30000 active ideas on stopping poverty around the globe from getting worse.
28-Dec-04
BACKGROUND: In 1984 My father (deputy Editor of The Economist), a leading science fiction writer and I wrote a book of stories on how networks and globalisation developed until 2024. Most of the things we timelined have happened. The biggest one to have got behind schedule is the title of this thread.
THE STORY : In 2005, man woke up to the biggest risk to the sustainability of the world being the gaps in incomes and expectations between people in rich and poor nations. A combination of reality tv programs and a world public connecting usable ideas through the internet saved our futures. As the world's largest publicly owned media the British Broadcasting Corporation started up a reality tv program on ideas for stopping poverty from getting worse at every extremely disconnected local community worldwide. Within a year this 'world service' program was freely franchised to tv channels in 60 nations on the condition that it was culturally adapted with great sensitivity but around the same theme of let's join a worldwide debate on resolving the most desperate poverty chalenges where the people may most need help. Over the year the series ran, 600 million people watched. 5% contributed an idea on the internet. 0.1% of these became an actionable project which a microcommunity of practice tested out and through ongoing digital aggregation of these ideas solution franchises which worked in one poverty spot in the world started to be translated into contextually similar poverty spots. So 30000 active ideas were planted and through tv having gained the initial 10% awareness for a Global University of Poverty, the whole system of globalisation was changed round to a more human way ahead than had previously been spinning. If you like, the brand 'globalisation' started working for all people of the world instead of against billions of our poorest beings.
Well idea 1: is to work on lobbying the BBC to start up the reality tv program of lets all debate solutions to help 'save people in global poverty'. I will keep trying to develop idea 1 and at wcbn007@easynet.co.uk I invite those who wish to see if we can turn this into a microcommunity. Will knowledgeboard and other virtual communities where people love people help with ideas 2 onwards? The more ideas that build on each other the better. That's why we might at first expect substreams of ideas that communities believe in - those of knowledgeboard, those of the ecademy, those of simpol, those of the global reconciliation network, those of open space alumni, and those of whomever you nominate because you believe that network can bring active solutions to the table. Perhaps once we are up to 100 virtual communities openly syndicating some version of this thread, then we can convene a real meeting facilitated by the world's most experienced Open Space facilitator and where our circle includes at least one representative from each virtual community. We can then map all the streams so they flow into each other's river of change for global poverty.
I do not profess to know how to manage this. Rather I ask those who feel we could join in learning to start by adding something to this thread, if only please keep me 'link in' with a newsletter.
TECHNICAL POINT: why did I title this 'stopping global poverty from getting worse' ? Well you don't have to use that title. But as a mathematician I construct systemic views of what is happening all around people. Imagine a map of our globe where we geographically code red spots to be where people are in desperate poverty and it is getting worse - eg many areas in Africa where Aids or wars are making it worse. And yellow spots as areas where people are in poverty which is still desperate but where something is turning systmically better for these people to commune around producing. Then with such a simple map, in system terms it can become clear to many people that 3 major goals to consistently investigate would be:
#1 study yellow spots and see what 'solution' started to turn round their system and whether that is contextually analogous to what any of the red spots need first to be producers linked in with world demand
#2 find other ways to turn round all red spots - until we do globalisation (as a whole system) is making the world more and more hopeless. Hopelessness impacts not just the poorest but compounds consequences (including terror networks) for richer people.
#3 look at global and local systemic solutions that connect all spots of our world in more human trading patterns. Ultimately, our 1984 book's number 1 collaboration expectation of networking technology was all about: the greatest value of networking begins by connecting those that for whatever unfortunate reason the pre-networked world had disconnected in our mutual understanding and joy of each other as human beings. If you feel that the emergence of worldwide networking has a different greatest starting usability, it could be interesting for the knowledgeboard community to know if those who spend public funds across Europe think more like you or me, and why...Maybe someone else could start that thread.
If you wish to be named as a contact point in another network, please email me at wcbn007@easynet.co.uk and we will list in you in the space below.
PS I dont know if this will work but if you propose an active idea why not give the next available ref no KM1/30K, KM2/30K and so on. Whether this will turn out to be an unique way to keep google track of microcommunities, I dont know, but as my Yorkshire friends would say: nowt lost in trying.
