[webcast-l] Using Web 2.0 Technologies for Social Action – 11/12th March, London

[Community Media Association]

Designing for the 21st Century: Using Web 2.0 Technologies (and Social 
Networking Tools) for Social Action – 11/12th March, London

This workshop costs £10 to attend, including lunch

We invite you to present an idea or case study, or come along to learn 
more, at this PRaDSA workshop on "Designing for the 21st Century: Using 
Web 2.0 Technologies and (Social Networking Tools) for Social Action" to 
be held in north-east London at Space on 11/12th March.

Background

Social networking tools and Web 2.0 have been the last year's talking 
points. But the chatter hides their growing history as means to contact, 
link and engage a broad range of friends, strangers, existing and 
emergent groups in forms of work and play that build (or challenge) 
civil society. Their effect has been seen in charity fundraising, 
community decision-making and political mobilisation. Their use has 
created shadows (see, for instance: 
http://partnerships.typepad.com/civic/2006/12/social_media_su.html) that 
altered the strategy of organisations and changed the shape of projects 
to include greater and wider participation.

But tools alone don't make things happen. So this is an opportunity to 
explore the practices that lead to change and share ideas about the use 
of these tools to democratise consultation processes, win hearts and 
minds and turn thoughts into action. Please bring your experience of 
working in this way and the potential – and challenges - you see in the 
new forms of social organisation supported by these developments. We 
welcome informal and unorthodox contributions as well as more formal 
talks. Emphasis will be upon reflection and practice, rather than grand 
research objectives. There will be full wifi connectivity.

Themes:

At this workshop, we intend to show:

* How Web 2.0 can be used to further the particular needs of a group or 
organisation
* What patchworks of tools and techniques can be assembled with minimal 
overheads

You might like to have a look at O'Reilly's definition of Web 2.0 at:

http://www.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html

and PRaDSA discussions at:http://www.technologyandsocialaction.org.

as a prelude to the event.

How to express interest:

Talks will range from 10 to 25 minutes depending on the nature of the 
submission. It will also be possible to offer a panel discussion. If you 
would like to present, please send a summary of your topic and why you 
would like to share it to Kutoma Wakunuma at <K.J.Wakunuma at shu.ac.uk> by 
January 31st.

If you would like to attend as a participant, without a formal 
presentation, please send your details and a paragraph about your 
interests in the area to Kutoma by February 20th.

Notes:

     * Day one will start at 1pm with a keynote talk by Caroline Bassett 
of the University of Sussex and the Fiankoma Project (www.fiankoma.org) 
on "Fans or Citizens: 2.0 and the politics of participation".
     * Day two ends at 4pm to allow for travelling.
     * PRaDSA has a small budget to offer bursaries which cover 
expenses, including travel, your stay overnight in London and your 
absence from work – be that to your organisation or to you as a 
freelance operator. If you require one of these bursaries to attend, 
please note this on your proposal and the organising committee will 
consider your application.
     * Space is a media arts gallery and educational charity. For 
details of the venue and how to reach it, have a look at: 
http://www.spacestudios.org.uk/.
     * This workshop is organised by Ann Light and Kutoma Wakunuma with 
the PRADSA team, including Josef Davies-Coates, Paula Graham, Clodagh 
Miskelly, Steve Thompson, David Wilcox, Andy Dearden, Wendy Olphert, 
Leonie Ramondt, Steve Walker and more.



About PRaDSA

PRaDSA stands for "Practical Design for Social Action". The PRaDSA 
project's goal is to develop and extend the capability of social action 
organisations to creatively design new practices by appropriating and 
adapting ICTs. There are three strands to the project, of which the 
workshop series is one. The other two are:

. To develop a new understanding of designing in social action settings, 
grounded in detailed contextual studies of design in practice.

. To create a collection of practical resources to support the work of 
practitioners (and others) including workshop materials and easy-to-use 
(open-source) on-line community communications systems.

PRaDSA is a project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council 
(AHRC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 
(EPSRC) as part of its Designing for the 21st Century programme.

If you would like to know more about the PRaDSA project, please see:

http://www.technologyandsocialaction.org.