Update: I’ve started a Connections blog about EC1 linked to articles in the EC1 Echo. Topics include plans for a Business Improvement District in the City Culture Mile, and proposals for a community forum.

After a few years focussed on networks and network mapping, through the Networked City initiative, I’m now complementing that with a deeper exploration of how we can use geographic maps and other digital tools to engage with our neighbourhoods.

I live just south of Smithfield, so I’m concentrating on Clerkenwell to the north and on Farringdon. There’s lots happening in the Clerkenwell community – well documented by our community newspaper the EC1 Echo.

The City of London has established Culture Mile – running east and west through Smithfield – as its cultural zone, and there’s plans to move the meat market to Dagenham Dock. That won’t happen for a few years, but in the derelict western end of the market the Museum of London has started work on a major project to move from its current site on the edge of the Barbican.

All that prompted me to think about how to map past, present and future of the area. You can see work so far at Exploring EC1. I’ll report developments here, and on a blog linked to that.

I’m currently writing for a new Networked City blog which complements our NWC wiki and NWC forum

Networked City is a loose framework within which people, projects and organisations can learn how to use mapping, network building, data and technology for community and social benefit. We are developing a network and communities of practice.

Recent posts at Networked City

Smarter London Together starts on the road to people-first design. Can it also lead to strong civil society?
The Mayor of London, and chief digital officer Theo Blackwell, launched the Smarter London Together roadmap after a listening exercise, with more emphasis on the “people first, technology second” philosophy urged earlier by organisations including Doteveryone. Could this extend to support for civil society organisations?

Hub for London appoints CEO
The Hub for London, set up by Greater London Volunteering and London Funders to create new support systems for civil society, has appointed Margaret Cooney as its first chief executive.
Margaret is currently Director of Development at vinspired the volunteering charity for 14-25 year olds, and has previously worked for Spacehive and the Big Lottery Fund.

New Hub for London role to develop civil society networks and civic tech
The Hub for London responsible for developing new systems to support charities, social action groups and community organisations has advertised a post to support and develop networks, and apply digital tech for communication and collaboration. I think it is fair to say that the responsibilities outlined in the recruitment pack reflect many of the ideas developed during the Networked City exploration, in discussion with the Hub Advisory group. That opens up opportunities for collaboration with a range of people and organisations involved in recent events and discussions about mapping and network building.

More posts on the blog

Over the past year I’ve worked with Drew Mackie, Matt Scott and a host of other people on an exploration into how we can use network thinking, digital tech and self-organising to support London civil society.

Our aim is to help introduce innovative ideas and practice into The Way Ahead official plans for the new Hub for London, following closure of the umbrella body for some 120,000 groups, networks and charities.

We have set up the Connecting Londoners group, and collaborated with Our Way Ahead, a network of London networks and community groups promoting community-based approaches to support systems.

• Summary of our first year
• Blog posts at Connecting Londoners

Our biggest event recently was a simulation game workshop at London Metropolitan University where we heard about current plans for support systems focussed on the Hub; adopted roles from concerned citizen to network leader and council officer; reviewed challenges and ideas from a consultant’s report; developed further ideas, and then chose methods and actions to carry them out.

The main idea to emerge from the workshop was developing a Community of Practice for people who want to take forward our ideas. We’ve combined that idea with others from The Way Ahead, and we are now discussing where next with the advisory group for the Hub, of which I’m a member.

• Report on the Hub game
• Why we need a Community of Practice for networking London civil society
• Detailed proposals for a Community of Practice
• Extending the Hub to build networked civil society

I’ll continue blogging about Networked City at Connecting Londoners.

As I reported earlier in the this update, I’ve been working with community groups and networks to develop ideas for a more networked approach to support for London’s civil society.

Last week I was able to pitch some of those ideas, developed with Drew Mackie,  to Deputy Mayor Matthew Ryder QC. There’s a full report here on the Connecting Londoners blog, together with background on the Reclaim Our Spaces campaign who organised the event.

We produced a poster summarising why we believe network connections are needed at different levels.

This week I and others will be pitching at an RSA Ideas event. There we’ll explain further how we’ve been working with the Our Way Ahead initiative to map London networks.

Our idea is that we should run a participatory process to co-design the way in which different levels of networks can join up with the proposed London hub. Background here and more in a further post.

Originally posted on Connecting Londoners

I’m going to the London Community Media Summit later today, hoping to have some useful conversations about the role of local blogs, news sites, online communities and radio in Connecting Londoners and making London a more Networked City. It provides a good nudge for me to write some headlines summarising where we at, with reference links and notes.

