[esocialaction] Call for participation - Technology and Social Action@PDC 2006, Trento, Italy

[Walker, Steve]

I hope this is of interest!
 
Please pass on to anyone you think might be interested,
 
Steve
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TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL ACTION
A WORKSHOP AT THE PARTICIPATORY DESIGN CONFERENCE, TRENTO, ITALY
TUESDAY 1ST AUGUST, 2006.
 
Deadline: Monday 12th June 2006.
 
INTRODUCTION
This workshop will bring together campaigners, practitioners and
academics to examine the use of technology to promote emancipatory
social change.

The internet has opened up a range of opportunities for  progressive
social movements and organisations. Groups promoting: (for example)
women's rights, human rights, disability rights, community development,
third world development, industrial democracy and global justice are all
developing ways of using technology to further social ends, as have
others with less desirable ends such as hate groups and a variety of
cults

The needs of such social action groups differ from industrial
applications of ICT because they:
*       rely heavily on the work of volunteers who are not
professionally trained in their area of work;
*       may involve groups of individuals who are distributed with
limited chances for face-to-face communication;
*       exhibit complex interwoven value systems beyond commercial
profit and 'efficiency';
*       typically suffer from extreme shortages of resources;
*       often aim to reach individuals with limited access to ICT (e.g.
in developing countries, in disadvantaged areas of the developed world,
or people with disabilities or suffering other forms of social
exclusion).

This workshop aims to bring together researchers and practitioners
involved in the design and use of electronic tools to support social
action.


1.      THE AIMS OF THE WORKSHOP

The workshop will present and discuss the work of the UK research
network 'Technology & Social Action'  in an international setting,
aiming to test findings against the experiences from elsewhere. We aim
to build links between the resulting network of researchers and practitioners
and others doing similar work elsewhere in the world.

The workshop posits a number of questions.
*       How might practitioners maximise the impact of electronic tools
on their campaigning goals?
*       How can we design systems to enable and encourage fair access
and participatory democracy in a world of computer mediated
communication and digital divides?
*       What kinds of design and development tools  and techniques can
be made available for (generally inexperienced) volunteers to make best
use of available technologies?
*       How can we study interactions between participants in social
action and systems designed to support them?
*       How does engagement with electronic campaigns relate to 'real
world' activism?
*       What are the challenges in countering undesirable developments,
e.g. campaigns by sectarian groups?
*       What are the potentials and problems of using Free / Libre
Open-Source Sofware in this area?
*       How can campaigns integrate electronic and physical information
systems to maintain and extend involvement, and increase the effectiveness
of campaigns?
*       How can social movements organise across boundaries of language,
organisations and culture?
*       How does the globalisation and computerisation of campaigning
impact on the developing world?


2.      WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

The workshop is aimed at practitioners, designers, campaign organisers,
activists and researchers who are:
*       involved in designing for, or supporting NGOs, trade-unions,
community, campaigning or voluntary groups;
*       concerned with the relationship between 'the network society',
democracy and emancipation;
*       interested in understanding the impact of electronically
mediated communication on the development of civil society.
 
3.      WORKSHOP STRUCTURE
Participants in the workshop will be asked to make a short presentation
of their positions. This will be followed by collaborative working to
explore and collate issues raised by the participants.
The expected output will be a series of challenges and questions that
will be put to the wider PD audience at the conference in the form of a
poster to stimulate discussion during and after the conference.



4.      HOW TO PARTICIPATE
If you would like to participate, please write a 1 page introduction
explaining your experience of the domain, and the main issues you would
like to discuss. Send this to the workshop organisers
(s.walker at leedsmet.ac.uk) by Monday 12th June 2006.
For details of the conference, please visit www.pdc2006.org


Important Dates:
Statement Due 12th June 2006.
Early bird registration for conference - Thursday 15th June 2006.
Workshop date: 1st August 2006
PDC 2006 1st - 5th August 2006

Andy Dearden
Communication & Computing Research Centre
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield UK, S1 1WB
 Tel: +44 114 225 2916
Fax: +44 114 225 3161
email: a.m.dearden at shu.ac.uk

Steve Walker
School of Information Management
Leeds Metropolitan University
Beckett Park, Leeds, LS6 3QS
Tel: +44 113 283 7448
Fax: +44 113 283 7599
email: s.walker at leedsmet.ac.uk




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