Evelyn Lands: Tsunami Anniversary: Landed in Bangkok
I've been following Evelyn Rodriguez's journey back to Thailand for the anniversary of the Tsunami. She is in Thailand now, and I urge you to take a look at her blog.
I was taken by this post about her conversations with a local architect from the Center for Architecture and Human Rights. "Dialogue about their goals and community engagement for the plan for seventy homes, a market and a Moken cultural center to celebrate the collective heritage of the sea gypsies is an essential part of the community rebuilding process.
This is one of the shifts that I'd like to see more of in 2006. Sort of my "wish" rather than a prediction, to where we expand our compentencies for dialog into more professions and domains.
Traditionally dialogue and facilitating community participation isn't what architects, engineers, and planners do best. Or do at all. Top-down is more the planning style. He's trying to change that starting with his students."
When taken in an online context, that means we use both the zippy cool "web 2.0" tools, but more importantly, we develop practices that maximize both the tools and our ability to have dialog around things that matter to us. That may be around our favorite recipe, or rebuilding villages in Pakistan and Thailand. It may be around politics or celebrities. Can we go past "broadcasting" to truely having dialogs where it matters?
posted by Nancy White at 8:47 AM
4 Comments:
Nancy
The Zippy Web 2.0 tools are in the hands of a precious few users. It is going to take a lot more integration for them to be meaningful.
I'm very impressed with Warren Easton in Exile, as a post-Katrina resource. It is one of the better applications of the Internet toward diaspora communication.
It is however, a very basic web site, that makes use of some new things, but the most important thing is students know where to find it, and it contains information that they need to stay connected.
It's all in how you use it.
Software is only human.
Oh, Ed Vielmetti is of course an key contributor to Warren Easton in Exile. I thought I typed that out in my first post.
Alan,thanks for your relevant reminder. I was taken by your final thought "software is only human."
I'm intrigued. Say more.
Nancy
I'll have to expand on that then, maybe as an article on my blog. Social networking software is a realization that, although the network is the computer, the intelligence is the user.
Warren Easton in Exile is an example of people who are technically adept making software accessible, using the latest widgets, and tired and true methods, focusing on what works, and putting in the time to read, sort, and respond.
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