Making the Net
Work....
to support community
regeneration
This news release was
prepared for the Development Trusts Association Open Day on June 10
1998, launched with a reception at the Oxo Tower, South Bank,
London.
Partnerships Online is working with the Development Trusts
Association and others in the field to explore how the Internet can
assist community-based regeneration.
We believe this can be achieved in three ways:
Taken together, these connections will help link communities of interest and of locality - forming online the public, private and community partnerships needed for 'real world' sustainable communities.
In order to do this Partnerships Online is developing a programme which includes:
Initial development work, in association with UK Communities Online, has been supported by the DTI, BT, GPT and IBM. Other partners in this programme include Northern College - Dundee Campus, Computer Access, the National Rural Enterprise Centre, Drew Mackie Associates, the Rural Community Development Training Partnership in Dundee, Scotland, and the Community Action Network.
We are organising a series of seminars in July 1998 with the US author of Making the Net Work, Terry Grunwald, and further events with partners in the autumn.
Partnerships Online communications system
The Partnerships Online communications system is being developed with two pioneering organisations in the field: the National Rural Enterprise Centre, who for some years have demonstrated the benefits of electronic networking to rural agencies, and Computer Access, who provide sophisticated yet practical systems for non-profit bodies in London and elsewhere.
The system includes:
The system is designed to go beyond simple one-to-one email and 'broadcast' Web publishing to provide for many-to-many communication and the group working required in network organisations.
Two national organisations are starting first-stage pilots on the system.
These organisations will be able to compare their experience with the Rural Community Councils and others using already Ruralnet. The new system and pilot projects open the way to launch Making the Net Work as a programme to help non-profit organisations use the Internet to improve their internal efficiency and their effectiveness in serving local groups.
This programme will, in effect, be the second stage of the Getting Connected programme developed in 1997 with Government support and led by the Community Development Foundation.
Partnerships Online, together with the DTA, People for Action, the Community Action Network and other partners, will be seeking support for next stage development of the programme so that the development lessons of pilots can be offered more widely.
We can offer: demonstrations, opportunities to pilot. We need: funds for implementing the pilots within organisations; more organisational clients; resources to enhance the system; 'add-on' software applications and hardware; and local access to bandwidth.
International Guide to Community Networking
The Guide is being developed as an online resource to provide inspiration and guidance on how to use the Internet for community benefit, personal development or organisational change - and help others do the same.
With initial support from GPT and UK Communities Online, we have recruited co-editors in North America, Australia and other European countries, developed outline content and set up a system for collaborative working.
The Guide will build on a previous online publication on the Partnerships Online site, "How you can use IT in the community", and much other excellent material on other sites. It will stand in its own right, and also act as a back-up resource to some other projects under development: an online course on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the community, and a game and other tools designed to help plan community networking projects.
Course participants and those developing local projects will be invited to contribute content to the Guide to ensure that it is updated and developed in ways which are relevant to user needs. Hopefully other editors and contributors will integrate development of the guide with other projects, so content is refreshed.
We can offer: a growing range of public domain content; opportunities for practitioners to share their experience. We need: funds to cover central editing and research.
Community resource centres
One section of the Guide - being developed by Jane Berry of NREC and the WREN telecottage - offers guidance to those creating local community resource centres. These centres, providing public access, training and project development support, are widely recognised as the key to ensuring use of new media technologies in all sections of the community.
Plans to support community resource centre development were launched by Partnerships Online at a conference on May 22 1998 hosted by Unipart, Cowley, where graduate employees had risen to challenge of transforming an old bakery on a nearby housing estate into the Barton IT Hub.
Barton IT Hub is a partner in the Government's IT for All campaign, and the head of the DTI's Information Society Initiative, David Baxter, spoke at the conference.
We can offer: opportunities for those planning centres to learn from each other. We need: case studies, articles, funds to research and develop more detailed good practice guides.
Online course in using ICT in the community
Northern College - Dundee Campus, are leading the development of an online course with Partnerships Online, the National Rural Enterprise Centre and Drew Mackie Associates. Course outlines have already been validated for degree credits by the Open University Validation Service, and we are planning to pilot the course with the first students in April 1999.
The course covers understanding local communities and processes of participation and partnership building; communications technologies; researching and evaluating relevant initiatives; project planning and simulation.
The course will be run on a FirstClass system, as used by the Open University and by Partnerships Online projects. That will allow easy integration of course work, the International Guide development and links with projects.
Use of First Class Intranet system has also been pioneered over the last 5 years by Northern College to support open learning and work place based students in more than 15 countries.
Students will be provided with online mentoring support as well as course material, and also the opportunity for face-to-face meetings and tutorials.
The aim of the course will be to help produce the 'community champions' of using ICT for community benefit and draw together the skills and abilities of people who can use the technology and who can also support the process of community development.
We can offer: a structured learning environment for those seeking to use ICT for community benefit with links to practical projects. We need: funds for development of the course material, and sponsorship for some students.
Start up game for community networkers
This is a deliberately low-tech card game for groups considering starting a local electronic network. The first version of the game is available on the Partnerships Online Web site, and groups around the world are being invited to download it and feedback their suggestions for further development.
The game, developed with Drew Mackie Associates and support from UK Communities Online, has three elements: scenarios of typical communities and their problems (village, town, mining community, housing estate); aspirations for more jobs, community facilities and other improvements; and technical project cards ranging from "email for all" to sophisticated schemes to wire the whole community.
