As a co founder of the LCCN (Low Carbon Communities Network), I'm keen to see as much cross collaboration as possible between like minded groups. The key here is that we are communities working together for and with each other and need to develop a platform which can be tailored to our varying needs. I recently attended the 2gether08 conference in London and was really surprised by the number of "ubertechs" out there who are really excited by the proposal outlined here - even when explained in my everyday English and not "geekspeak" - they are keen to provide information and advice.
I'm sure we'll get a great team together for this.
Transition Towns Forum » Websites for Transition Initiatives » TransitionWebProject
Collaborative Solutions
(11 posts)-
Posted 2 years ago #
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I've found that too. every other network I talk to is thinking about teaming up to build a big ultra-network!
our team has spent the last three years building www.ethical-junction.org and we would love to feed in to this project. the idea of having a big "network of network" meet has been lingering for ages!
I wonder where we could hold it?
Tom
Posted 2 years ago # -
I think the idea of collaboration to share and hopefully stimulate new ideas is a great one but are you planning to have some form of mechanism that will identify & promote the better ideas ? Not all ideas are born equal and good ideas don't necessarily float to the surface on their own merit. Of course the problem is identifying what is a good idea but you could use some form of rating system so that the various transition communities could rate an idea's relevance and benefit to them.
Forgive me for saying this but I'm a little uncomfortable with all the talk of ubertechs & global networks. Technology can generate a lot of talk and communication but somewhere down the line that needs to lead to decision and action and identifying those key points is a challenge that large, distributed networks face if they're going to be more than an ethical Facebook. The internet is a vast ocean of information but probably not more than a few bucket-fulls contain ideas that will make this world a better place. From what I've seen Transitions Towns does have the spark to generate great ideas but any Transition Platform will have to act as a vessel for the conversion from talk to action for it to be of merit.
I am new to Transition Towns but as far as I can see technology can do the following things:
1. Raise general awareness of its existence and the issues it stands for.
2. Assist the various transition communities to do the same at a local level and discuss solutions that suit their needs.
3. The really exciting thing would be how the web & mobile technology can play a part in the innovation needed to solve some of the problems posed by Peak Oil & Climate Change but that's a bit of a chicken & egg conundrum. The best ideas will come from the people on the ground but it's unlikely that local communities will have the knowledge of IT or the resources to take direct advantage of it so the platform would need to find ways of making local communities aware of what IT can do and let them suggest the best ways of using it.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Steve,
Have a good read of the outline for the requirements - you'll see that knowledge sharing is a key element.
Your comment about getting the best content to rise to the top is good - we envisage a "rate this content" function so that users can help those who come after to go for content that's going to help them most.
Your last point hightlights a key aspect - usability. We'll focus very strongly on that.
Posted 2 years ago # -
It is madness to start talking about requirements and features when your goals are not clear. How can you know what features you want when you don't even know where you're going?
I have not been able to figure out what you/we want this new system to do. This sentence "A crucial component to enabling us to do this will be a software platform for organising, communicating, collaborating and sharing across like-minded initiatives " is way too vague.
So I think you need to add another phase to the process, that goes before Requirements. Call it 'Goals'. Only once your goals are clear can you start refining those down to concrete requirements, and those in turn down to features.
"This is pretty standard sequence of work" Yes, your sequence is standard. But this situation is anything but; our goals are unusually vague because there are so many different groups involved.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Rimu,
We're going to be going through some tough times collectively over the next few years, both in and out of transition. Let's be very conscious of the effect of the language we use and perhaps think twice before throwing out words like "madness".
Thanks for your comment about goals. You're right about them needing to be more explicit. I'm adding them onto the webpage and I'd really appreciate it if you took a look at them | here | and add your comments to this thread.
Cheers.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Have you read "We-Think" by Leadbetter? I started on in because it was one of Rob's booklist but there is a fantastic section on what will make on-line collaboration work and what wouldn't. Worth looking at for your purposes, I venture to say.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Sorry, a lot of subtleties are lost in the text medium.
Those goals help a lot, thanks.
It looks like pretty much what we are trying to do (for New Zealand only, not globally) with http://www.transitiontowns.org.nz/
Posted 2 years ago # -
Hi All, The original document suggests a "virtual conference for all people involved (using whatever technology you deem to be the most suitable) on 5-Sep-08 at 2pm UK time" which is in a few days.
I've just had a successful Skype conference call with 4 people, talking about this, and we propose that Skype could be the 'suitable technology'. It is a voice conference with an accompanying text chat, useful for passing URLs, etc.
So, how about meeting on Skype on Friday at 2 pm? I'll set up the conference call. Could people please put their Skype addresses (or create one) on a page on the TT Wiki we've set up for the purpose. Using a headphone is a good idea, but not essential.
Gary
Posted 2 years ago # -
The must-have goals laid out (thanks Ben) are a great place to start with and lay out an already fairly broad strategy for the infrastructure. Previous web projects I've been involved with have become overblown with features as the initial strategy points have been forgotten / ignored.
I suggest we take each key point in turn and lay down the absolute minimum requirements for each main feature. While we already have a list of suggested features, it'd be good to show how they facilitate each key 'must-have'.
Jim
ps - this document never fails to come in useful when beginning / developing a project: http://www.scribd.com/doc/5590158/elements-simpleplanes
Posted 1 year ago # -
Hi, I'd like to throw LocalEyes http://www.localeyes.org in the mix at this point and get your feedback on how appropriate or not this software will meet the needs of the TT movement. LocalEyes aims to become the UK's no.1 local social network and a comprehensive community resourse for all 9763 communities in the UK.
To begin with, we're focusing on dramatically improving the communication infrastructure in communities, building democracy between residents and their governing councils and enabling communities to be self organising, identifying demand for services and areas of common interest.
A full description of this element of the project can be viewed here:
http://www.localeyes.org/docs/Building%20Democracy.docThe second phase is to create the comprehensive local social network an
1. Create the UK’s first nation wide social groups directory
we can easily connect to almost every business in the UK using yell.co.uk, now its time to do the same for every social group in the UKâ€2. Connect people to everything local: people, groups, products, events, businesses etc.
see screenshot: http://www.localeyes.org/beta07/voice/communities_profile_homepage.asp3. Provide the first comprehensive digital newsletter for all UK communities
see screenshot: http://www.localeyes.org/beta07/newsletter_community.asp4. Obtain substantial sponsorship from local businesses that will pay for:
a. The task force of District Coordinators and Community Builders
b. Local Community Chests5. Employ 434 District Coordinators and approx 1000 Community Builders to roll the project out at local level
6. Create local “Community chests†that will provide seed funding for local projects where the demand has been identified by the “VOICEâ€, (the LocalEyes community consultation tool)
Once these foundations are laid, we can start building more complex tools such as community carbon footprinting etc.
Many people have talked of the "networks of networks", and that is certainly one of our aims. We have just receives a grant from NESTA to explore the collaborative opportunities with such a project.
Looking forward to your feedback.
Posted 1 year ago #
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