Forum
On the UmojaAfrica Forum you will be able to meet, connect and chat to the rest of the UmojaAfrica community about topics ranging from Agriculture and Education, Finance and Technology to Water and Zebras. (African issues A-Z)
Join us to improve the quality of life of Africans in the areas of Health, Poverty, Women, Social Care, Education, Training, Business and Employment.
It's time for the world's “Wamoja” (the united) to work together (seriously)
Walk down the street or open any newspaper and you’ll see something that will make you think: “It’s 2009, we have governments, organisations, TV, radio, email, a space station... and this is happening? Why?”
Probably for many reasons, all of which can seem beside the point. You know that this—whatever story or situation struck you—is wrong or sad or scary or a horrible waste, and we all know that with all the resources we have now we should be able to do much more about so many of our local and global problems.
The trouble, of course, is that life is complicated. People have egos and interests and different opinions, and groups have histories and conflicts. These things are real and they will always be with us, but what if there is a way around them? What if by looking at the world from a different point of view we can quickly build a network of people and organizations that will allow us to make the most of what each of us has to offer, online and in person?
What you'll find here is a vision for this network, a path and a timeline to get there, and an invitation to be part of this project from the very start.
Three global challenges
When we look at the news now, problems of all kinds come at us and overwhelm us. War, poverty, corruption, HIV/AIDS, climate change, financial crises, broken health and education systems… These problems, and many others, are big and complex, and we can’t just get up and solve them.
But let’s shift our perspective for a moment. Instead of facing this torrent of news, step aside and watch it flow beside you for a minute or two. If we do this, we can see three challenges that cut across all issues and communities. These challenges are different. They are quiet (you will seldom see them in the news), we can solve them, and if we do, most of our other problems will be easier to deal with.
These three challenges are:
• A big gap between our good intentions and our actions.
• Our problems are connected, but we are not.
• The world is full of good ideas that don’t spread quickly enough.
Let’s look at each of these challenges and then see how by focusing on them we can achieve much more with the resources we already have.
1. The gap between our intentions and our actions
Every day many of us would like to respond in some way to what’s happening around us, but for a variety of reasons we don’t. We may feel—rightly or wrongly—that we have no time, no resources, no power, or no impact (why bother, it won’t make a difference anyway). We may not know where to start, what to do, or who to work with. We may be afraid of failure, ridicule, meetings and committees, wasting our time, getting depressed…
This list could go on, but the point is that this challenge—or opportunity—is huge. Imagine, for example, using a very pessimistic average, that most people feel the urge to fix something or help someone at least once a month, and don’t act on that impulse. With close to seven billion people on earth this comes to 200 million missed opportunities every day, and probably many more.
This gap between intention and action applies not only to individuals but also to organizations of every kind. Many cities, schools, businesses, museums, and hospitals, to name just a few, would be willing to participate in a local initiative or help a similar organisation in another country, but for their own set of reasons—including the simplest one, that no one has asked them—they often do not.
2. Our problems are connected, but we are not
There is a good chance that right now, on different floors of an apartment building somewhere in your country, two people are looking out their windows and wishing there were a garden or a playground below instead of a dirty park. But acting alone can be difficult, and in many neighbourhoods, both rich and poor, there is no way for people to know that they are not alone—that down the street, or two floors above or below them, there may be others who would be happy to work with them.
The same goes for schools, workplaces, and other communities. If you are one of ten people who would like to change something in the place, how do you find the other nine? And if in theory you do have a way to find them—by knocking on doors, emailing everyone, putting up a poster—would it be OK to do this? Is there a good context for people to bring up their ideas and reach out to others, or would this seem strange or inappropriate?
On top of all this, many of us are also divided by nationality, religion, politics, and other lines. These divisions can run so deep that it may be hard for us to see the full humanity of the people on the other side, and to explore how much we may have in common across our differences.
