DEMOCRACY IN ACTION IV (DiA4)
title: Community Information Networks
1. Debbie. Ellen@Britcoun.org (Debbie Ellen) sent the following
from organisation: N/A and Tel: +44 0161 957 7344
Introduction to the ISPO discussion list:
"I am an MSc student at Manchester Metropolitan University, currently doing some research into a community information network in Manchester"
2. To: Debbie.Ellen@Britcoun.org (Debbie Ellen)
From: mjm@berlin.snafu.de (michael macpherson)
Subject: Re: ISPO discussion list Introduction (Forms submission)
Cc: ispo@www.ispo.cec.be
"When your dissertation is complete, and in the meantime, I would like to learn more about how community networks in Britain are developing." (....) (plus: similar question about Federal Republic of Germany)
3. Date: 06 Jul 96 10:36:32 EDT
From: "Oliver S. Giessler" <100135.267@CompuServe.COM>
To: michael macpherson <mjm@berlin.snafu.de>
>p.s. Aehnliche Fragen moechte ich auch an Mitbenuetzerinnen aus der
>Bundesrepublik Deutschland stellen? Wie sieht es hier aus?
In Hamburg ist der Senat gerade online gegangen (http://www.hamburg.de).
4. From: mjm@berlin.snafu.de (michael macpherson) 8th July 1996
Subject: community information networks
A list member wrote to me that the Senate of the Hansa city Hamburg recently went on-line <http://www.hamburg.de>. I replied:
"Thank you, yesterday i visited the Hamburg government and parliament on-line."
5. from: Michael Macpherson 8th July 1996
to: Mark D. Robbins
"An age ago in cybertime (Sat, 16 Sep 1995) you wrote to the PSRT list
>I am looking for information on citizen participation projects in state >and local government. Typically these have involved preference >surveys, deliberative assemblies, focus groups, and other techniques to >assess the public will towards policy and budget options." (...)
6. To: mjm@berlin.snafu.de
From: "Mark D. Robbins" <mdrobbin@mailbox.syr.edu> 8th July 1996
Subject: Citizen participation
"In short the quality of the kinds of projects which I reviewed were quite uneven and, in my opinion, few have the structural requirements to achieve any sort of concensus or to build trust in ways which matter to local governments."
7. To: mjm@berlin.snafu.de (michael macpherson)
From: com@comune.bologna.it (Leda Guidi) 8th July 1996
Subject: Re: citizen participation projects
"hi, my name is leda guidi and i am the project manager of the
iperbole/internet project (now a real service) carried on by the bologna
city council. " (....S)
8. From: Dave Miller <D.Miller@sheffield.ac.uk>
To: mjm@berlin.snafu.de (michael macpherson)
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 1996 08:24:28 +0100
Subject: Re: community information networks
"We recently organised a two day conference on Community Information
Networks.....I have been developing a WWW site on UK Community
Information Networks at: http://panizzi.shef.ac.uk/community"
9. From: "HAGEN.MARTIN" <hagen@sozwi.sozialwiss.uni-hamburg.de>
Organization: Univ. Hamburg, Dep. of Social Sc.
To: ppp-list@ai.mit.edu
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 1996 14:04:14 GMT+1
Subject: Re: community information networks
"Being a member of the Hamburg Green party, who is currently working
on a concept for a better citizen information system (called "Freie
und Digitale Stadt Hamburg (FREDIH)"), " (....)
10. To: michael macpherson <mjm@berlin.snafu.de>
From: Robert "W." Phillips <ge45@dial.pipex.com>
Subject: Re: citizen participation projects
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 96 18:06:37 GMT
Contact Lewisham Council in London - they have a good project called DALI - the site is http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/
from: Robert Phillips Finance Director
Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI)
11. From: hansv@hsm.unv.ernet.in
To: mjm@berlin.snafu.de (michael macpherson)
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 1996 12:20:04
Subject: Re: community information networks
"Try talking to the people of XS4all in Amsterdam. They set up a
system called The Digital City"
________________________________________________________________
Date: Fri, 5 Jul 1996 09:43:46 +0200
From: uid no body <nobody@www.ispo.cec.be>
Reply-to: Debbie.Ellen@Britcoun.org (Debbie Ellen)
Subject: ISPO discussion list Introduction (Forms submission)
Apparently-To: ispo@www.ispo.cec.be
Sender: owner-ispo@www.ispo.cec.be
Precedence: bulk
Status: U
Debbie. Ellen@Britcoun.org (Debbie Ellen) sent the following
from organisation: N/A and Tel: +44 0161 957 7344
Introduction to the ISPO discussion list:
------------------------------------------------------------
My name is Debbie Ellen. I am an MSc student at Manchester Metropolitan University, currently doing some research
into a community information network in Manchester ( http://www.poptel.org.uk/mcin/ ).