Details
- Author:
- Chris Macrae
- Publisher:
- KnowledgeBoard
- Date:
- 28-Dec-04
- Categories:
- Emotional Intelligence
- Sections:
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stories of the white band
The white band is the worldwide identifier of makepovertyhistory
Can you help us search out more stories like these
Stories of Mr Blair wearing one
Stories of Mandela coming to London to launch the white band
Stories of superstars (Bono, Kylie who wear the band
Stories of where people memorialise poverty's fallen with the 3-second click
across the water
Apr 16: unfair games stockholm, Sweden
Apr 16 : Demo in Oslo, Norway
Apr 16 : End the week in the Hague, Netherlands
Apr 16 : 40 Italian Cities, Italy
Apr 16 : Cork Elects, Ireland
Apr 16 : Unfair football in Berlin, and events across country, Germany
Apr 16: World Farm & Unfair Basketball, Paris 19e, France
Apr 16: Helsinki, Network launchFinland
Apr 15: Give the Minister Sugar, Denmark
km26/30k MPH night
Tonight's the night. Will British historians look back on this night as the one where Make Poverty History took a neverending turn for the better
1) It is remarkable to see 300 UK NGOs and 5000 worldwide ones collaborate their knowledge in one of the most advanced networks on earth (I map them so be delighted to hear of any other case where thousands of previously separate organsiations are connecting together)
2) Mind you it does seem a bit ironic that many thousands of people have to turn out on a wet night to stage a sleep in round Downing Street because that's the only way the media we own (nearly 150 pounds per family per year pays for the BBC) will not cover humanity's stories without suceh demonstrations, because for some utterly mistaken reason it believes that societal news is otherwise only what British politicians say it is
3) More ironic still is that ten years ago, yes people including me were still impressionable enough to listen to election promises of we'll give your local interest more if we come into power - but the people who still believe or think that is the main issue - in Britain at least - appear to be less than a quarter. In other words, if either of the top 2 parties rang up the BBC and said go cover the Downing Street sit in, that would be the winning election agenda move. Doubt they will, though what a legacy that would be Tony!. There have been even a few journalists mumbling surely this will be the last national election fought on such parcochial issues as: what is the difference between left and right on not being able to run our railways, tubes, education, hospitals better. All things that dont respond to top people making election decisions once evey 5 years as much as caring communally from the grassroots up anyhow 24/7.
4) Definitely in this net connecting world, according to all futurists polled, the last election the BBC covers by paying more attention to politicians than people.
5) Will tonight be the turning point when Make Poverty History =Makes (no choice national) Politics History? I suppose that would be too much for the world to hope for; so this is only one of 30k action projects...
chris 0793 144 2446 London
km25/30k world aids day forever linked
Whilst on HIV - can you help me register best of local benchmark suppport networks on HIV
My Nomination is the Salvation Army Team - they train people close to HIV communities with extraordinary results in Africa and India (the two cases I know of; elsewhere too I imagine) -source attended a 3 day conference in Delhi with cooridinator of SAT & met local team representing Kenya
km24/30k - are nobels' categories the most important ones?
and/or why do we have so many superficial awards like oscars and so few serious ones spotting those heroes of humanity who dont want fame but do want the communities they spend lives helping get more attention
could our post-tsumani world demand more attention - at least from public media - to prize gatherings like this one- now a 25 year treasure trove of some of the greatest humanitarian efforts but I bet you did know
most of these people's work had been going on at all (I confess I didnt)
http://www.rightlivelihood.org/recip.htm
km23/30k Brand Revolution
Example from Beyond-Branding in our 100 co-blog & inter-citizen family:
Adite writes: Why doesn't Pepsi or Coke or Reebok or any of the big global or some of the local brands (like Maruti, the car maker in India) adopt a village to ensure that tsunami victims are put back on the road to recovery, in all domains including education, livelihood, etc. This is a tremendous branding opportunity and if they can get the mileage out of it, no harm done!
Chris writes:
Great idea Adite. The only time I worked in Thailand (mid 80s) my client developed a pop song that heroised pump-boys (oops I think that is what they called gas attendants). It went to the top of the charts and made Esso's (oops I know globally that's a non-u company for most sustainability folk but its local version was trying the best it could to be human) grassroots employees feel proud. We need to heroise fishermen, unite people beyond nations around the oceans coastlines; if in the mid 70s Coke could commission the new seekers to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony, why couldn't big blue (pesi once spent a billion just to try to own the color first in comsumers minds) engage the pop world's stars with a pop-song, an ocean-band-aid, and heroising the forgotten peoples of this world. I would have thought that the young generations would internet with that reality. Pepsi could then even join in as a co-sponsor of the 30000 action projects Reality tv program for ending poverty as long as it understood the open source joyful game millions of humanitarians already want to net-and-play.