Our social and environmental problems, on the other hand, have no respect for man-made borders, and all of them—HIV/AIDS and poverty, for example, or corruption and natural disasters—are happy to work together and reinforce one another.
3. The world is full of good ideas that don’t spread quickly enough
Pick a specific challenge—from building a neighbourhood playground in a few hours to setting up a new kind of criminal court to clearing old land mines using trained rats—and chances are that someone has already found a good way to tackle it.
Unfortunately, the people and organisations behind these innovations often lack the means to share them more widely. As a result, people and communities who could benefit from any number of programs and ideas may never hear about them, and even when they do, they may not have the knowledge or the resources to implement them.
Which brings us back full circle. Person A has implemented a wonderful project; person B would love to bring it to her community; and person or organisation C would be happy to help if someone asked. So how do we make this happen? How do we make it easier for all of us to act on our good intentions? How do we get more ideas to bubble up in cities, villages, schools, and workplaces, and then connect all those people and organisations who want to implement them? And how do we create a context that will make all this possible?
We can do this now
For the first time in history we can build a global network that will serve and support all those people who want to make the world a better place. A network that will allow people and organisations everywhere to imagine, connect, and act:
• Imagine a better world, a better community, and a better life
• Connect with others, and with stories, ideas, and resources
• Act on our good intentions, and help others to act on theirs
We can do this, and we can do it now. We have the tools and we have the knowledge. All we need now is to agree on a few things.
The key: just enough glue and not a drop more
Whenever you want to start a network or a coalition, there is always a fundamental tension. People may want to collaborate, and they may see that together they could achieve much more. At the same time, most people value their independence, and their individual and organisational interests will often come first.
So how do we resolve this tension? How do we build a network that will make the most of what each of us has to offer, but will never get in our way?
Think of some effective networks you know: the Web, Alcoholics Anonymous, the global postal and telephone systems, all the people who play or follow your favourite sport...
These networks are ubiquitous, predictable, and useful. The best among them are also decentralized, adaptable, and creative. Most importantly, to achieve all this, they are held together by a name, a few goals, and a few rules—just enough, and no more.
A name we can use
Names work; words matter. If you are a teacher from Uganda and you meet another teacher from Uganda, you only have to say two words—"teacher" and "Uganda"—to transmit a lifetime's worth of shared experiences. And if you want to start a group of Ugandan teachers, you have the words to do it.
In our case the people are there, but the words are missing. Wherever you go in the world you will find people who:
• Want to live in a world where all people can lead free and dignified lives;
• Believe that with all the resources we have now we should be able to do much more;
• Would be happy to do their part, in a spirit of generosity and mutual respect.
These people are everywhere. You recognize them when you meet them, but what do you call them? And if we can't name them—if we can't name ourselves—how can we connect?
Let’s call these people "Wamoja" (United) and see what we can do with that.
A few goals we can agree on
Wanting to make the world a better place is a good start, but what about the details? With so many issues across so many cultures—from improving schools in one country to defusing an ethnic conflict in another—and with so many ways to approach each problem, we'll never be able to agree on a set of specific goals that would appeal to all of us.
What we can do is agree on one overarching goal—to help build a world where all people can lead free and dignified lives—and then focus on the three challenges we outlined above:
• Make it easier for people and organisations to move from intentions to action.
• Connect people, organizations, and resources in every possible way.
• Find good ideas wherever they are, and distribute them as widely as possible.
If we do all this, and do it well, fixing those schools and defusing that conflict will be much easier than it is now.
And a few rules...
What's good for one person may be bad for another, and therefore, like any network, we need a few rules. Since launching umojaafrica.ning.com, we have used the following rules and they have worked well with people and organizations all over the world:
• No violent or illegal action.
• No action against any person or group on the basis of race, origin, nationality, religion, language, gender, sexual orientation, or physical or mental ability.
• Every person should have the right to work with others, freely and independently, for a better life and a better community.
