Heart and Soul
How can an Online Community work with an actual community to support place development?
TI - Who is community..face to face developed and on collective mind.
Jan - Better participation…open times…responsibility for what you are saying about outreach…public process…could it be designed to develop that, community bulletin board…generalist…how do you cross the line to integrate the idea into processes.
Bliss Bruen - Looking back to this session it would have been great if we'd known more about the Front Porch Forum as we spoke. I am now (March 2008) getting ideas for a local Heart and Soul blog that would track heart and soul stories in my community of Durango, Colorado. My new question: could we use a wiki like this as if we were still in that Open Space in Burlington”to support place development?” Since leaving conference a young mother who blogs about simplicity and parenting told me “My online or virtual community of parenting bloggers is my greatest support - we're all variations on the same page - different from real community I live in… I would not want my 'real' neighborhood to be filled with people just like me – I would miss the rich diversity of difference.”
Jean MacKay
Charlotte Weber - How to get the information out to people..the website..understand to develop…creates website..
Asked about “E-Participation”- can online dialogue draw people in?
Bliss Bruen - During a controversial time in Durango we used E-The People.org to try for deliberative conversation. How do we get lots of people in the community to a website? It has to be worth their while - they have to know the address or find the link. Letters to the editor that include with a URL can spark visits; make cards, bookmarks or fliers to leave in coffee shops; short video and audio clips on the site can generate traffic –more interesting with more information (non-verbal) than newspaper. Reasons for visiting websites (or not visiting) are very similar to the reasons people show up or don't show up at meetings.. there has to be a payoff…make it worth their while to take the time!
Jean - Who facilitates, who develops the conversation? Town needs a professional who would encourage, design and validate participation…as a moderator..and facilitate.
Charlotte
Betsy-looking back- I've now been able to engage the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce in considering my fellow panelists project to map buildings. There's a great surge of interest especially from the 20-25 year old age group. They are energized by the idea and see that this could be an entry to discussion between objectives of different age groups as well as community. Quite exciting. Instead of speaking of roles within the community they can focus on buildings and the function of them or artistic quality. This change will develop community. Now they have territory…virtual..to use to interact and be the vehicle. The plan is to blend Public Meeting with online platform.
Who monitors? What cost? Betsy-new additions….I will facilitate then bring on interns and those in classes to rotate in for class credit in facilitating online. Education will keep moving in new users for tools to monitor the plans and change and also to developing collaboration within website design
Bliss - Google Earth for Comp Plan revision allowed people to stay at home, watch meetings on cable access but logging on to site (http://www.durangocompplan2006.org/) they could vote and register opinions on specific places on the map - having the website available for comments allowed people to participate at any time convenient ..up to a certain date and to see others' comments.
Matter of trust..connection with the newspaper, locale coffee shop community dialogue, community of practice, education of tools, challenging that's out there..
Charlotte Weber - Simple Steps..how to go about map? Betsy-added later-Use simple tools, GPS handhelds and digital cameras, engage the kids-meaning those under 25.
Phyllis - Community means some different at different ages..language differently but we need their age group.
Betsy - Educational needs to create a system of mentorship/internship. There's a need through community to understand and pass along about the networking opiton of tech tools. This upward mentorship engages youth as community people. Once on an online community, there's a fit between age groups.
Mix of technology
Charo - Wants the youth community to weigh in.
Phyllis - But what if they change the way we view community…threatening.
Charlotte - But what to hear what they say…what's happening today will affect tomorrow…trust…
Betsy - Institutions are hard to collaborate create an issue to focus on in the community… Phyllis no man's land…20-24'ish how to relate to them…jr. league? Schools you
How do you capture their feelings..how do you hear it..bystander…no commitment…to the land.
Online becoming shared value..shared ideas…place based…
Betsy community is about place. Using Google allows those who have been unanchored to view a global…community.
Phyllis…community more diverse…not drawn their house…
Are we alienated if we lack ownership of land…or house…how does that work?…
Tiers of language…social engineering…
Jan…I asked kids to write about “what is in your ideal hometown.” They could not understand a main street idea, only mall, which is now their home town. We visited a home town discussed urban planning and assigned them to design an ideal of their home. It again had interesting results. Kids have different expectations of buildings and local grouping.
Discussion-who participates on online and physical community and why many attend neither. Who are non attenders?
What is community?
Is community placed-based or based on shared values and interests? Is community an organic process. Are we as planners and elected officials willing to accept that on-line communities are as valid as physical community and physical presence at meetings? Folks can participate in many different ways not just in person.
The group decided to continue on after the conference and follow David Allen's situation- Betsy Stefany contacted David separately as she is running a project in NH.
New Durham, New Hampshire. David Allen, Land Use Staff. We are a town of about 2400 people. A large part of the Town is still undeveloped. Most of the undeveloped part is connected to a range of hills that runs east from Lake Winnipisaukee into Maine. The Town has just received an application for a 220 unit new cluster subdivision in the middle of the undeveloped hills. I am looking for all the help I can get in thinking about how to guide the process both with the Planning Board, and more generally in the community, to help the Town end up with the best possible outcomes. I am interested in how to use online spaces and tools as part of the process. All ideas are welcome ndurham@worldpath.net. Thanks in advance.
Phillips Robinson…
Betsy- After suggesting that we map N.Durham, I was not able to get there in Oct but will follow up at the end of November which is the time of HH's Leave No Child Inside Conference. We will hope that some of the Best Practices from Mapping in Syracuse can be applied to his town.