# posted by macrae.nets : 4:03 PM
km22/30k -revolution KM
Did KM get its funds and then give up on the big agenda? That's what I was quite honestly told when I went to interview the e-envoy's office last fall- government and its slew of academic ersearchers is crammed full of the new technology and desperately trying to even demonstrate the smallest returns
But hey as verna allee's paper on revolutionary KM reminds us, there was a different practice to co-create - embodying these sorts of revolutions- do tell us if there are people anywhere who are still congressing round thuse value multipliers:
Revolutionary KM Value Multipliers
Finite and potentially infinite resource of
ideas created by human minds
Increases actual sum total of knowledge
and ideas
Increasing returns as replication of
discoveries leads to falling costs
per unit
Value-added markets based on distinctly
different products
Limited-time property rights of patents
Goal is bolstering future discovery
through development of human
creativity and knowledge
Peer-to-peer networks
No diminishment of resource when
ideas are shared
Value networks of complex,
interdependent, dynamic relationships
km21/30K
For heaven sake if we can do eurovision song contests, why not one Euro-reality tv show to kick start 30K projects for poverty resolution
km20/30k 21st C opinion polling
Summarise in one-page handouts what billion people groups are already known to want most in life , and start virtual community conversations from there on how the public needs to lead governments, media etc
-eg I imagine 3 billion people should have the first right of say; and from access to close on a million hours of interview in 30 countries and 25 years of opinion polling, here's a conversation starter- by all diverse means women, please come & co-edit it
km0/30K
In memoriam
connect all people communities who share the same ocean with a the equivalent of the network age's bush telegraph system -an emergence just in time hotline
km19/30K World Congresses & Local Congresses
Across Europe, and beyond, we are prosing to link together:
World Congresses, partly sponsored by governments, and taking 3 years to plan back
Local Congresses convened by the people, at flash notice, whenever transparently needed
Post-Tsunami, it is clear that the bigger job depends on the people leading governements and corporations simultaneously. One wonders whether leading virtual communities or public broadcast media have a role too.
Anyway, if you need help in organsiaing a local congress in your city, do mail me at wcbn007@easynet.co.uk and I can link you with another 100 people are planting this idea in whynotspaces.
km18/30k Global Empire Confession & Compound Learning Board
Open up a wiki to testify what errors Brit Empire made which are still compounding viciously globally or locally today
http://www.quicktopic.com/29/D/ZibE47AbAkV.html
Pray others will action learn where there are modern days parallels of systems*systems consequences short-term decision makers compound that future generations pay far greater costs for
Reviews of this idea from other large virtual communities:
1) This is one of my favourite of all net-conversation-games to link in our community's open source systems so that other humanitarian networks can rehearse, play out their conflict scenarios and most urgent points of intervention.
And if this takes off and fills out, then I think it would be a useful addition for ilustrating all major compounding agendas. The resulting text could be edited
and shaped into a visually stimulating educational format that leads more
explicitly into the sense of learning global networking system games whatever educational age or traditional block to networking you begin with.
more explanation to Adite's question
Perhaps I should have made it clearer that is what I am against is transferring jobs in 90 day soundbites. If a sector's workers are becoming uneconomic in one place, this doesnt happen suddenly. It's something top people know about for years and we have to hold their reputations accountable if they fail to help people have some time and space to retrain and prepare several years ahead, instead of doing the opposite of by announcing offshoring oput of the blue.
This is a deeply democratic issue, and why governments will fall the more the evidence accumulates and is networked - something that It people may be better linked to do than factiory workers before them. This is also to do with an extraordinary knowledgebable failure of corporation and government and indeed many organsiational typologies as I try and explain further : http://www.knowledgeboard.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=132092&d=1&h=417&f=56&dateformat=%o%20%B%20%Y
I find the current faddish concern for the death of KM -and all its technologically dumbing community platforms - as very selfish compared with the bigger question as will KM stand up and be counted. Let's start benchmarking how immature and humanly vicious as systems many gig orgnaisational typologies now are.
the danger is clinging to nation state as only power
...its an ideal whose actuality is fading fast
Since the early 1980s, a primary scenario I have been debating is that the cumulative impacts of being networked will make the idea of nation states as the sole economic powers a dangerous lie. What we already see is that the most powerful (eg big corporations) rip off the pretence that the nation state still works the way it did before we became networked
offshoring is only one example
another in the USA is that over the last decade , the largest corporations have halved their tax bills by offshoring their headquarters and other manouevres; who pays the bill- usually the poorest in local societies (in USA)?