The research has a number of themes, but possibly the most interesting is an online user evaluation of the network, which is a pilot project. I am also gathering as much data as I can about other community information networks in the UK. I have sent out a simple questionnaire to allow me to see where Manchester Community information Network ( MCIN ) fits in to what is happening in the UK.
I would be pleased to hear from anyone who is involved in a community
network in the UK - as I may not know about yours - so that this simple survey of the UK situation can be
as comprehensive as possible.
Please note that I am a part time student trying to hold down a fulltime
job as well as complete an MSc, so if things seem to take a while - its
bacause I do it all in what little spare time I have.
If anyone would like to know the results of the research please let me know.
Debbie Ellen, 5 July 1996
To: Debbie.Ellen@Britcoun.org (Debbie Ellen)
From: mjm@berlin.snafu.de (michael macpherson)
Subject: Re: ISPO discussion list Introduction (Forms submission)
Cc: ispo@www.ispo.cec.be
Hello Debbie Ellen,
When your dissertation is complete, and in the meantime, I would like to learn more about how community networks in Britain are developing. Especially, are they being used in ways which can help citizens take better- informed decisions in local or other public affairs? Are the work of local councils (or parliaments), governments and public bodies, and the problems to be solved, presented so that ultimately (hopefully sooner rather than later), having considered the issues carefully people can make their voices heard in a timely and effective way?
Gruesse aus Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany.
Michael Macpherson.
WICHTIG !!!!!!!!
p.s. Aehnliche Fragen moechte ich auch an Mitbenuetzerinnen aus der Bundesrepublik Deutschland stellen? Wie sieht es hier aus?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Michael Macpherson,
Integral Studies,
Derfflingerstrase 17,
10785 Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany.
tel.: +49 30 262 3768
e-mail: mjm@berlin.snafu.de
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
World Wide Web addresses (URLS):
1) Hosted by John Gotze in Denmark:"Democracy in Action": http://www.gbar.dtu.dk/~itsjg/macpherson.html
2) INTEGRAL STUDIES: proposals, opportunities to co-operate: http://www.snafu.de/~mjm/
Date: 06 Jul 96 10:36:32 EDT
From: "Oliver S. Giessler" <100135.267@CompuServe.COM>
To: michael macpherson <mjm@berlin.snafu.de>
Subject: Re: ISPO discussion list Introduction (Forms submission)
>p.s. Aehnliche Fragen moechte ich auch an Mitbenuetzerinnen aus der
>Bundesrepublik Deutschland stellen? Wie sieht es hier aus?
In Hamburg ist der Senat gerade online gegangen (http://www.hamburg.de).
Allerdings habe ich mir daB Angebot noch nicht angesehen.
Viele Gruesse
Dr. Oliver S. Giessler
(Hamburg - Germany)
=========================================================================
Consultant for European and German telecommunications and media law
Email: 100135.267@compuserve.com Fax: +49 40 511 39 13
giessler@aol.com
To get my PGP-key please send an email with "send pgp-key" in the subject
__________________________
To: 9NOV89-L@VM.GMD.DE, PARTALK-L@cornell.edu, ppp-list@ai.mit.edu, el-democracy@www.ispo.cec.be, ispo@www.ispo.cec.be
From: mjm@berlin.snafu.de (michael macpherson)
Subject: community information networks
englisch/deutsch (please see EXTRA QUESTION below)
Colleagues, Friends,
A list member wrote to me that the Senate of the Hansa city Hamburg recently went on-line <http://www.hamburg.de>. I replied:
Thank you, yesterday i visited the Hamburg government and parliament on-line. Via DINO (internet register of German language links) i could also find that the German government and a number of federal states present themselves in the Internet. My rapid assessment suggests that the criteria mentioned (5.7.1996, copied below) in my recent post were barely or not fulfilled.
An on-line project of the north German city of Kiel, which i visited a few months ago, stated the aim to promote citizen participation in local affairs but was still a "building site".
The California Voters Foundation project, which may be reached via "Democracy in Action" LINKS - see WWW address below) looks interesting to me. One could describe this project as "political education and advice with citizen participation". It is said to be independent of political parties and government. IMO, on-line projects of governments, official bodies, NGOs and private projects, if done properly, can all help to enrich our democracies.
Sincerely,
Michael Macpherson
_____________________________________
EXTRA QUESTION
The post which prompted my remarks came from Debbie Ellen (to ISPO, 5.7.96) and referred to on-line community information networks. Does anyone have an overview, or clue, about how such networks - especially in Europe - are developing?
