[ciresearchers] RE: [Telecentres] requesting immediate feedback: telecentres/educationstatement

[Andy Carvin]

 Hi Doug,

Thanks for the excellent suggestions. Perhaps we can integrate these ideas
into our comments on the political chapeau, which I've just forwarded to
the list. Since we don't have to piggyback our comments on the backs of the
education taskforce, we can frame the comments from the telecentres
perspective more directly, emphasizing ideas like ICTs as a catalyst for
positive social change at the local level, the role of volunteers, and
other ideas that have been shared by the group since last night.

thanks,
ac
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Andy Carvin
Program Director
EDC Center for Media & Community
acarvin @ edc . org
http://www.digitaldividenetwork.org
http://www.edwebproject.org/andy/blog/
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      To:   ACarvin at edc.org, ciresearchers at vancouvercommunity.net,
communityinformatics at vancouvercommunity.net, telecentres at wsis-cs.org
      cc:
      bcc:
      Subject:    [ciresearchers] RE: [Telecentres] requesting immediate
feedback: telecentres/educationstatement
douglas at scn.org (Doug Schuler)

02/22/2005 09:49 AM PST
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Thanks for the opportunity to comment on this.

I wanted to second everything that has been said so far but to suggest
that we can go farther.  My feeling is that local empowerment is
extremely critical (and part of this involves access to ICT).
Additionally, however, local communities must get involved in larger
struggles, ones that go beyond their local region.  This perspective
acknowledges that governments (and businesses) are unlikely (and
unable) to make the changes that will be necessary to develop a safer,
sustainable, healthier and more just world and that civil society (of
which local communities are one part) must be a strong leader in this
process.

I don't know how to integrate these sentiments into input for WSIS but
I do hope that regardless of what happens with this process we don't
forget that we're not promoting ICT so that local communities can JOIN
the existing world; it's so local communities can CHANGE the existing
world and make it better.  I think this perspective is vital if we're
going to be part of the solution(s).

Thanks!

--  Doug