Acting and connecting
With a name, some goals, and some rules, we are almost there. To put this puzzle together, we only need two more pieces. The first is to distinguish between two kinds of action: acting and connecting.
In almost everything you do, you can be an actor or you can be a connector (or both). You can read or you can start a book club; you can play a game or you can organize a tournament; you can travel or you can write about your favourite places.
In our case, if you want to change anything in your community, you can pick an idea, a problem, or a project, and go for it: volunteer, create, advocate, learn, teach, share, give, vote, fix, help…
Alternatively, you can be a connector and help other people imagine, connect, and act by offering them opportunities for action, helping them connect with organisations and resources, and pushing and pulling good ideas from and into your community.
Action is critical, but without connectors it doesn't happen.
Alone or with others, online or in person
Lastly, for much of what we do now many of us are familiar with four options: we can act alone or with others, online or in person. You can read, play, or travel alone, or you can do it with a group. And you can find what you need online, or you can walk into a bookstore, a gym, or a travel agency. (Close to two billion people are already online, and more than three billion have mobile phones.)
Similarly, to be as effective as possible, a UmojaAfrica network should also give us these four options:
• Act alone, whether as an actor or as a connector (a school teacher, for example, helping his or her students find the best way to get involved).
• Work with others on a specific project, or help solve our three big challenges by starting or joining a UmojaAfrica Group in your community, school, or workplace, or across any other network or identity (UmojaAfrican Woman, UmojaAfrican Volunteer, Smart Sourcing ...).
• Take advantage of every technology we can use, from radio and television to social networks and from blogs and wikis to videos and cell phones.
• Set up trusted and open places in villages, towns, and neighbourhoods—let's call them Community Points—run by an UmojaAfrica Group or by a local organisation, where people can go to imagine, connect, and act, and through which organisations of every kind can reach and serve that community.
How do we start?
To create a truly decentralized and adaptable network, all we can do is start. Once a basic structure is set up, a good network will evolve organically and people will use it in creative and surprising ways. To get to that point, imagine these steps unfolding over the next few months:
Stage I - Get ready
Between now and Date X (a few weeks from now) work with the current members of umojaafrica.ning.com (and anyone else they may want to invite) to get ready to start building this network:
1. Share this proposal with the people and organisations that are on UmojaAfrica now.
2. Connect with those among them who may want to be part of this from the very start.
3. See what questions come up and answer them as best we can.
4. Create materials for an effective outreach campaign—fliers, videos, presentations, talking points for different audiences—with feedback and ideas from around the world.
5. Collect useful tools and models wherever we can find them.
Stage II - Invite as many people as possible to take a very small step
1. On Date X imagine the launch of a ten-week campaign to reach as many “Wamoja” as possible all over the world: the connectors and the actors, those two people looking out their windows, every person who believes that together we can do more.
2. To give ourselves a shared deadline, and to have some fun while doing this, imagine this initial campaign culminating on the weekend of Date Y with a coming-out party for the world's “Wamoja”, with community projects (cleaning, planting, or building something, for example), picnics, fairs, parties, or any other way that people may want to work together and celebrate wherever they are.
3. As people take a small leap of faith and sign up, imagine many of them sharing comments, photos, and videos with one clear message—"I am a [whatever identity they choose] and I am a “Umoja” too"—and imagine this happening on every side of every conflict.
4. Imagine displaying all this on a map of the world, by country and by city, and seeing how much we have in common across our differences.
5. Imagine people everywhere expressing a simple idea: We (and you) are not alone; we will not be divided; together we can do so much more.
6. A couple of days after the start of this campaign imagine local UmojaAfrica Groups, blogs, and wikis popping up in different communities to help people imagine, connect, and act.
7. Imagine people meeting in person to coordinate local outreach to individuals, organisations, and businesses, and to plan an event or a project for the weekend of Date Y. (And imagine, wherever possible, turning the global financial crisis into an opportunity by finding borrowed office space for a couple of months, free advertising in local media, and people who have been laid off and who may want to volunteer to lift their spirits and make connections that might lead to a new position.)
