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Date sent: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 19:12:38 +1100
Subject: Re: [greenleap] The new heroes - and encouraging more?
From: Claire Morgan <claire@futerra.co.uk>
To: Philip Sutton <Philip.Sutton@green-innovations.asn.au>
Dear Philip
I think this is a very interesting idea. As a sustainability comms person,
one thing that is very clear to me is that we need more heroes. Individuals
who stand up for what they believe in = good stories = news spreading =
attitudes changing = behaviours shifting = sustainable devt!
I think some sort of online 'pioneers of change' (to steal another
organisation's name for a moment!) awards could work well, especially if it
was interactive allowing people to nominate, comment and vote. I imagine it
working well on a week by week basis and being quite focused on current
affairs rather than an annual thing....though you could have a sort of index
and show who got most votes for the whole year I suppose....Of course there
could be the danger that it would get hijacked by special interest groups
but I think a well designed site could mitigate most risks. In fact I think
a really innovative web-design approach could be the lynchpin.
Maybe the folks who run getup (getup.org.au) would like to take on this
idea? It might be best to try and pitch it to an existing organisation
rather than start from scratch.
Do keep me in the loop please
All the best,
Claire Morgan
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------- Forwarded message follows -------
To: <Civic-Courage@yahoogroups.com>
From: Claire Morgan <claire@futerra.co.uk>
Date sent: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 18:10:02 +1100
Subject: [Civic-Courage] An introduction and a few ideas
Send reply to: Civic-Courage@yahoogroups.com
So I was interested to read Philip’s idea for a civic courage award scheme because of its potential to provide positive stories of individuals making a difference.
Here is what I wrote back to him in my initial response about an online interactive award:
‘I think this is a very interesting idea. One thing that is very clear to me is that we need more heroes. Individuals who stand up for what they believe in = good stories = news spreading = attitudes changing = behaviours shifting = sustainable devt!
I think some sort of online 'pioneers of change' (to steal another organisation's name for a moment!) awards could work well, especially if it was interactive.. allowing people to nominate, comment and vote. I imagine it working well on a week by week basis and being quite focused on current affairs rather than an annual thing....though you could have a sort of index and show who got most votes for the whole year.
Of course there could be the danger that it would get hijacked by special interest groups but I think a well designed site could mitigate most risks. In fact I think a really innovative web-design approach could be the lynchpin. Maybe the folks who run getup (getup.org.au) would like to take on this idea? It might be best to try and pitch it to an existing organisation rather than start from scratch.’
My thinking is based on the assumption that the real value in an exercise like this is getting people to think and interact. I do believe in the wisdom of crowds (as in James Surowiecki’s book) and the internet is a great way of getting a conversation going.
In response to the debate so far on this e-group, I would add that;
I think the initiative should remain politically unaffiliated but not shy away from assessing the words and actions of politicians.
I don’t think the Turtle award in its current form would be the best thing to build on. My main reasons are that (i) the Turtle award is all about leadership whereas I don’t see this project as being about judging leadership . Obviously those who show courage are often leaders, or unacknowledged leaders, but I think the focus of our thing should be the extent to which they’re showing commitment + acting on their values in the face of adversity not who is the biggest leader. (ii) I’m afraid that the turtle, beautiful creature though it is, does not conjure up totally positive images in my mind (slow, cautious). Just with a marketing hat on I think it could be twisted by the press!
If people were to be supportive of the online award, I think the next step would be to outline the way the website should work and decide what its basic focus should be. Then I guess it would be good to identify either a web-based organisation interested in collaborating, or to look for IT / web content management people to work with on this. To work it would need to look great, have a catchy premise, well written content, be promoted through the networks for a while and above all be easy to use and navigate.
All the best,
Claire Morgan
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