_____________________________________
Ein Teilnehmer schrieb mir, dass der Hamburger Senat <http://www.hamburg.de> sich vor kurzem on-line vorgestellt hat. Ich antwortete:
Danke, gestern besuchte ich die Hamburger Regierung und das Parlament "on-line".
Ueber DINO fand ich aehnliche Selbstdarstellungen von Bundesregierung und mehreren Laender.
Auf dem ersten Blick werden leider die Kriterien, die ich in meinem Brief an ISPO (5.7.96) als wuenschenswert erwaehnte, kaum oder gar nicht erfuellt.
Ein on-line Projekt der Stadt Kiel, als ich vor ein paar Monate besuchte, sah vom Ansatz her was Burgerbeteiligung betrifft etwas besser aus, war aber nur im Aufbau.
The California Voters Foundation Projekt sieht m.E. interessant aus. (Ueber "Democracy in Action LINKS im WWW erreichbar - s. unten.) Man koennte dies als "politische Bildung und Beratung mit Buergerbeteiligung" bezeichnen. Es ist angeblich von Parteien und Regierungen unabhaengig. Ich denke, das Regierungs- und Behoerden- sowohl auch "NGO" und Privatprojekte koennten unsere Demokratien bereichern.
Mit freundlichen Gruessen,
Michael Macpherson.
criteria mentioned 5.7.1996:
"... I would like to learn more about how community networks in Britain are developing. Especially, are they being used in ways which can help citizens take better- informed decisions in local or other public affairs? Are the work of local councils (or parliaments), governments and public bodies, and the problems to be solved, presented so that ultimately (hopefully sooner rather than later), having considered the issues carefully people can make their voices heard in a timely and effective way?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To: "Mark D. Robbins" <mdrobbin@mailbox.syr.edu>
From: mjm@berlin.snafu.de (michael macpherson)
Subject: citizen participation projects
Cc: 9NOV89-L@VM.GMD.DE, PSRT-L@MIZZOU1.MISSOURI.EDU, pol-psych@umbsky.cc.umb.edu, PARTALK-L@cornell.edu, ppp-list@ai.mit.edu, el-democracy@www.ispo.cec.be, ispo@www.ispo.cec.be
Antworten auf Deutsch sind natuerlich auch wilkommen!
from: Michael Macpherson 8th July 1996
to: Mark D. Robbins
Hello Mark,
I hope you are well.
An age ago in cybertime (Sat, 16 Sep 1995) you wrote to the PSRT list
>I am looking for information on citizen participation projects in state and
>local government. Typically these have involved preference surveys,
>deliberative assemblies, focus groups, and other techniques to assess >the public will towards policy and budget options.
>If you know of such projects I would appreciate hearing from you about them.
May i ask if this project has progressed? Do you have something which i can read? If not, can you please point me to literature which e.g. (a) presents and analyses the available forms of participation (b) annotates/criticises experiments, projects or innovations in democratic systems.
Sincerely,
Michael.
Date: Mon, 08 Jul 1996 12:40:10 -0400
To: mjm@berlin.snafu.de
From: "Mark D. Robbins" <mdrobbin@mailbox.syr.edu>
Subject: Citizen participation
Michael;
I do have something you can read, in the form of a paper I gave at the Urban Affairs Association conference this year in New York.
In short the quality of the kinds of projects which I reviewed were quite
uneven and, in my opinion, few have the structural requirements to achieve any sort of concensus or to build trust in ways which matter to local governments.
I am sending you the paper as an attachment to this message (MS Word
format). I would welcome your comments. If you are not able to receive attachments I will make arrangements to make the paper available via anonymous ftp, or would be happy to send you a hard copy -just forward me your address.
Thanks for your interest!
Mark
Attachment converted: F1000plus:UAA96.DOC (BINA/MSWD) (00000ADD)
__________________________________
Mark D. Robbins
Research Associate
Center for Policy Research
426 Eggers Hall
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY 13244-1090
ph.(315)443-9056
fax(315)443-1081
mdrobbin@syr.edu
http://www-cpr.maxwell.syr.edu/
__________________________________
Date: Mon, 8 Jul 1996 20:37:52 +0200 (METDST)
Mime-Version: 1.0
To: mjm@berlin.snafu.de (michael macpherson)
From: com@comune.bologna.it (Leda Guidi)
Subject: Re: citizen participation projects
(....)
>An age ago in cybertime (Sat, 16 Sep 1995) you wrote to the PSRT list
>>I am looking for information on citizen participation projects in state >>and local government. Typically these have involved preference >>surveys, deliberative assemblies, focus groups, and other techniques to >>assess the public will towards policy and budget options.