I don't wholly separate the phenomenon of manufacturing and IT jobs going overseas though there is often a difference that the manufacturing people get left behind (geographically imprisoned) whilst the outsourced IT people probably move geographically. Western local societies havent quite understood yet how the national level of repersentation - unless politicians quickly disassociate themselves from global corporations -is becoming the worst representative form of any country's sustainable development - see more at http://www.simpol.org.uk
Although I have be away from the discussion for the while if you Google The Support Economy, you will find lots of debate on this very Western Crisis. What may appear in the short-term to be a benefit in eg India probably isnt in the long-term unless we have more transparency as to who can most productively connect what from where instead of being dictated by kneejerk financial short-term moves. You only need to see the slave labour consequences of lowest cost manufacturing being compounded quarter after quarter to see that we need a more knowledgebale way of connecting all this than being ridden by quarterly numbers and the biggest and most opaque powers.
What we need is regions to openly declare what they are best at and enter a cooperative conversation across regions; twin cities, villages, regions below the radar of the national economic decision making. It isnt working for the future the way it claims anyhow. I expect some very big currency crises in the next 3 years or so. There is no reason now to expect that the US dollar will do anything but weaken further. The countries within the Euro remain incredibly strained at the extremes with eg Germany hoisted to an exchange which was too high to sustain...
offshoring
Hi. I have just one query regarding the offshoring issue. Chris pointed out that govts will fall like ninepins on this issue. However, since globalisation is the way of the world and has been for some time, WTO is also another fact of life and free movement of jobs, labour, etc. are what everyone preaches and is expected to practise, why then this much hand-wringing over offshoring of IT jobs to India? I don't remember that any such crisis (of govts falling) was being predicted when China burst onto the manufacturing scene and every item on sale (be it soft toys or computer products) in the West had a "made in China" tag on it. The China example for me is just a case of offshoring of manufacturing - so why is there such a hue and cry about IT offshoring? And why are govts set to fall because of IT offshoring and not due to offshoring of manufacturing?
Adite
km17/30k governments will fall like ninepins
We already know that :offshoring is going to cause slow governments to fall like ninepins. They have lost control of kneejerk global corporations, and will be rightfully crucified for having cosied up to this knowledgeless and value destroying species
What happens next will have huge implications for the world, and your kid's lifetimes if not your own. If we transparently discuss a whole system solution to the conflicts between:
what 6 billion people want at every locality, including the poor majority
&
what value growing global corporations do before they offshore( eg perhaps: have a 3 year cooling off (ie retraining ) period before you are allowed to profit by getting rid of more than 5% of your workforce in any one year- declare this as a universal societal right in developed & democratic countries)
&
what value sustaining governments do
then offshoring will be a blessing in disguise.
Otherwise it will just be one last straw - in East versus West & North versus South relationship breakdowns - that shows humanity -and some professions that forgot the hippocratic oath -wasn't mature enough to live in a hi-trust hi-connecting networked world, and civilisations will fall apart in the storms of distrust that will be spreadsheeted by a few speculators who gain by everyone else losing.
Why not assume what I have written after thinking through this dynamic for 20 years is likely to be worth at least chatting about. Its not just another Halloween story. Its core to whether KM wishes "to do no evil".
km16/30K
We are looking for co-blog editors at the timeless blog whynotcity
All you commit to do is post news of any conference format that you believe others cities could convene because:
1) will be a good networking event for that city
2) could make for great social networks across all cities that stage it
By keeping this blog log, over time we also hope to benchmark various dimensions:
-what are the lowest cost formats that work for the most people
-what formats connect diversity or disciplines in ways beyond previous knowledge
-are there particular alumni networks that are hosts of more than one extraordinary networking format; how do they get it done
-which cities repeatedly show up as collaboration network cities
-are there particular context takeouts from a forma- eg will it advance the Wolrld Bank & Wolfensohn's war on poverty
etc
I hope you see why this is a timeless way to multiply change and innovation for humanity- if not why not express your doubts
km15/30K web, nets, blogs that scale up for humanity
Are there any webs where million people pledges are being built? There are many pledges for humanity that could virally attract a million people-caring voters; but what's the most usable technology a web can use to sign up such action-social networks?
