Sunday, December 16, 2007

Neighbourhood E-Forums: how would you use them?

I have a question for you, gentle readers. We -- or, rather, an estimable local resident with the support of (among others) her local councillors and under the auspices of the City Council -- have recently set up an e-forum for our ward and the neighbouring area. It's got c. 80 members having been on-line and public for only a day, and a whole range of issues are already being aired. Hoorah, I say, and then I ask: what next?

I've got some ideas about what I think the forum could achieve and how it could really be e-democratic. But I want your views and your advice. What do you think would be a suitable lower percentage of the local population to have involved? How would you judge its success? And with what would you compare it?

I look forward to your comments. And, by the way, if you happen to be associated with Oxford's elevated elder sister of Headington, or live nearby in Marston, Barton, Risinghurst or Wood Farm, do join us at: http://forums.e-democracy.org/groups/oxford-hm/

2 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Unknown said...

Hi! I am interested in your concept of neighbourhood e-fora. Why restrict their use to Lib Dem strongholds? There are some closet Lib Dems outside of Headington and Barton with some good ideas too! Do you want to set up neighbourhood e-fora in every ward in the City? Residents in poorer wards will have lower levels of IT access.

How to judge success? How about running a referendum or two to find out how many people are actually interested enough to register a vote cf numbers of potential voters? How did people get to know about this site?

I am not a resident of Headington, I am from Rose Hill, but am commenting as I am interested in this concept!