8. Imagine some of these people setting up teams to:
o Collect local resources that could be used to help people take action on any issue.
o Meet with organisations, schools, and businesses to talk about how they can get involved in this network.
o Find hosts for local Community Points.
9. Imagine having a global context for all this, with no one thinking you are crazy for trying to connect the dots in your community.
10. Imagine the weekend of Date Y, with people and organisations coming together in every corner of the world and sharing photos and videos of their projects and events.
Stage III - Put all these pieces together
During the week following Date Y, having seen that we are definitely not alone, imagine people meeting in neighbourhoods, organisations, schools, churches, mosques and workplaces to imagine, connect, and act, and to help others do this.
Imagine them starting with a process of discovery: What do people want to do? What skills, needs, and ideas do we have? What are our challenges and priorities? What resources do we already have? What else is happening around us?
Imagine these meetings being run in a way that is fun, effective, and quick, and leading immediately to action and collaboration of all kinds (there are many ways to do this and between now and then we can try various meeting formats and see what works best).
As people connect, act, and report back, imagine different communities sharing ideas with one another ("Hey, look what they are doing, we should do that too..."), and then repeating this cycle—reaching out to new people, discovering, connecting, acting, and reporting back if possible—as often as people want.
Lastly, as people and organisations meet and connect, groups and web sites are launched and enriched, resources and materials are developed and shared, and community points are set up, imagine the whole network coming to life like a group of starfish extending their arms.
Wherever you are you can make this happen and together we can change how we think about what's possible in our lives and in our communities. In a world with competing visions, finite resources, and unintended consequences, there will always be limits to what we can do about our social and environmental problems. But these limits aren't fixed. We can do more with a telephone and a computer than without them, and more in a country where people are free to speak and write than in one where they are not. Today, with the tools and the accumulated experience at our disposal, we can push these limits farther than ever before. How far? Let's find out.
Join us to improve the quality of life of Africans in the areas of Health, Poverty, Women, Social Care, Education, Training, Business and Employment.
It's time for the world's “Wamoja” (the united) to work together (seriously)
Walk down the street or open any newspaper and you’ll see something that will make you think: “It’s 2009, we have governments, organisations, TV, radio, email, a space station... and this is happening? Why?”
Probably for many reasons, all of which can seem beside the point. You know that this—whatever story or situation struck you—is wrong or sad or scary or a horrible waste, and we all know that with all the resources we have now we should be able to do much more about so many of our local and global problems.
The trouble, of course, is that life is complicated. People have egos and interests and different opinions, and groups have histories and conflicts. These things are real and they will always be with us, but what if there is a way around them? What if by looking at the world from a different point of view we can quickly build a network of people and organizations that will allow us to make the most of what each of us has to offer, online and in person?
What you'll find here is a vision for this network, a path and a timeline to get there, and an invitation to be part of this project from the very start.
Three global challenges
When we look at the news now, problems of all kinds come at us and overwhelm us. War, poverty, corruption, HIV/AIDS, climate change, financial crises, broken health and education systems… These problems, and many others, are big and complex, and we can’t just get up and solve them.
But let’s shift our perspective for a moment. Instead of facing this torrent of news, step aside and watch it flow beside you for a minute or two. If we do this, we can see three challenges that cut across all issues and communities. These challenges are different. They are quiet (you will seldom see them in the news), we can solve them, and if we do, most of our other problems will be easier to deal with.
These three challenges are:
• A big gap between our good intentions and our actions.
• Our problems are connected, but we are not.
• The world is full of good ideas that don’t spread quickly enough.
Let’s look at each of these challenges and then see how by focusing on them we can achieve much more with the resources we already have.