How do we scale up blogs for many people to participate and colaborate around? Apart from the timeless blog family, what types are designed to turn the blog into a connecting network of people?
Meena is a role model for rural girls
Thanks Chris. Further to your comments, Meena does have a logo, and schools in Orissa have also developed songs in Oriya which are sung during assembly as a result of a concept that promotes "joyful learning" in schools and seeks to spread awareness about girl child rights. In fact, in Bangladesh, Meena merchandising has taken off in a big way - check out this story (http://www.awn.com/mag/issue2.7/2.7pages/2.7clarkmeena.html) In Orissa too, Meena is a familiar icon/role model to a large number of school going students and dropouts. Awareness levels are high but inadequate support/guidance seems to be the problem.
KM14/30K- Meena Glocal Vilage Pop Idol
Welcome Adite- its not every day that knowledgeboard is joined by a nominated journalist for humanity.
Meena needs one a family and dare I say one brand logo so that we can connect the way local Meenas connect villages and twin city-youth fashions in ways similar to that which Vaxjo's stars are leading the way. If Meena had one logo, even the BBC would pick up on these stories, and legends about Meena would never be forgotten. Its interesting to ask why did meena's momentum stop because identities however great can so easily fade from attention. Its also interesting to ask how do some saints (eg Therese) and others become immortal - BBC (wake up if your licence for world service has a future)
Now I do also advise you to get a latter day Seekers to write you a pop song about Meena- I'd like to teach the world to care... and there's no reason why MeenaSings.com shouldnt become a wiki -or a family of blogs on uniting cultural diversity - providing free teachers modules to rich girls on getting grassrooted about world poverty.
Back on KM13, Ed Mitchell sent me this link to creative commons & Developing Nations which seems part of the clues for progress on KM13.
a story from Orissa, India
Hi. would like to share a story from Orissa, in eastern India. Unicef which has been working in the area of child rights had introduced a communication initiative, called Meena, almost 10 years ago in many states in India (as well as in other countries in South Asia). The initiative consisted of a seriesof animation films involving a lead character of a girl child named Meena. Through culture-sensitive stories, Meena has been used to communicate messages about girl child rights and other issues such as education, hygiene, etc. In Orissa, a NGO called Nature's Club hit upon the idea of setting up "Meena Clubs" where adolescent girls from the target villages where the Meena films were shown could come together. The club members, with a little guidance from the NGO, soon became active in local community issues, in spreading awareness about educating girls, in helping villagers to build public toilets, in cleaning up roads and garbage, and a variety of issues...Soon the girls had become leaders in their own right. When the state was hit by a devastating cyclone, many of these Meena Club members helped out in the rehabilitation work,in distributing relief goods. In fact the villagers themselves wanted the girls to oversee the distribution of relief goods as they knew that every deserving family would get its legitimate share if the work was supervised by the Meena Clubs. There was something quite "revolutionary" about the Meena Clubs. In some instances, the Orissa govt even solicited their help for the implementation of water and sanitation projects. While the Clubs were operational in several districts in Orissa, the one in Kendrapara was the most active. In fact, some of the Meena Clubs even got themselves organised and with the support of thelocal police, stopped trafficking of women and children in their districts. However, after the NGO's funding-support got over, the Clubs withered away due to lack of guidance/support. Today a few Meena Clubs are still operational but they are a shadow of their former selves...Unicef is now thinking about reviving the Clubs and getting them organised into self help groups.
My question is: what can be done to ensure that such groups can be made self-sustainable.It's clear that had these girls have the potential to become spokespeople of their own communities and given their innate problem-solving capabilities, they could prove to be the rural leaders of tomorrow and drag their communities out of the cycle of deprivation and poverty.
Would love to hear some ideas and thoughts on how a new episode could be added to the Meena Clubs story....
Adite Chatterjee
km13/30k registers of poor people's property rights
Love to hear more info on this inspiring idea
-eg From Peru ILD register poor people's property rights: The reforms
in Peru helped 1 million families acquire property ownership rights.
ILD is currently operating in a handful of countries - including Egypt, Ghana, the Philippines and Mexico - where similar legal and bureaucratic asphyxiation of small businesses is the order of the day.
Russia, Nigeria and Thailand are now considering working with De Soto.
