However tempting it is just to dive in a set projects up in the social web I you need to consider stopping to think about how you will measure and evaluate success. It’s a big part of using these new tools to have a positive impact rather than just creating empty buzz. I have been …
Europetitions update We had the second meeting of the UK ePetitioning cluster for the Europetition project this week – and who can fail to have enjoyed a meeting with a group of people who are prepared to work the word lustre into an EU project meeting?? The aim with the cluster is to get a …
This is just a segue from the research proposal work of the weekend……. Manuel Castells talks about the fact that institutions will evolve to accomodate new power structures. I think he’s right – very few institutions are foolish enough not to change and one thing that a universal media age has done is to form …
I am attempting to get my research proposal into shape which is proving a challenge as I can’t seem to get the literature review to work at all. Below is an attempt to try and give it an outline that I can then build on: The decline in democratic participation throughout the western world is …
I have been talking for some time about a split between formal and informal participation in democracy. I draw this distinction in order to show the difference which acts which are politically aware but not linked to a formal decision making process (ie informal participation) and formal acts which are in some way connected to …
I have just got back from a trip to Slovakia for our latest CitzenScape project meeting. As ever on these trips the hospitality was amazing and we got a lot done – we also seemed to drink rather a lot but that’s also typical of these trips! Some general observations are below. The first thing …
Jurgen Habermas a pre-eminent social and political theorist whose ideas around the “Public Sphere” have influenced much of the contemporary thinking around the information or network society. Habermas describes the public sphere as a shared public conversation which encapsulates political, social and cultural debate. He argues that this public sphere is essential to the functioning …
Busy weekend with lots of literature review as well as proposal writing for EU funded projects. I have also been reading around ideas of co-creation as well the Network Society this weekend. Both of these are going to be fairly central within my literature review. The network or information society is a way of describing …
Well the good thing about this research proposal writing is that it does get me thinking about other things in a massive work avoidance scheme. That and the fact the day is so beautiful means that progress on the main project is slow!! Anyway, I have been thinking more about the tension that councils face …
I am really writing this to put a marker down for future thinking. I am working on my research proposal for the PHD at the moment and this is a idea which is itching me but I can’t scratch it right now as I need to be focusing down on specifics of citizenscape for the …