The A Spot

We’re fond of saying that advocacy is an everyday practice — it’s about being being able to persuade others that one course of action is superior to another.  This can include everything from where to go for dinner to how best to address global warming.

In Guandong Province, China, it often means the difference between clean or dirty industrial production.  Guangdong, an area about the size of Texas, is home to 100 million people — and more manufacturing jobs than the entire United States.  Often called the “Factory to the World,” this province has maintained double digit economic growth for more than a decade.  As the Government of China now recognizes, however, this growth has engendered a host of new challenges:  skyrocketing energy needs, inefficient production processes, and staggering amounts of pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.  As a consequence, China has proactively set some of the most ambitious energy efficiency and GHG reduction targets of any country in the world.

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So I wish I had those 12 steps laid out so I could plot out my moves based on those steps. While unfortunately I may not have a clear road map just yet, thanks to Lara Birnback at Public Agenda , I do have some great new resources. Lara has pointed me to LogoLink - Learning Initiative on Citizen Participation and Local Governance - (from their site) LogoLink is a global network of practitioners from civil society organisations, research institutions and governments working to deepen democracy through greater citizen participation in local governance. LogoLink encourages learning from field-based innovations and expressions of democracy which contribute to social justice.

There are some great reports, resources, conference proceedings here from all over the world. I am definitely going to spend some more time on this site. One paper that jumped out at me was Triumph, Deficit or Contestation? Deepening the ‘Deepening Democracy’ Debate

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So tomorrow I am heading out to the Nonprofit Technology Network - Nonprofit Technology Conference in New Orleans. This will be my…8th conference since 2000 (I missed Seattle when the kids were born) and I will get a chance to see alot of friends, sit in on interesting sessions, present on a panel with Bill Lester and eat some good food. I will also be on the look out for groups and individuals to connect with on behalf of ISC and our Gulf Coast work. (more…)

Interesting new initiative to make sense of the world’s cities. The project - 19.20.21 attempts to make sense of the world’s largest cities and their impacts on the rest of the world and the people who inhabit them. The project:

“The mission of 19.20.21 is a multi-year, multimedia initiative to collect, organize and package information on population’s effect regarding urban and business planning and its impact on consumers around the world. This 5+ year initiative will deliver results via 5 channels: online, television, print, exhibits and seminars. This project will include 10 worldwide partners and appropriate affiliates.” (more…)