> http://www.odemagazine.com/article.php?aID=3892
km12/30K university of stars
With the olympics reaching a peak, it seemed like the right time to start University of Stars, especialy with one Swedish Diva setting a wonderful example - which other gold medallists honor us a people as well as with sporting records? http://universityofstars.blogspot.com/
Are there some emerging superstars who would like to be mentored in a global/local responsibility issue and so become a
heroine) worth youth and fashion following? Correspondingly how can a cooperative of global humanitarian networks mix and match experiences that a specific star's focus needs in exchange for occasional star showing when a network's humanitarian challenge is most urgent?. Are there journalists out there - particularly in public sector tv media - who care about whether the media catapults young people into stardom with any real lives to lead. ( Is it inevitable that stars only have the most superficial kind of publicity agents and end up like some England footballers of Michael Jacksons or other folk that dont appear to be the role models the world most needs?)
Do join in our blog or here if any of this connects with your concerns. Surely the internet can help making better stars than mass media alone can produce without in any way diluting the brilliance of stars on their own performance platforms. Could keeping the challenge of global poverty in our mind before we worship what the tv beams down to us actually systemis a win on all sides. How about if we all supported the humanity of stars and were slightly smarter about what image stories we suck up from the media's spots? In some compound way, has mass media stolen some of the storytelling space we used to enjoy and pass through generations to our kids -imagination links that focused on deep human respect rather than something much more superficial and ultimately depressing the human spirit?
Whcih star in your country or from your hometown do you most believe in as a human being and why?
km11/30k
Anders' concept of Bootstrapping has a lot for us all to learn from. I feel it is deeply undemocratic the way that money comes before rehearsing of creative ideas and clarification of network support. I guess commercial fools will have to find this out the hard way. Meanwhhile when it comes to projects that are done for societal good, there is no reason I can think of why bootstrapping should be openly encouraged before financial resourcing. That is what the net makes possible and indeed in some senses this 30k thread is all about bootstrapping. We are not asking you to get involved in all 30000 projects; but why not find one you support or co-create your own nomination.
BOOTSTRAPPING (example from Nepal :http://www.watabaran.org/ )
Anders Abrahamsson: coming to the point where you want to start something, but do not have any more resources than your mind, body, spirit, a very strong idea, vision, motivation and creativity? Then you are bootstrapping! Because, when you talk resources, people often just take it down to financial resources immediately. But there are those that has to be secured there before the financial ones. A good sustainability idea and innovation with the potential to turn into a great sustainable business, a good reliable network and the capacity to keep and maintain that relationship capital, knowledge, social capital, and the ability to learn from mistakes, and learn/adapt quickly
Anders Abrahamsson | Global Knowledge Nomad/Sustainopreneur |
Blog [about Sustainopreneurship] - http://www.andersabrahamsson.net | Master Thesis Begining of September 2004
Business [with a Heart] - http://www.on-a-mission.org | Web Temporarily Down before Next Step - Webshop for Sustainability Profiling Clothes
km10/30k
Every KM practitioner should learn from what happens when a big organisation takes a wrong turning. It soon starts compounding vicious spirals in what we call a Volatility System.
http://volatilityclub.blogspot.com/
WE invite you to help us study -and contribute local viewpoints - on how often the poorest have ended up at the end of a chain of vicious impacts caused by the volatility systems of Enron and its brethren.
Personally I dont believe in the chaos crap that when a butterfly flies its wings in the Amazon, one day I will feel the consequence. I do however utterly believe that the globalisation consequence of what a vicious branch of economists call externalities is that those who are least locally-connected-to-global-decison-making end up being put most at risk of being in harm's way. Ultimately this is caused many links back by a large , volatile and utterly careless organisation. It is up to us in developed countries to clean up the transparency and sustainability of our largest organisations.
