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Question for 11/19

Common Fire gives ideas about how we can nourish the human potential for generosity and concern for the common good in a time when most people just look out for themselves and their own kind and life grows more fragmented and isolating. I would like you to read the book with an eye for questions that you would like to ask from people with "Common Fire" - the three panelists we have coming in next week.

This week's blog question is:

Who stands out as a “threshold person” or “hospitable space” (pp. 52-53) in your time at Tech or hometown life before you got here ? Making specific reference to Common Fire's definition of these terms, describe how these people and spaces affected you.

p.s. Don't forget to post your strategic element to the blog for your compiler!

Blog Question for 11/12 Class

1. Describe a social problem that can be addressed through a community based organizing effort

2. Identify an issue related to that problem (p. 351, Homan Ch. 12 book pagination, not reader pagination) (make  sure that your issue is not the same as your problem). Answer these questions:

-What  type of issue is it? (use Homan's terms, from discussion that begins on p. 352)

-In  what way is it a good issue to address the problem you described (use Homan's criteria)?

-How will the issue lead to action (see possible ways on p. 356)

-Define how individuals operating within at least three levels of participation (Homan Ch.9, p. 235 original pagination, also "talents and assets" p.239) could help you address your issue.

Blog Question for CoHousing Week 11/5

Here is the assignment and question for the next class on co-housing

1. Go to the US Cohousing Association Website: Cohousing Web Site (click here) .

2. Click on the red button labeled: "What is Cohousing" and read all of the material there.

(This will orient you to the basic characteristics of cohousing neighborhoods - and the participatory development process)

3. Click on this link: "Getting Started: The First Eight Steps." (You could navigate to it through "Magazine" tab, but its a couple levels down).

This will give you an idea of how future residents organize themselves into a cohousing group - and how they develop the process of planning and developing their own neighborhood.

4. From the left side menu choose "Directory". This should yield a listing of all of all existing cohousing communities and forming groups in the U.S. (and some from other countries as well). You should link to the website of one of the communities on the list - either completed or building - and take a "tour" of that project via their website. You will then be familiar enough with the story and particulars of your selected community to answer the question below and share some details and reflections on the characteristics of that community with others in class.

Your blog question for next week is:

Advocates claims that co-housing neighborhoods are representations of genuine 'self-management' and 'self-planning' by citizens. Drawing from the specific example you examined above, discuss What seem to be both the future potential for self-managed communities, and the likely limitations? What potentials are activated by this type of neighborhood arrangement - and what do you see as potential dangers and/or limitations?

Question For 10/29 Charette Class

This week's assignment is in two parts.

PART 1

In the first of this week's readings (the one that says "visioning" on the first page), the author lays out a variety of characteristics of charettes. Much of the remainder of the reading, as well as the next reading (chapter 5), are examples of charettes in a variety of communities.

I'd like you to get familiar with the charette idea, since we are going to spend all of next class doing a charette, with you representing specific community roles. What I'd like you to do is choose one of the examples of charettes in either reading (such as the Richmond neighborhood charette), identify what "category" of charette it falls into (p.51), identify what "strategies" were used in that example (p.50), and note the specific essential "ingredients" (p.50) that were added into the charette. Please do not choose an example that has already been chosen by another member of your blog group - check before you get started. If they are all used, you can do a duplicate (there shouldn't be any triplicates).

PART 2

I'd like you to prepare to play your role in the design charette (which sent you yesterday via email - if you lost it or did not get it, please email me and note which blog group you are in). Please research your role on-line. In the blog, provide links to at least 2 websites where you have gathered information about your role (on the handouts I gave you, there are some suggestions in italics). Provide a short summary of what your charactor wants to achieve by participating in the charette. Posting it on the blog is fine - you don't have to hand it in during class - although I recommend you print it out and bring it to class, to remind yourself of your motivation and perspective.

Be sure to be on time next class - we're going to jump right into the charette.

Discussion Question for 10/22

"Wicked problem" is a term that I find useful in defining the toughest problems in planning and policymaking. I have appended below a definition of this term. In the Kettering reading (Making Choices), the way that the authors describe terrorism and taxation fit the definition of wicked problems – in brief, they have no single universal definition and engage with competing values.

From a policy advocates perspective, one way to deal with wicked problems is the technique of value-laddering, which you are familiar with. Its a kind of "black art" in which the trick is to foreclose other problem definitions by arguing that your problem definition appeals to fundamental and universal values, while suppressing your opponents attempts to define the issue differently by reference to other fundamental values. While this ideological warfare gets the job done, politically, the authors of the Kettering reading suggest that it might harm our democracy, and they trace an alternative approach within American history, a deliberative tradition for addressing wicked problems.

For your blog question this week, I would like you to define a "wicked problem" that you are familiar with (and, ideally, have been involved in). Then, drawing from the Kettering reading, cite at least three possible advantages of addressing the problem through a deliberative forum. Conclude by addressing whether, on the whole, you think that the problem could best be solved through a deliberative forum, or whether another approach would be preferable.

