When organizers in Montenegro asked their Meetup about how technology can help their community, the response was unanimous: open government data and tools empower everyday citizens to help improve democracy.
Organizers Ruben Cantu, Stephen Vogelpohl, and their team planned their Austin Meetup just two weeks before the summit. They brought Texas-sized ambitions along with them. Here’s their report back:
The most surprising thing we learned from this whole process is how many willing people are open to working towards change.
The biggest thing is they want to get around the big idea that encompasses them all. So they all feel like they give their part but not carrying the whole load.
We thought it would be hard to fill this venue… but we have a great turn out. They just wanted to be part of something big.
Even our internet viewers wanted to be part of the change.
The theme we chose was clean air. We came up with three resolutions.
Ride the bus more often, and implement wifi on the bus.
Encourage large and mid size companies in Austin to allow employees to work from home once every 2 weeks.
Social Good Mondays, where we will be tweeting out factoids about our clean air over the next six months and asking our audience/influencers to retweet to raise awareness to push change.
We want the world to know that there is this little pocket in Texas, called Austin, that really cares about making a difference and we will all come together to try to make this happen.
We are conscious about our world issues and we are going to do our part to be a model for regional and hopefully global change.
We’re incredibly proud of our Bhutan organizers, whose Meetup was broadcast on Bhutan National Television.
In this segment, speakers provide local perspective to some of the most global themes from New York, including youth empowerment through technology, citizen journalism, and the rise of new media.
They also take on a uniquely Bhutanese topic: how digital music and social media can help preserve Dzongkha, the local language.
In Beirut, Lebanon, 60 attendees sat down for working sessions on citizenship and peace building, the role of media, and empowering women.
In their meetup, the Lebanon team developed ideas for next steps, including recommendations to “draft a new media law which leads to the elimination of sectarian domination … and releases it from [centralized] control;” and to “activate the citizens participation in the Media so that every citizen can be a witness “
We want to hear what ideas you have to turn this conversation into action. What recommendations would you issue to the social good community? Tell us here.
In her blog post for Impatient Optimists, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Kate James explains why China is a critical force in the global conversation:
“It was important to have China at the heart of the conversation, despite the obvious challenges presented by time zone differences and translation complexity. The size and scale of social media usage in China is enormous —Tencent’s WeChat platform alone boasts over 200 million users — and the commitment of Chinese social media companies to using social media for social good is unprecedented.”
One of the big takeaways from the Beijing event? Major media organizations setting aside competition to address social issues.
The newly formed Chinese Social Media for Social Good Alliance came together on multiple occasions this year… Great examples include a World TB Day campaign in March, in which the Alliance partnered with the Chinese Ministry of Health to raise awareness and encourage preventative action against the spread of TB.
Here are just a few snapshots from the event.
Olympic medalist Zhe Feng on the need to eradicate polio from the planet.
“In East Africa, the technology scene is booming with techies who are making a difference in their communities through creativity and innovation. One of these individuals might just create the next big mobile app in the region.” Africa Review
The Nariobi tech scene was on full display at the Social Good Summit last weekend, with sessions on governance, entrepreneurship, gaming and more. Ashoka reported back with lessons learned from the event:
3 Takeaways from #SGSNairobi: Tie problems & solns in tech, the sky is the limit, proper regulation’s important, power of youth #sgsglobal
Yerevan’s young people had a seat at the table for discussions on SMS, civil society, and more. In the words of one organizer, “youth must lead the activities that are bringing change”
Here’s the rundown…
Buzzing with activity here @civilnettv#sgsglobal#Armenia is due to start in a few minutes. Hope phone battery lasts enough to tweet a bit!
“The really exciting part of this year’s Social Good Summit didn’t take place on the 92nd Street Y’s upper Manhattan stage — it occurred at more than 200 meetups across the world.” —Read the full report on Mashable.com
Meetup organizers in Greece look at the role technology and new media has played in the current crisis.