km9/30K
Its technical but if you believe in a fair world, one of the greatest democratic studies you can do for the poor is:
go to http://www.wdm.org.uk and read how they analyse GATTS
then every time you talk polotiics over a drink with friends or come across an MP of any kind on European land, ask them questions about this disgraceful bit of world trade chicanery
what really gets me is where did this world trade body elects itself above and beyond democracy; in letting the worlds most powerful organisation feather their bed by trying to patent the poor world's common knowledge and resources in a way that the rich latent taxes the poor every time they use their own natural resources, we have fallen asleep on the job of democracy, and its time to wake up Euroepan MPs as the chief rip van winkles
thanks James
I have created a thread for reviewing ICAN over here http://www.knowledgeboard.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?ap=1&id=129772&d=pnd&dateformat=%25o-%25B
if you prefer a different lead in, email me at wcbn007@easynet.co.uk what text to insert; I would be particularly happy to load up a concept brief if such is already published
ican
I'm not certain how many of the statistics behind the site I'm permitted to share at the moment, but I'll check and get back to you. There is an independent piece of research being conducted by the Oxford Internet Institute on iCan at the moment and all of those results will be public. If you want to have your thoughts heard as part of that then filling in the form at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ican/oxfordresearch would be very helpful.
I'm one of the creators of iCan and am currently the project's technical manager. So I'm not unbiased, but I am interested in whether it can help you and if not how it should be improved. I have no desire to hijack your discussion though, so will happily shut up if this is offtopic.
J.
ican
James
Thanks for this interesting news.
can you tell us a bit more about Ican? - any idea of what the largest (or deepest, by which I meet people volunteering to help act) audience or reach it has helped a project get so far? (or which case is regarded as most successful to date?)
I know at least one ican user. May I ask in what capacity do you work on Ican?
BBC iCan project
Although it's not targetted specifically towards poverty issues, I thought you might be interested in looking at this pilot project that I've been working on: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ican/
It aims to help people connect with other people who share the same concerns about civic issues and to aid them in working together to achieve the results they seek.
A lot of what you've mentioned were the same problems that we tried to consider when designing this. We're in the middle of designing version two at the moment as we've learnt a lot about what worked and what didn't by how people have used the beta test site that's currently live.
Do you think something like this could help you and the communities that you're trying to help?
J.
km8/30K
I believe that if you wanted to systemise poverty around localities of our globe, there are probably 7 deadly sins of organisation and institutional carelessness. They look a bit like those shown...So why can't we develop a wiki to teach 12 year olds about these sins ; so that when they grow up they are all equally aware of how poverty is developed; and take mutual responsibility/transparency for ensuring that our countries and organisations do not contribute to the mire.
.
km7/30k - how to evolve the BBC into the world service of all humanity
Please come discuss this here.
km6/30K connecting the disconnected
I like webs that seem to be orientated towards starting questions from the people at the grassroots up rather than NGOs from their headquarters down
Does anyone have some interesting benchmarks?
For example this bookmark from India : http://www.sristi.org/
Very Important Ideas/Post
Really worth watching to mature; supporters should effect wider circulation. Sadiq
km5/30k Nominating India's Most Useful Companies?
Why India? Well, please nominate another country if you will keep an eye on quality of nominations.
I chose India because my professional friends and I are particularly interested in large corporations that are systemised around reality-making not only image-making; I also look for companies whose products are loved by the rural poor not just city-slickers; and being linguistically handicapped by only speaking english, I've got a fair chance of helping search out Indian companies; I also feel a family responsibility to India which was awakened by work I did there in the 1980s.
Example Nominee 1 - kediastride.com :
Reasons for choosing:
-appears proud and passionateof its products' rural achievements
-first linked through one of my favourite spaces for searching execs who may see the organisational world in very human ways
thanks Eelco, Irina
km3/30k - several editors have already said what a great looking idea to http://www.nabuur.com -user reports would be most welcome
km4/30k -Threading The Global University of Poverty from one network to another - it would be wonderful if the world's most? used professional virtual-community-network www.ecademy.com also find enough space for Irina (Russia & Scotland), Sadiq (Pakistan) and others to also make it the most used cause concern virtual community-network
Virtual branches of Global University are npw at http://globaluniversity.blogspot.com/ &
http://www.egroups.com/group/globaluop
-additional grassroots correspondents have joined us representing India, and Uganda- we look forward to representations from all devloping cpountries.
Unification and Emancipation Initiatives discussed on Ecademy
Chris,
Thank you very much for inviting me to join the Knowledge Board and share our ideas with other participants.
I am currently working with my colleague Sadiq Baig using the platform of social and business network Ecademy to discuss several initiatives which could help the humanity solve poverty problems around the world.
We are currently studying the existing situation / how other organizations (governmental and NGOs) are approaching this issue and whether we can combine our efforts with them or come up with new initiatives and invite them over to co-operate with us.