In summary: Connecting Londoners developed from an exploration into how to make London a more Networked City. We are pitching ideas at London Funders, City Hall and others about how to introduce more network thinking and digital technology into current plans to reframe support for London civil society.

Our most recent piece: How to move TheWayAhead into the networked age by Connecting Londoners

Reporting on London civil society

• The Way Ahead initiative to reframe support for London civil society, led by London Funders and their partners, released working group reports, held a conference, and faced criticism about lack of communication and little community involvement.
• Community groups and networks decided to develop their own approach – Our Way Ahead – and run their own event on July 12 2017.
• London City Hall issued terms of reference for £15,000 of consultancy to support development of their own civil society strategy

Networked City and Connecting Londoners

• We demonstrated ideas for Connecting Londoners to the Deputy Mayor, following an earlier event with network learning specialist Harold Jarche, and launch of the Networked City exploration.
• Reported on ideas for a London Resource Hub and adopted the idea of Connecting Londoners.
• Developed ideas on how we could collaborate with RSA on their Networked Cities project.
• Suggested how The Way Ahead ideas for a resource hub could become more networky
• Listed some project ideas to move The Way Ahead into the networked age, and support the City Hall civil society strategy.

Recent blog posts

• How to move TheWayAhead into the networked age by Connecting Londoners
• City Hall is commissioning work to develop a London civil society strategy for TheWayAhead. Spread the word.
• How TheWayAhead for @LondonFunders is becoming OurWayAhead for Londoners
• Voices from the Tower may change tone of TheWayAhead for civil society, as well as much else
• Another hope for TheWayAhead at today’s event – a communication programme to inform and engage Londoners
• Here’s hoping TheWayAhead plans for a London resource hub become more networky
• Working groups publish reports on TheWayAhead for London’s Civil Society
• Exploring how we can contribute to @thersaorg Networked City – adding the citizen and community dimension RSACities

Main sites and briefing notes

• The Way Ahead official site
• Networked City wiki
• Connecting Londoners blog
• Networked City background
• ConnectingLondoners projects
• The Way Ahead background
• The Way Ahead reference

I’m sure the summit will offer a refreshing take on media, both community and mainstream. It’s now nearly 40 years since I was a planning reporter on the London Evening Standard, and 20 since I helped start UK Communities Online. I’ll be looking for new ideas and inspiration for a few more years.

I’m currently blogging over here about the London Networked City exploration, and also about the RSA’s own Networked Cities initiative.

In addition, I’m  helping start a Fellows’ Forum for the RSA, and have put together some history of past RSA online initiatives on a wiki about OpenRSA.

Update: there’s now a wiki containing background on the Networked City exploration and an archive of posts from the Networked City blog

First published on mediablends.com

We had a terrific meeting at Newspeak House earlier this week, which I trailed as the launch of the London Networked City exploration. I wrote previously:

The exploration we are launching tomorrow, with the London Council for Voluntary Action, aims to complement a much bigger exercise by London funders, LVSC and Greater London Volunteering.

That initiative, called The Way Ahead, was prompted in part by the fact that traditional ways of doing good through charities, voluntary organisations and community groups face funding cuts by public bodies, who now focus on contracting.

In addition the future of organisations like LVSC and GVA is in doubt. Fresh thinking is needed on the way that the whole system operates, from individual citizens working with others to improve neighbourhoods and support each other, to borough-level councils for voluntary service, and London-wide networks of interests and support.

The next steps for Networked City are to plan further events on January 31 and February 22, develop task groups around specific topics, and set up a blog and wiki and other tools.

I’ll post more shortly, including signup details for the January 31 event.

Updates

• Event details now here
• Signup to an email discussion list

Here is the background paper we circulated for the event. It explains the relationship to The Way Ahead initiative in more detail, offers some models for thinking about civil society, and describes how we’ll use the fictional but realistic London borough of Slipham as a testbed for new ideas.

In the last post I pondered #networkedcity or #goodforlondon … and on reflection #networkedcity wins out for now. We do of course think it will be really good…

Thanks to Matt Scott who led the way on Wednesday, and everyone else who contributed so much energy. We’ll be in touch more directly as well.

For other information please drop a comment here, email david@socialreporter.com or DM @davidwilcox

• Paper on Exploring How London can be a more Networked City
• Earlier posts on Networked City and The Way Ahead
• January 31 event signup
• Signup to an email discussion list