>>If you know of such projects I would appreciate hearing from you about them.
hi, my name is leda guidi and i am the project manager of the
iperbole/internet project (now a real service) carried on by the bologna
city council. you can find here attached a data set about our experience in the field of partecipation and communication with the citizens.
yours sincerely
Leda Guidi <com@comune.bologna.it>
Iperbole/Internet Service
Communication Service and Relationships with Citizens
Municipality of Bologna
tel. 0039 51 203210 260972
fax 223142
___________________________
From: Dave Miller <D.Miller@sheffield.ac.uk>
To: mjm@berlin.snafu.de (michael macpherson)
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 1996 08:24:28 +0100
Subject: Re: community information networks
Priority: normal
Hi Michael,
________
We recently organised a two day conference on Community Information
Networks.....I have been developing a WWW site on UK Community
Information Networks at:
http://panizzi.shef.ac.uk/community
this may be of some use to you...
regards
dave miller
_________________________
From: "HAGEN.MARTIN" <hagen@sozwi.sozialwiss.uni-hamburg.de>
Organization: Univ. Hamburg, Dep. of Social Sc.
To: ppp-list@ai.mit.edu
Date: Tue, 9 Jul 1996 14:04:14 GMT+1
Subject: Re: community information networks
Priority: normal
Michael McPherson wrote about the disappointing experience in Hamburg.
Being a member of the Hamburg Green party, who is currently working
on a concept for a better citizen information system (called "Freie
und Digitale Stadt Hamburg (FREDIH)"), I completely agree.
One needs to be careful not to fall into the trap of government-
sponsored PR-campaigns for local entities. Most of the time, they are
a far cry from real citizen particapation.
Does anyone have an
> overview, or clue, about how such networks - especially in Europe - are
> developing?
>
As far as I know, in Germany Herbert Kubicek of the University of
Bremen is the leading scholar on German community nets. He has
developed a citizen information system for his hometown, Bremen.
He can be reached via
http://infothek.informatik.uni-bremen.de
(That's the URL of the information system.)
One of the best projects in Germany is the "publikom" in Muenster, for
documentation about it and how it came into existence see:
http://www.muenster.de
An important distinction to make is between citizen information
systems and "virtual cities". The first serve mostly information
purposes, while the latter center around the idea of constructing a
virtual city in cyberspace, where people can have "homes" (e.g. web-
sites and accounts), and can meet in neighborhoods.
These virtual cities frequently go by the name of "international
cities", the most famous of which is the "Digitale Stad Amsterdam".
In Germany, there's one in Berlin, in Bremen, and Cologne.
I think the web-addresses for the Berlin one is
http://www.is.in-berlin.de
The Bremen one is:
http://www.is-bremen.de
(I'm not quite sure).
Then there's a book project written by mostly English scholars,
which should be published this fall. Contact Damien Tambini,
tambini@datacomm.iue.it
That's what I know.
Martin Hagen.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Martin Hagen Institut fuer Politische Wissenschaft
Zeiseweg 4 Universitaet Hamburg
D-22765 Hamburg
Ph: +49-40-3805037 E-Mail: hagen@sozialwiss.uni-hamburg.de
-------------------------------------------------------------------
But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It speaks, yet it says nothing.
(From Romeo&Juliet, quoted by Marshall McLuhan understanding media)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
To: michael macpherson <mjm@berlin.snafu.de>
From: Robert "W." Phillips <ge45@dial.pipex.com>
Subject: Re: citizen participation projects
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 96 18:06:37 GMT
Contact Lewisham Council in London - they have a good project called DALI - the site is
http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Robert Phillips
Finance Director
Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI)
115 Old Street Tel: + 44 (0) 171 251 8708 X223
London EC1Y 9JR Fax: + 44 (0) 171 251 8707
UK Email: jcwi@mcr1.poptel.org.uk
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From: hansv@hsm.unv.ernet.in
To: mjm@berlin.snafu.de (michael macpherson)
Date: Fri, 12 Jul 1996 12:20:04
Subject: Re: community information networks
1. Try talking to the people of XS4all in Amsterdam. They set up a
system called The Digital City (the Dutch acronym is DDS) with
support of local and national government, NGOs etc. It was/is
extremely successful and I'm sure they're willing to share
experiences. Off the top of my head the address is dds@xs4all.nl but
try others like system or postmaster if you don't succeed at once.
If you fail, ask me to find it for you. I'm not home right now, but
have it archived there.
2. Can we abolish the practice of people including other peoples
messages in the reply?! It is a waste of disk space and I hate having
to plough through stuff I already read. Instead just leave the first
line or a keyword of the section you're referring to. Thanks.
HANS Verolme
> Hind Swaraj Mandal, PO Box 39 RAJKOT 360 001 NEW tel/fax +91-281-484 125
> Hans Verolme, Plot 68B Ruda II, RAJKOT 360 005, Gujarat, India
> MIND OUR NEW HOME tel: +91-281-77824
_________________________
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