When Online Communities Get Real

Welcome back!

I blog on this site about the power of community to affect change in our natural environments, our families, our businesses, our schools–all those places and things that are part of healthy urban living.  There is, however, another aspect to community–the sort of parallel universe created by the Internet…and blogs like this one.

Whether virtual or real, both types of community have power that is real. Today I felt the power of the “online” community “offline.”

Those of you that have read this blog for a while know that I’ve blogged about the power of “online communities” before (huge props to the mom bloggers out there!).

Today I had the pleasure of getting real with a wide cross section of more than 500 bloggers and podcasters at Podcamp Toronto 2009. For those of you who tend to limit your recreational or business interaction to online forums, I encourage you to mix it up and “get real” every once in a while. I came home charged and full of  inspiration–the kind you can really only get from live, face-to-face conversations with people who share your passion on topics and life interests.

Since I showed up 1-hour early (old habits and all that) I had the opportunity to meet some really interesting and wise social media pros many of whom I hope to connect with on other projects down the road (hi Leona Hobbs). I also met a politician, PR reps, fellow mom bloggers, fashion bloggers, internet marketers, photographers, retired professionals, college students and even some folks who weren’t quire sure what they were doing at Podcamp.  Those in that camp seemed to feel that the time had come to find out what alien life force had hijacked their friends, neighbours and even local reporters, who have of late taken up the habit of peppering their communications with words like twittering, Digg and SEO.

Podcamps aren’t all that new and are held in numerous cities across North America.  This year I finally realized I couldn’t miss it.  You better believe I’ll be back next year.  Here’s the link to Podcamp Toronto to give you an idea of the topics covered.  Next time there’s a Podcamp in your city or region, think about attending.

PBS Series Examines how Green Living Drives Economies

This morning I viewed one of the episodes of PBS’ acclaimed series e2. Narrated by Brad Pitt the program is a must see for those interested in learning more about livable, sustainable cities.  Here’s PBS’ description of the series:

e² is an ongoing PBS series about the economies of being environmentally conscious. Shot in high definition with cinematic lenses, e² chronicles global efforts to solve pressing ecological challenges. From energy consumption to design efficiency, policy to industry, the series documents the innovators whose work is reducing humans’ impact on the environment. Interviews with experts, policymakers and pioneers across a variety of disciplines offer a firsthand account of the complex environmental challenges that we face, as well as the possibility that pragmatic solutions are within reach.

As a treat for you, I’ve downloaded to this post some wonderful pictures from the series, courtesy of PBS.org. Click on each picture to see larger views.

Urban Agriculture

Listen to this podcast from CBC Radio as host Jane Hawtin talks to Rhonda Teitel-Payne a representative with the urban agricultural group Stop Community Food Centre (if the page is updated look for the Thursday, February 5 Metro Morning Podcast – “Local Food Forum”).

This organization focuses on helping urban residents to grow and eat local foods like herbs and vegetables.  It’s currently winter where this group is located (Toronto), but they are still able to grow in their greenhouse, a large assortment of fresh vegetables and herbs, including kale, different kinds of onions, salad greens, and legumes.

According to Rhonda, there is a growing concern that many North Americans are gradually losing food skills – specifically the kinds of skills that come from growing your own food. Urban agricultural initiatives like Stop Community Food Centre give urban residents an opportunity to grow their own food and connect back to a skill that really brings a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction to many people.

Stop Community Food Centre’s mission has developed over 30 years and it is basically to make sure people in urban communities have access to healthy food.

Some key benefits of urban agricultural groups: People are able to come together to share their skills and experience around a mutually beneficial and satisfying initiative.  Participating in a community garden is a wonderful way to build engagement in a neighborhood.

Participants can talk about their childhood experiences with food, or their experiences growing food in another country or their own lack of knowledge of the food growing process.

It’s a win/win situation – buying local food that helps the environment and builds stronger communities.

And…Action! Teens Calling the Shots

One of the things I love about our “new urban” town is the effort that community organizers put into engaging and focusing on the needs of all residents, from toddlers to seniors.

Last year I published a post about the dangers of creating age specific or segregated communities, like those 55+ communities scattered across the nation especially in Florida.  That discussion was part of a review I did of Andrew Blechman’s novel Leisureville (to listen to a discussion I had with Andrew on this topic you can listen to the New Urban Podcast).

While sometimes it can be a pain sharing a theater with giggly teenagers or maneuvering through a group of awkward teens at the mall….our “positive” interaction with them does “them” a world of good.  They learn from us and we learn from them.  That’s a good system for preparing good citizens for the future.

Of course it helps when some thought goes into engaging our teens in meaningful ways and that’s what our town has done.  We actually have a teens’ council and this weekend the teens’ council is sponsoring a 24-hour film challenge.

The challenge works like this: Interested teens including my 16 year old son, were invited to gather at our local art gallery on Friday evening to receive some resources and guidelines before setting off to create a short film in 24-hours.  Cameras had to be provided by the teens themselves (well their parents).

Since last night parents, including ourselves, have been driving groups of teens from one destination point to another (based on their scene plan).

At the 24 hr point (9 p.m. tonight) they have to hand in their finished film on VHS tape or DVD.  The really exciting thing is the winner will be announced at a ceremony the kids will be attending in our town hall tomorrow evening.  So there’ll be no long wait to find out who won (a definite sign that kids put this together).

Here we have a youth driven initiative, supported by parents (as chauffeurs and gofers) and the community as a whole to ignite and inspire our youth to do something creative and constructive.  Our local art gallery, town hall and other facilities were all made available for the teens to use for networking, getting information and for ultimately celebrating this great artistic, community based initiative.

I’ll keep you posted on the winner…