

Film maker Sue Bourne takes a camera round the street where she lives and gets to know her neighbours. Simple as that. Communities unite!

I think this is a great concept and also that its very sad that I’m using the words ‘great concept’ to describe what should be normal human interaction with one’s neighbours… participation engagement involvement and communities are sometimes just ways of re-learning things we’ve forgotten how to do – ie. saying hello to each other and getting to know what’s going on around where we live by having a bit of a chat.

When I moved from Newcastle to London a year or so ago it took a long time to get out of the habit of talking to strangers on public transport… well, I haven’t given that up entirely as yet … but I think they think that I’m the weird one!

Ah, who’s to say? :)

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 PS. If you don’t fancy that there’s always Mitchell&Webb’s new series on the other side!