Making the Space – Page 2

How About A Civic Health Club?

From Denver we get word of a fun project that has its roots in Chicago’s own Hull House – it’s a civic health club!

“If asked about your physical health, emotional health, spiritual health or psychological health, you’d most likely have an answer at the ready, says Denver actor Evan Weissman. Perhaps you’ve recently discovered yoga; you’ve found God, a guru or a therapist. But what if you were asked about your civic health? “That’s harder for most folks to gauge,” Weissman said. There is no bricks-and-mortar place in Denver for people to regularly exercise their civic muscles. Weissman is out to change that by opening Denver’s first Civic health club. “Warm Cookies of the Revolution,” he says, will be a place for daily human connection offering fun and engaging programming for both personal betterment and social change.”

Storefront for Urban Innovation

Next American City has recently launched the Storefront for Urban Innovation at its offices at 2816 W. Girard Avenue.

The Storefront’s purpose is to bring exciting ideas for improving cities to Philadelphia; engage all Philadelphians in a more robust dialogue about issues such as infrastructure, the built environment, the economy and education; build urban policy literacy among a broader constituency of Philadelphians; and put Philadelphia on the map as a key laboratory for urban policy and practice.

Ultimately, we want this project to empower people to improve their cities. By elevating the quality of policy education and discourse, we envision this project resulting in better elected officials, business leaders, executive directors and others; stronger, more diverse coalitions of citizens and organizations that call for improvements to transportation, education and social services; and innovative new collaborations among the business sector that will help sustain the region’s economy.

Next American City is seeking artists to contribute work to fill our Storefront window, a 12’ x 12’ area that can accommodate two- or three-dimensional exhibits. Each exhibit will occupy our front window for a period of three to six weeks and must relate to relevant urban policy issues.

Join Global Conversation on Physical Space as Catalyst for Civic Engagement

Join an online dialogue on Physical spaces as catalysts for greater digital citizen participation

August 8 to 14, 2012

Join Rising Voices, Social Media Exchange (SMEX) and the New Tactics online community for an online dialogue on Physical spaces as catalysts for greater digital citizen participation from August 8 to 14, 2012. CivicLab co-founder Tom Tresser is one of the discussion leaders.

Across the globe, new physical spaces are emerging that are acting as catalysts for greater citizen participation using digital technologies. Telecenters are going beyond providing computer access to communities, to providing workshops to train citizens on how to use digital technology effectively to promote change. Hacklabs offer a physical space where activists and technologists can come together to find innovative solutions to local problems. These are just a few examples of the innovative use of physical space to encourage and empower greater digital citizen participation!

Although the internet has provided new ways for people to work together virtually, people are finding complementary energy from working face-to-face. Mobilizers and mentors for users of these spaces have a commitment to see their local communities become more active through the use of digital tools.

This dialogue is an opportunity to exchange innovative examples of how these physical spaces are being used as catalysts for greater citizen participation. Join us on August 8!

How can you participate?

This online dialogue is open to anyone interested in sharing their experiences and ideas on this topic! All you need to do is join the New Tactics online community by going to https://www.newtactics.org/user/register and add your comments to the dialogue.

For help, visit these FAQs:
How to register for an account on the New Tactics website: goo.gl/QyI6C
How to participate in an online dialogue: goo.gl/eSNo9

Link to dialogue: goo.gl/1R9Mw

Attend Design Hack For The CivicLab

CALLING ALL ACTIVISTS, HACKTIVISTS AND PRACTITIONERS OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT…

Attend a design hack session on Saturday, June 16, 2012 from 10am – 2pm (pizza lunch will be provided)

to help design the CivicLab. What should it do? What should it look like like? What do YOU need to be more effective in civic engagement and activism? Remember, it wants to be a store front space AND an online place for making useful tools and programs to spur civic engagement and social change. Download a flier. RSVP to tom@tresser.com for address.

Agenda

10am – 10:15am – Schmoozing, get snacks

10:15 – Welcome to space – Nell Taylor, Executive Director, Read/Write Library (http://readwritelibrary.org)

10:20 – Why we are here – Tom Tresser, Chief Tool Builder, CivicLab (www.civiclab.us)

10:25 – Introductions and instructions – Katherine Darnstadt, Founder, Latent Design (www.latentdesign.com)

Break into small groups:
(1) The life-cycle of an activist event/cause – What apps or tools could help along the way? (Moderated by Rebecca Reynolds, organizer & activist)
(2) What should be in a civic lab? Dream up programming that would then inform a foot print and space plan. (Moderated by Katherine)
(3) Civic Education Primer – What skills should we be teaching, offering, learning to accelerate civic engagement? (Moderated by Nell) — (I will have a wiki already up that people can take notes directly into)

12pm – Lunch (pizza, soft drinks) – Continue schmoozing, networking

12:30 All groups re-assemble to go over key points to present

12:45 All re-group to hear reports

1:00ish – What next? Who wants to play? Creation of committees to program and plan an editorial calendar, work products and fundraising projects – Official launch November 1?

Contact Us If You Want To Attend…

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Email

Phone

Comment

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Tour Bucketworks in Milwaukee

Pardon the shaky camera as you tour the amazing Bucketworks in Milwaukee. Then hear from founder, James Carlson. The clip is a bit over 8 minutes.

Make Your Own Schoolhouse

From The New York Times: “ON a recent Monday night, a gaggle of 20-somethings crammed into a former Curves fitness center along the industrial edge of Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn. The storefront gym had been carved into two classrooms. In one, a rugged blond man, Brandon LeNoir, was teaching a class called “Let There Be Light.” A dozen students, huddled at long butcher-block tables littered with wires and scissors, learned how to make a simple lamp. “Don’t worry about neutral and live wires,” said Mr. LeNoir, 34, an interior designer by day. “It doesn’t matter for us.”…It was just another school night at the Brooklyn Brainery, a hipster schoolhouse started by a pair of underemployed polymaths, where students can learn abstruse subjects like the secret lives of bacteria, taught by teachers with few teaching credentials. Tuition is $5 to $30, enrollment takes place online and PayPal is accepted.”

Maker Spaces – Re-doing Education (and Democracy)

Watch this ten minute video and you will get the what and why of The CivcLab. We are part of something very cool, very important and very much needed. The speaker is James Carlson, the founder of Milwaukee based BucketWorks and the director of the School Factory.

Category: Making the Space

How About A Civic Health Club?

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Storefront for Urban Innovation

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Join Global Conversation on Physical Space as Catalyst for Civic Engagement

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Attend Design Hack For The CivicLab

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Tour Bucketworks in Milwaukee

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Make Your Own Schoolhouse

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Maker Spaces – Re-doing Education (and Democracy)

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