User:Philbartle/2020

Español The Vision for 2020 I am requesting that you do a little exercise for me. I would like you to think about where Community Empowerment will be, and where it should be, ten years from now. It is composed of three elements: (1) the Community Empowerment web site, (2) the Community Empowerment Collective. and (3) the Community Empowerment portals on WikiEducator. Do you think that you will be around CE in 2020? Regardless (if you will be with CE or not), Do you think that CE will be around in 2020? Should it be? What will contribute to the difference? (To be or not to be?) What changes would you like to see in (a) the content? (b) the organization? (c) the membership? What strengths does it have that should be preserved, if any? What weaknesses does it have and how can they be fixed? I believe there are two main topics that need to be developed. Environmentally Sustainable Communities and Districts, and Mechanisms for Community to Community Dialogue and Fora. What do you think about those? Others? I believe there are two main elements that should be retained: Zero Annual Budget, and No Examples or Success Stories. What do you think about those? Others? The emphasis is on How To, not on Why To (too many of those around already), written to be easily understood by a middle school leaver (even though many post graduates and professors read and use the material). What do you think about that? I would like to collect as many of your ideas and responses as I can, and develop a group concept paper in time for our Annual General Meeting. This is important to me, and I request that you think about these things and get back to me. Cheerfully --Phil Bartle 21:12, 25 January 2010 (UTC) Phil Julius Nadolny See: Julius`2020 Valerie Taylor See Valerie's 2020 Larry Bomford Larry Bomford is not on WikiEd, but he has been a mentor for me for several years, and he has fielded questions about agriculture, economics and agricultural economics when users have asked.--Phil Bartle 21:17, 25 January 2010 (UTC) I duplicate his response here: Do you think that you will be around in 2020? Yes - a young 75 year old. Regardless, Do you think that CE will be around in 2020? Yes, perhaps though it will have evolved through community use - much like a living organism every molecule will have been replaced, but the community will have adapted to its new surroundings - much of which is a creation of the community itself. Should it be? Let the user communities decide that and vote with their active use and contributions to the site (s) What will contribute to the difference? (To be or not to be?) Ah, that is the question. Some will link to evolution of technologies and to control of those. We enjoy almost complete electronic freedom in most of the world today, but increasingly (China, N.Korea, Iran) states are moving to control such freedoms. Communities seeking change may need to find new ways to get the information and educational tools they need to change. What changes would you like to see in (a) the content? I am very retired and don't plan to use the site any longer however, I find the huge colour scheme and the electronic bells and whistles (i.e. moving text) distracting rather than helpful. (b) the organization? It already flows well and is easy to use. (c) the membership? I thought it was open? Membership then is self selecting based on the usefulness of contributions in relation to positive ideas for community empowerment. What strengths does it have that should be preserved, if any? Information tries to be based on universal principles that can be applied to a broad range of "communities". In being so, it avoids specifics of particular problems. Users are able to link to more specialized sites if problems involve legal, military or cultural barriers to problem solving. The site's great strength is that it sticks to the universal without negative comment on institutional barriers. What weaknesses does it have and how can they be fixed? The same weakness as all electronic educational tools. It is information on the web. Only information coming from the lips of the community members and willingly heard and understood through the ears of fellow community members will empowerment occur. I believe there are two main topics that need to be developed. Environmentally Sustainable Communities and Districts, and Mechanisms for Community to Community Dialogue and Fora. What do you think about those? Others? I think that if the site tries to move into these areas, it will need first to bring the "enviro - web into the dialogue - an early. Equal weight will always also need to be given to what might be termed "fiscal" or "economic"sustainability. I believe there are two main elements that should be retained: Zero Annual Budget, and No Examples or Success Stories. What do you think about those? Others? Agree to both. Stick to principles. Keep them simple. Keep them universal. The emphasis is on How To, not on Why To (too many of those around already), written to be easily understood by a middle school leaver (even though many post graduates and professors read and use the material). What do you think about that? Yes. "Why?" is a cultural straight jacket. Martine Sander See: Martine's 2020 Bottom of Page If the coach does the pushups, The athlete will not get stronger Community Empowerment: www.scn.org/cmp/ WikiEducator http://www.wikieducator.org/User:Philbartle Twitter = Java_Bartle Join our discussion forum http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Community_Strengthening