Wicked problems were defined in a classic planning paper:

Rittel, H.,and M. Webber; “Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning” pp 155-169, Policy Sciences, Vol. 4, Elsevier Scientific Publishing Company, Inc., Amsterdam, 1973.

In this paper, problems have the following characteristics

1. There is no definitive formulation of a wicked problem. Formulating the problem and the solution are essentially the same thing.
2. Since you cannot definitively define the problem, it is difficult to tell when it is resolved.
3. Solutions to wicked problems arenot true-or-false but good-or-bad.
4. There is no immediate and no ultimate test of a solution to a wicked problem.
5. Every implemented solution to a wicked problem has consequences of its own.
6. Wicked problems do not have a well-described set of potential solutions.
7. Every wicked problem can be considered a symptom of another problem. A wicked problem is a set of interlocking issues and constraints which change over time, embedded in a dynamic social context.
8. The causes of a wicked problem can be explained in numerous ways: there are many stakeholders who will have various and changing ideas about what might be a wicked problem, what might be causing it, and how to resolve it.
9. The decision-maker has no right to be wrong--e.g., the consequences of failure are very high.

Discussion Question For Next Week On Social Media

Incorporating arguments from this week's readings, reflect on whether blogging, coupled with blog group meetings, during this class has enhanced the democratic capacity of the classroom, fostered deliberation (as opposed to mere expression of pre-existing opinions) and fostered worthwhile relationships among class members.

I must insist that you incorporate ideas from the readings into your response, since this is not going to make for interesting blogging is it becomes a discussion of whether blogging was a time sink or a learning opportunity for you. Rather, it is an opportunity to connect your shared experience with a social technology and consider the specific arguments contained with the readings about social capital, the power of elites (me?), the limitations of anonymity associated with on-line interaction, the effects of collective discussion, and much much more.

Learning Networks Discussion Question

Snyder and Wenger describe a variety of Learning Networks (they also call them "communities of practice"), and the Nature Conservancy provides a history of their attempts to cultivate these voluntary associations across a variety of conservation domains, as well as an account of what features are required to succeed. As our two readings describe them, learning networks can help achieve some vital societal objectives, such as economic development, industrial innovation, civic health, and biodiversity protection. Yet the idea of learning networks, or "communities of practice", can be applied to a broad array of voluntary associations, whether intentionally organized or spontaneous. For instance, a study group, or a listserv, could be considered one. Look over the definition that Snyder and Wenger provide, and describe a community of practice that you have been involved in at some time during your life (I assure you, if you think flexibly enough, you'll be able to think of an instance). Be sure to note its "domain", "community", and "practice", and describe how your involvement in this learning network provided you with the ability to do something you wouldn't have been able to do on your own.

Question for October 1 Class

From the explosion of media interest over the past couple of years, you would think that Climate Change is a new scientific discovery. However, the scientific community has been aware of the issue for decades, and there have been few credible scientists who are skeptical about climate change for some time. Your question has two parts First, drawing only from Creighton's explanation of how the media works, describe how it could be possible that the media might have played a role in delaying public recognition of this threat to civilization (perhaps with a little help from Exxon/Mobil and the Competitive Enterprise Institute…). Second, if you were the leader of an environmental advocacy organization and wanted to publicize the risks posed by climate change, describe what you might do to get the Editor of the Roanoke Times to assign a writer to the topic, as well as write it in a way that suited your group.

Question for 10/17 Class On Participation Techniques

This week's question takes off on some themes that came out during your blog group discussions during last class, considering whether certain publicity approaches in Homan and the CEI readings were manipulative or dishonest.

Two weeks ago, we read in Vaneklausen's essay that "hidden power" was the ability to exercise influence by controlling who gets to the decision-making table and what gets on the agenda. The Hewlett-Packard case for today (Creighton's final reading) provides a good example of this – affordable housing advocates, who are portrayed as pesky interlopers, are effectively marginalized by Creighton's canny public participation strategy (p.s. if you don't agree with my interpretation, please write your opinion in the blog!). Lets have a go at exercising "hidden power" through public participation – take your pick to be either a force for change or an agent for the status quo:

Pick a (somewhat) controversial topic involving a community of your choice, and, drawing a range of specific approaches from this week's reading, design a public meeting that is intended to either minimize the ability of the community to organize and express its will, or to maximize it.

Discussion Question For 9/10 (and reminders)

The weekly assignment is:

1. Pick some specific reasons why you would want to convey some information about this issue to either your supporters, your target/response community, or the general public (see Homan). Be specific.

2. Define, in general terms how would you would get through to this audience (or as Smith calls them, this "market). Here is a place where the principles that address human behavior in the Smith reading would come in handy, particularly the idea of "values laddering".

3. Finally, define a medium and message that would work to convey this information to your chosen audience (see Homan). If you chose an information outlet you can't control, how would you succeed in using it (see Homan)?