1. The gap between our intentions and our actions
Every day many of us would like to respond in some way to what’s happening around us, but for a variety of reasons we don’t. We may feel—rightly or wrongly—that we have no time, no resources, no power, or no impact (why bother, it won’t make a difference anyway). We may not know where to start, what to do, or who to work with. We may be afraid of failure, ridicule, meetings and committees, wasting our time, getting depressed…
This list could go on, but the point is that this challenge—or opportunity—is huge. Imagine, for example, using a very pessimistic average, that most people feel the urge to fix something or help someone at least once a month, and don’t act on that impulse. With close to seven billion people on earth this comes to 200 million missed opportunities every day, and probably many more.
This gap between intention and action applies not only to individuals but also to organizations of every kind. Many cities, schools, businesses, museums, and hospitals, to name just a few, would be willing to participate in a local initiative or help a similar organisation in another country, but for their own set of reasons—including the simplest one, that no one has asked them—they often do not.
2. Our problems are connected, but we are not
There is a good chance that right now, on different floors of an apartment building somewhere in your country, two people are looking out their windows and wishing there were a garden or a playground below instead of a dirty park. But acting alone can be difficult, and in many neighbourhoods, both rich and poor, there is no way for people to know that they are not alone—that down the street, or two floors above or below them, there may be others who would be happy to work with them.
The same goes for schools, workplaces, and other communities. If you are one of ten people who would like to change something in the place, how do you find the other nine? And if in theory you do have a way to find them—by knocking on doors, emailing everyone, putting up a poster—would it be OK to do this? Is there a good context for people to bring up their ideas and reach out to others, or would this seem strange or inappropriate?
On top of all this, many of us are also divided by nationality, religion, politics, and other lines. These divisions can run so deep that it may be hard for us to see the full humanity of the people on the other side, and to explore how much we may have in common across our differences.
Our social and environmental problems, on the other hand, have no respect for man-made borders, and all of them—HIV/AIDS and poverty, for example, or corruption and natural disasters—are happy to work together and reinforce one another.
3. The world is full of good ideas that don’t spread quickly enough
Pick a specific challenge—from building a neighbourhood playground in a few hours to setting up a new kind of criminal court to clearing old land mines using trained rats—and chances are that someone has already found a good way to tackle it.
Unfortunately, the people and organisations behind these innovations often lack the means to share them more widely. As a result, people and communities who could benefit from any number of programs and ideas may never hear about them, and even when they do, they may not have the knowledge or the resources to implement them.
Which brings us back full circle. Person A has implemented a wonderful project; person B would love to bring it to her community; and person or organisation C would be happy to help if someone asked. So how do we make this happen? How do we make it easier for all of us to act on our good intentions? How do we get more ideas to bubble up in cities, villages, schools, and workplaces, and then connect all those people and organisations who want to implement them? And how do we create a context that will make all this possible?
We can do this now
For the first time in history we can build a global network that will serve and support all those people who want to make the world a better place. A network that will allow people and organisations everywhere to imagine, connect, and act:
• Imagine a better world, a better community, and a better life
• Connect with others, and with stories, ideas, and resources
• Act on our good intentions, and help others to act on theirs
We can do this, and we can do it now. We have the tools and we have the knowledge. All we need now is to agree on a few things.
The key: just enough glue and not a drop more
Whenever you want to start a network or a coalition, there is always a fundamental tension. People may want to collaborate, and they may see that together they could achieve much more. At the same time, most people value their independence, and their individual and organisational interests will often come first.
So how do we resolve this tension? How do we build a network that will make the most of what each of us has to offer, but will never get in our way?
Think of some effective networks you know: the Web, Alcoholics Anonymous, the global postal and telephone systems, all the people who play or follow your favourite sport...
These networks are ubiquitous, predictable, and useful. The best among them are also decentralized, adaptable, and creative. Most importantly, to achieve all this, they are held together by a name, a few goals, and a few rules—just enough, and no more.
