Bristol Competes for Honours in the NOMINET Best Practice Challenge
July 7, 2008 Posted by Stephen Hilton in : e-democracy, Bristol, Bristol City Council, Innovation, News, Awards, Connecting Bristol , 2 commentsYou can wait a lifetime to be nominated for an award… and then two come along at the same time.
The NOMINET Best Practice Challenge is a competition that recognises British organisations, groups or individuals who have embraced the challenge of making the Internet a secure, open, accessible or diverse experience for all.
Connecting Bristol and Bristol City Council’s e-Democracy site, AskBristol are both on the NOMINET shortlist in the Open Internet category.
The competition will be tough with both mySociety’s Petition Downing Street site and the Open University’s Open Learn competing for honours in the same category. But the team will be there on Wednesday evening to hear the results. Wish us luck!
Knowle West Media Centre
April 7, 2008 Posted by Makala Cheung in : Digital Challenge, e-democracy, Bristol, Community Media, Regeneration, South Bristol, Events, Mentoring, News, Learning, Skills, Environment, Connecting Bristol, Guest Bloggers , add a commentI’m Press and Communications worker for the Knowle West Media Centre. We offer cutting edge media services and facilities from our new environmental building, and exciting hands on learning alongside professional practitioners. We are strongly embedded in the local community and run various groups for residents, especially young people.
My role involves doing press and marketing for KWMC, editor for the community newsletter, running parts of the community website http://www.knowlewest.co.uk (including the events pages), community communication both face-to-face with residents, clubs and organisations, facilitating Mouth of the South (more below) and taking part in community events, networks, and city-wide work for example I took part in Connecting Bristol’s bid to the Digital Challenge.
The new Knowle West Media Centre at Leinster Avenue will be holding its official 2 day opening event this week. Young people who work with Knowle West Media Centre will launch the two day programme of celebration on Thursday 10th April when they officially open the £2.6m green new HQ that they helped to plan, design and build. The opening ceremony will mark the successful end of a 5 year project to provide Knowle West with a beacon of creative and climate-friendly media enterprise, where young people can develop the technological skills demanded by the digital age.
Thursday 10th April 12pm-5pm
Official opening of KWMC by the Archimedia Core Group and KWMCC Director Carolyn Hassan from 12pm, this will be followed by building tours and displays of each departments work, as well as film screenings and projects and performances by young people and community groups.Then at 3.30pm Matthew Taylor, Chief Exec of the Royal Society of Arts, will speak about Young People, Media and Community.
Friday 11th April 2pm-5pm
Friday will see an opening of KWMC by local residents and Key Funders of the building, including Bristol City Council, South West Regional Development Agency and Arts Council SW. Again there will be film screenings, exhibitions, story telling sessions and tree planting.
To join us on this landmark occasion please RSVP to Katie Taylor at Katie@kwmc.org.uk by 7th April.
Please note children under 10 must be accompanied by an adult.
You will be able to find out more about us and meet some of the young people we work with. Examples of our groups include:
AMAZING ARCHIVE GROUP - A Young Roots Heritage Lottery Funded project for 12 – 25 year olds researching their heritage in and around Knowle West.
In June 2008 an exhibition will present the work of the group and invite the community to become involved in creating a ‘living’ archive for Knowle West.
KNOWLE WEST CARBON MAKEOVER- Knowle West Media Centre is working with 100 homes to be part of this exciting year-long environmental project. The project team will support the families in making changes to their homes and lifestyles looking at the different themes of climate change, for example, shopping locally.
DIGITAL FISH FILM CLUB - A young person-led club for 13-19 year olds, open to young people from Knowle West and South Bristol. They make short films and animations; as well as holding holiday film clubs, and workshops on acting, music recording, scriptwriting etc. The group’s work has won national awards and often run trips to screenings of our work all over the country.
SILVERSCREEN FILM CLUB - Over 50’s Film Club with regular screenings, host guest speakers, an extensive DVD library and cinema visits both in Bristol and further a field. Transport to events if required, and a selection of refreshments. It is open to all over 50’s from Knowle West and South Bristol.
MOUTH OF THE SOUTH - Our young journalists group is for 11-16 year olds and sessions include;
Newsletter - design, writing, interviewing and photography
Website: www.kwmc.org.uk/mos which includes radio and film projects
NLARGE PHOTOGRAPHY - Our photography group for 13-19 year olds is open to young people from Knowle West and South Bristol. The group follow an in depth and exciting programme learning all aspects of photography from a wide range of professional photographers. The Nlarge team take professional commissions and work towards becoming a sustainable enterprise led by young people.
To find out more about us go to http://www.kwmc.org.uk
Meanwhile, I have a workshop to prepare for - The newsletter drop-in club. The newsletter is nearing deadline, and residents will be meeting tonight, and I will be helping them in editing and designing all the new stories I received from residents and local workers over the last week.
So until tomorrow, everyone have a nice evening (whether the sun is shining or it’s snowing - who knows after yesterday’s weather), and if you happen to be reading this weeks Venue, there’s a double spread about us on page 24.
Makala x
Councillor Commission Report Overlooks Technology
December 13, 2007 Posted by Stephen Hilton in : Bristol, News , 1 comment so farThe newly published report of the Councillors Commission makes recommendations regarding the following,
- Encouraging people who are able, qualified and representative to be candidates to serve as councillors.
- Retaining and developing them once they are elected (or appointed under the Local Government Act 2000).
- Enabling them to secure public interest and recognition for the work they carry out for their communities.
The report does say something about use of technology on p.77 and there is a fleeting reference to e-democracy but unfortunately the only Recommendation is 39 c – ‘so that they don’t have to attend meetings in person’.
We wonder if the commission talked with the e-democracy team in ICELE – the Communities and Local Government funded centre of excellence for e-democracy?
I recently Chaired Bristol’s e-democracy Day and heard some excellent councillor speakers from Bristol and Bath talk about their use of Facebook, My Space, blogs, e-petitions etc. You can see the web cast here.
£100m Funding for Technology Innovation
November 19, 2007 Posted by Stephen Hilton in : Bristol, Innovation, News, Technology, Funding , add a commentThe Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, John Denham, has announced that the business-led Technology Strategy Board will invest a further £100m in innovation, and invites businesses to submit proposals for collaborative research and development in innovation and new technology.
The competition, which covers eight technology areas and which will be phased over 6 months, is designed to generate innovative proposals in which businesses work together and with research communities on research and technology projects to deliver successful new products and services.
Proposals with potential applications across several business sectors, which build on links between academic and business research and which involve SMEs would be especially welcome.
The eight technology areas for which submissions are invited are
Phase 1, opening 8 November 2007:
* Materials for Energy
* High Value Manufacturing
* Cell Therapy
Phase 2, opening 19 December 2007:
* Low Carbon Energy Technologies
* Advanced Lighting, Lasers and Displays
* Technologies for Health
Phase 3, opening 30 January 2008:
* Gathering Data in Complex Environments
* Creative Industries