Participants work in groups to develop a mix of technical solutions which can form the basis of a network to enhance the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the area. They present their visions to other groups for scoring. The main message: start with community needs, not technical solutions.
In later versions of the game, cards will have links to resources in the Guide to Community Networking, and additional modules which deal with the process of building the partnership necessary to create the network.
We can offer: a free awareness-raising game playable without equipment by any number of people. We need: feedback on the first version; funds for further development.
Sussex Online
Partnerships Online is working with the British Computer Society, Sussex Community Internet Project, Brighton University and Sussex Rural Community Council to create a learning network through which individuals and organisations in East and West Sussex who are developing public information systems, community and organisational networks can share experience.
The project was launched at Brighton University on May 20 1998 with an event to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Sussex branch of BCS. A further event is planned for July, together with projects including development of a communications system for local projects.
We can offer: opportunities to develop community telematics applications in both urban and rural setting with committed local partners. We need: national partners for joint project development.
Seminars with Terry Grunwald
Many community networking initiatives in the UK have been inspired by US projects which date back to pioneering Freenets in the 1980s. Through visits, electronic dialogues and projects like the International Guide we are now beginning to understand what may be readily shared and what may be different in US and European projects.
In July 1998 Terry Grunwald, who has worked in this field in North Carolina and nationally in the US for over eight years, visits the UK for a series of events hosted by Partnerships Online and local projects around the UK.
Terry is the author of the widely-acclaimed book "Making the Net Work: Online strategies for community-based organisations" and the UK programme pays tribute to her inspiration.
The first events will be in Brighton on July 25/26 with Sussex Online, and London on July 27 with the Community Action Network.
We can offer: the chance to meet - and consult with - one of the US experts in this field. We need: regional hosts, and additional support to meet costs of the trip.
Community action networkand centre
The Community Action Network (CAN) formally began on April 1 under the Direction of Adele Blakebrough. CAN will be collaborating with Partnerships Online to develop a new initiative in community regeneration in association with others on listed below. The objective of CAN is to develop a user-friendly Internet-based mutual support network for community activists and social entrepreneurs that will harness the best available technology to enable the exchange of new ideas and the sharing of best practice.
CAN has now moved in to substantial office space in the Haymarket which will be a tremendous meeting and training facility for social entrepreneurs from all over the country.
Adele adds: "We're delighted that CAN has so quickly established a strong and mutually beneficial partnerships with Partnerships Online to develop a new support network for social entrepreneurs. This exciting initiative will be run for social entrepreneurs by social entrepreneurs. By working with existing organisations and using the most appropriate new technologies, CAN will aim to improve the quality, profile, efficiency and cost effectiveness of the social enterprise sector in community regeneration.
We will employ user-friendly technology as a tool for encouraging networking between people at the grass roots of community development all over the country, so they have a convenient way to pass on good ideas, learn from each others' experiences, and support each other in the work they do. We will be identifying a wide range of projects to be registered on CAN so that the benefits of this new networking opportunity can be shared as quickly and widely as possible.
At the heart of this initiative will be the Community Action Centre in its central London location in Haymarket. The centre will itself be a model of networking: we aim to build a creative and thriving atmosphere where training and networking takes place in a warm and supportive environment. We look forward to seeing you there".
For further information about CAN, please contact us by email at can@partnerships.org.uk
Contacts
Community Action Network. Adele Blakebrough <can@partnerships.org.uk>. Tel: 0171 321 2244.
Community Development Foundation. Kevin Harris <kevin@cdf.org.uk>. http://www.cdf.org.uk . Tel: 0171 226 5375
Computer Access. David Fitzpatrick <David@access-it.org.uk>. http://www.access-it.org.uk. Tel: 0171 241 2162.
Development Trusts Association. Joanne Hall <info@dta.org.uk>. http://www.dta.org.uk . Tel: 0171 706 4951
Drew Mackie Associates. Drew Mackie <drewmackie@msn.com>. Tel: 0131 445 5930
Internet Vision. Manar Hussain <manar@ivision.co.uk>. http://www.ivision.co.uk. Tel: 0171 912 1895
IT for All. Mairi Thomson <mairi.thomson@ciid.dti.gov.uk>. http://www.itforall.org.uk. Tel: 0171 215 1327
National Rural Enterprise Centre and WREN. Simon Berry <s.berry@ruralnet.org.uk> . Jane Berry <j.berry@ruralnet.org.uk> http://www.nrec.org.uk and http://www.ruralnet.org.uk . Tel: 01203 690691.
Northern College - Dundee Campus. Laurie Bidwell <l.bidwell@norcol.ac.uk>. http://www.norcol.ac.uk. Tel: 01382 464374
Partnerships Online. David Wilcox <david@partnerships.org.uk>. http://www.partnerships.org.uk. Tel: 01273 677377.
People for Action. Valerie Albrighton <valbrighton@peopleforaction.demon.co.uk>. Tel: 0121 561 4430.
Sussex Online. David Wilcox <david@partnerships.org.uk>. http://www.partnerships.org.uk/sussex. Tel: 01273 677377.
UK Communities Online. Michael Mulquin <michael@communities.org.uk>. http://www.communities.org.uk . Tel: 0171 473 2030.
Unipart and the Barton IT Hub. Denise Wheeler <Denise_Wheeler@unipart.co.uk>. http://www.partnerships.org.uk/hub. Tel: 01865 778966
Further details of the Making the Net
Work programme are at http://www.partnerships.org.uk