A name we can use
Names work; words matter. If you are a teacher from Uganda and you meet another teacher from Uganda, you only have to say two words—"teacher" and "Uganda"—to transmit a lifetime's worth of shared experiences. And if you want to start a group of Ugandan teachers, you have the words to do it.
In our case the people are there, but the words are missing. Wherever you go in the world you will find people who:
• Want to live in a world where all people can lead free and dignified lives;
• Believe that with all the resources we have now we should be able to do much more;
• Would be happy to do their part, in a spirit of generosity and mutual respect.
These people are everywhere. You recognize them when you meet them, but what do you call them? And if we can't name them—if we can't name ourselves—how can we connect?
Let’s call these people "Wamoja" (United) and see what we can do with that.
A few goals we can agree on
Wanting to make the world a better place is a good start, but what about the details? With so many issues across so many cultures—from improving schools in one country to defusing an ethnic conflict in another—and with so many ways to approach each problem, we'll never be able to agree on a set of specific goals that would appeal to all of us.
What we can do is agree on one overarching goal—to help build a world where all people can lead free and dignified lives—and then focus on the three challenges we outlined above:
• Make it easier for people and organisations to move from intentions to action.
• Connect people, organizations, and resources in every possible way.
• Find good ideas wherever they are, and distribute them as widely as possible.
If we do all this, and do it well, fixing those schools and defusing that conflict will be much easier than it is now.
And a few rules...
What's good for one person may be bad for another, and therefore, like any network, we need a few rules. Since launching umojaafrica.ning.com, we have used the following rules and they have worked well with people and organizations all over the world:
• No violent or illegal action.
• No action against any person or group on the basis of race, origin, nationality, religion, language, gender, sexual orientation, or physical or mental ability.
• Every person should have the right to work with others, freely and independently, for a better life and a better community.
Acting and connecting
With a name, some goals, and some rules, we are almost there. To put this puzzle together, we only need two more pieces. The first is to distinguish between two kinds of action: acting and connecting.
In almost everything you do, you can be an actor or you can be a connector (or both). You can read or you can start a book club; you can play a game or you can organize a tournament; you can travel or you can write about your favourite places.
In our case, if you want to change anything in your community, you can pick an idea, a problem, or a project, and go for it: volunteer, create, advocate, learn, teach, share, give, vote, fix, help…
Alternatively, you can be a connector and help other people imagine, connect, and act by offering them opportunities for action, helping them connect with organisations and resources, and pushing and pulling good ideas from and into your community.
Action is critical, but without connectors it doesn't happen.
Alone or with others, online or in person
Lastly, for much of what we do now many of us are familiar with four options: we can act alone or with others, online or in person. You can read, play, or travel alone, or you can do it with a group. And you can find what you need online, or you can walk into a bookstore, a gym, or a travel agency. (Close to two billion people are already online, and more than three billion have mobile phones.)
Similarly, to be as effective as possible, a UmojaAfrica network should also give us these four options:
• Act alone, whether as an actor or as a connector (a school teacher, for example, helping his or her students find the best way to get involved).
• Work with others on a specific project, or help solve our three big challenges by starting or joining a UmojaAfrica Group in your community, school, or workplace, or across any other network or identity (UmojaAfrican Woman, UmojaAfrican Volunteer, Smart Sourcing ...).
• Take advantage of every technology we can use, from radio and television to social networks and from blogs and wikis to videos and cell phones.
• Set up trusted and open places in villages, towns, and neighbourhoods—let's call them Community Points—run by an UmojaAfrica Group or by a local organisation, where people can go to imagine, connect, and act, and through which organisations of every kind can reach and serve that community.
How do we start?