As of now there are two areas on which we concentrate our efforts:
1. Eradicating poverty by innovative use of ICT (Information & Communication Technology) to create new job opportunities. That is, the emphasis is on creating the infrastructure / environment that will conribute to the economic solutions of poverty rather than on a charity basis.
For this purpose we discuss an option of using an innovative model introduced by Grameen Bank. One of the bank's original ideas is the use of micro-loans issued mainly to women (96%) to purchase mobile phones and offer telecom services in poor villages in Bangladesh. More details on it here: http://www.grameen-info.org/bank/GBGlance.htm
We are also open to and welcome other ideas which could make use of ICT for the benefits of the poor.
The link to the Unification Club where we discuss these issues is here: http://www.ecademy.com/module.php?mod=club&c=1892.
2. Creating opportunities for the poor people to get decent education. In particular we are discussing a possibility of establishing a Global University for Poverty.
We are currently discussing options available to us for implementing this project.
The link to the Emancipation Club where we discuss these the Global University for Poverty is here:
http://www.ecademy.com/module.php?mod=club&c=1907
We will be honoured to share our discussions with members of the Knowledge Board.
Please do let us know if you are interested and we will be happy to guide you through what we have already done.
Irina
NGO Nabuur helps villages in developing countries contact virtual neighbours for assistance based on their knowledge
A Dutch NGO called Nabuur helps local communities in developing countries get assistance from virtual 'neighbours'. These virtual Neighbors look for solutions to the question posted on the Nabuur.com website by a local village representative. Village representative(s) and responding neighbours work together and report their findings on the Discussion boards of the Village.
It might be interesting to find out more about their experience so far or visit their website (http://www.nabuur.com) where you can actually see how it works in practice. The organisation was founded in 2001.
km2/30K Communities where multidimensional economists practice
I have never met anyone more deeply & openly networked in this than Andrius Kulikauskas. (Of course he and I would love to know if you have)
Andrius was educated in maths at some of California's best institutes but now lives where his family came from in Lithuania. He has to practice multidimensional economics to survive. For a most basic example of intelligence transfusion, speaking about 10 languages Andrius could guarantee you a best value quality translation of a technical document -ie where the work is mainly done by that hi-trust and qualified person in Andrius's circle living in the poorest economy. Trades that create value surplus to Andrius' needs to live in Lithuania are invested into extraordinarily diverse probono projects which might range from helping HP's e-inclusion project to get more deeply connected at local grassroots around the globe, to finding the most inspiring use of The Brain, to facilitating a network of Islamic thinkers who want to find ways of reconciling Eastern & Western societies, to other ways in which hi-trust people can co-agent a world trade that is best for all people, which is a vision I had so hoped KM and 25 European Countries' visions 2010 could link around.
Andrius is paying a very rare visit to London this week. You can meet him at a free cafe we are convening in the British Library 3.30 Thursday 12th August (ideally tell me at wcbn007@easynet.co.uk if you are joining us so I can get enough chairs). Or I can try and put people in touch with Andrius by email 365/7/24.
km1/30K networks where journalists of the second kind meet
It staggers belief that institutions like the EU, United Nations and World Bank were set up primarily to lessen the risk of wars between nations, yet the public doesn't have much spontaneous awareness of how much strife and terror today goes back to extreme poverty , the hopelessness and ultimate madness that causes. The president of the World Bank bravely makes this clear as we follow in this blog but where are the vibrant journalist networks investigating these stories at practical levels of understanding.
eg we need more of this:
Journalist study networks on Water's human crises worldwide noted here
Can you find any other study networks of journalists on globalization issues?
How do journalists get round the sorts of globalisation and poverty issues where their national media owners, politicians or advertsiers appear to censor them? see typical issues here
Look at 999/1000 stories told by business leaders and they are staggeringly self-centred and unworldly in their lack of diversity- where do we find more exceptional stories like the ones Anita Roddick tells
There must be spaces where journalists meet who believe that nurturing societies and human communities develops the great businesses of our globe, and not the other way round. If you can give me any leads- whether populated by BBC or not - whether individual, virtual or places where one can stand up and debate among investigators and storytellers of this second kind, please do either publicly in this thread or privately by email to wcbn007@easynet.co.uk
We are delighted to invite all to co-blog The Legacy of Tony Blair
http://blairband.blogspot.com/
As always the future is such an exciting story if we can all see our left from our right
Shakespeare reminds me of the best quotes to guide Human KM with
2 most relevant for all the rest of us
Ps qualities of a good question 1