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Quick introduction
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Mar 14th, 2003 - 14:51:50 |
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Hi all,
I just wanted to do a quick self-introduction...
My name is Terri Willard and I am the coordinator of the Youth Creating
Digital Opportunities (YCDO) coalition (http://ycdo.net). I'm based out
of the International Institute for Sustainable Development in Winnipeg.
By and large, I will be lurking in the background throughout the
e-consultation largely due to the fact that I seem to have hit the magic
30 mark a few years ago and no longer qualify as youth. However, I will
chip in every now and then as questions or concerns arise.
Originally from the US, I moved to Canada in 1996 (when I was 25) to
work with IISD on a project assisting developing country NGOs to put
their sustainable development perspectives online. At the time, most SD
content reflected North American and European perspectives, and even
those were pretty shallow. We were trying to figure out how to improve
the quantity, quality, and visibility of solutions being developed
around the world. Within a few years this led to the launch of the SD
Gateway (http://sdgateway.net/) and the creation of the Sustainable
Development Communications Network (http://www.sdcn.org/).
As I met more Web managers from SD organizations, I kept finding that
95% of us were under 30... And that everyone was facing the challenge of
educating their organization on how ICTs were changing HOW non-profits
operate in a globalized world. Too many ended up feeling overwhelmed,
underappreciated, lost in organizational politics, and dropped out.
Which meant that the organization would bring in another young person
who went through the same cycle without ever really making much headway
in getting new content and ideas online for sharing. So, together with
colleagues from other countries, we created the SD Webworks community
(http://sdgateway.net/webworks/) to keep from burning out, going insane,
and dropping out of the SD communications field.
With every year that has gone by, I find that I have become more and
more committed to the idea that young people are THE group best able to
harness the tools of the information society to the goals of sustainable
development. Things aren't going to change unless we figure out how to
construct and share a different meaning to/for/of life on a global scale
and learn to work together towards it. And every study out there is
showing that it's the 16-30 year olds with the value orientation,
substantive knowledge of SD, and mastery of ICTs to orient our economies
and societies in a new direction.
But, it's going to take a multi-track strategy to have an impact on
business as usual... Where do we start? By being active in grassroots
projects helping others to engage in the information society (or
societies) on their own terms. By getting involved at a policy level to
ensure that copyright laws and public-private investments in the
information society are oriented towards those who have been
marginalized in the past. By sharing our experiences and making sure
that our friends/colleagues/peers don't have to reinvent the wheel or
duplicate our mistakes over and over again.
That's the motivation behind YCDO... And these e-consultations.
I'm looking forward to hearing more about other's experiences,
observations, and passions and seeing where it takes us.
Cheers,
Terri Willard
Project Manager
Knowledge Communications
International Institute for Sustainable Development
http://www.iisd.org/
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