To create a truly decentralized and adaptable network, all we can do is start. Once a basic structure is set up, a good network will evolve organically and people will use it in creative and surprising ways. To get to that point, imagine these steps unfolding over the next few months:
Stage I - Get ready
Between now and Date X (a few weeks from now) work with the current members of umojaafrica.ning.com (and anyone else they may want to invite) to get ready to start building this network:
1. Share this proposal with the people and organisations that are on UmojaAfrica now.
2. Connect with those among them who may want to be part of this from the very start.
3. See what questions come up and answer them as best we can.
4. Create materials for an effective outreach campaign—fliers, videos, presentations, talking points for different audiences—with feedback and ideas from around the world.
5. Collect useful tools and models wherever we can find them.
Stage II - Invite as many people as possible to take a very small step
1. On Date X imagine the launch of a ten-week campaign to reach as many “Wamoja” as possible all over the world: the connectors and the actors, those two people looking out their windows, every person who believes that together we can do more.
2. To give ourselves a shared deadline, and to have some fun while doing this, imagine this initial campaign culminating on the weekend of Date Y with a coming-out party for the world's “Wamoja”, with community projects (cleaning, planting, or building something, for example), picnics, fairs, parties, or any other way that people may want to work together and celebrate wherever they are.
3. As people take a small leap of faith and sign up, imagine many of them sharing comments, photos, and videos with one clear message—"I am a [whatever identity they choose] and I am a “Umoja” too"—and imagine this happening on every side of every conflict.
4. Imagine displaying all this on a map of the world, by country and by city, and seeing how much we have in common across our differences.
5. Imagine people everywhere expressing a simple idea: We (and you) are not alone; we will not be divided; together we can do so much more.
6. A couple of days after the start of this campaign imagine local UmojaAfrica Groups, blogs, and wikis popping up in different communities to help people imagine, connect, and act.
7. Imagine people meeting in person to coordinate local outreach to individuals, organisations, and businesses, and to plan an event or a project for the weekend of Date Y. (And imagine, wherever possible, turning the global financial crisis into an opportunity by finding borrowed office space for a couple of months, free advertising in local media, and people who have been laid off and who may want to volunteer to lift their spirits and make connections that might lead to a new position.)
8. Imagine some of these people setting up teams to:
o Collect local resources that could be used to help people take action on any issue.
o Meet with organisations, schools, and businesses to talk about how they can get involved in this network.
o Find hosts for local Community Points.
9. Imagine having a global context for all this, with no one thinking you are crazy for trying to connect the dots in your community.
10. Imagine the weekend of Date Y, with people and organisations coming together in every corner of the world and sharing photos and videos of their projects and events.
Stage III - Put all these pieces together
During the week following Date Y, having seen that we are definitely not alone, imagine people meeting in neighbourhoods, organisations, schools, churches, mosques and workplaces to imagine, connect, and act, and to help others do this.
Imagine them starting with a process of discovery: What do people want to do? What skills, needs, and ideas do we have? What are our challenges and priorities? What resources do we already have? What else is happening around us?
Imagine these meetings being run in a way that is fun, effective, and quick, and leading immediately to action and collaboration of all kinds (there are many ways to do this and between now and then we can try various meeting formats and see what works best).
As people connect, act, and report back, imagine different communities sharing ideas with one another ("Hey, look what they are doing, we should do that too..."), and then repeating this cycle—reaching out to new people, discovering, connecting, acting, and reporting back if possible—as often as people want.
Lastly, as people and organisations meet and connect, groups and web sites are launched and enriched, resources and materials are developed and shared, and community points are set up, imagine the whole network coming to life like a group of starfish extending their arms.
Wherever you are you can make this happen and together we can change how we think about what's possible in our lives and in our communities. In a world with competing visions, finite resources, and unintended consequences, there will always be limits to what we can do about our social and environmental problems. But these limits aren't fixed. We can do more with a telephone and a computer than without them, and more in a country where people are free to speak and write than in one where they are not. Today, with the tools and the accumulated experience at our disposal, we can push these limits farther than ever before. How far? Let's find out.
- Sub Menu
