Webinar - Building bridges: the future of sustainable cooperation between informal online activists and civil society organisations

A virtual consultation hosted by CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
Wednesday 20 July, 2011 at 1 pm UTC/GMT

The purpose of this thematic consultation is to develop policy recommendations for civil society organisations, public and private sector donors and governments to enable them to bridge the gap between traditional CSOs and online activists. Please read the discussion note produced by CIVICUS that will be disseminated to all webinar participants that is intended to spur debate on the role of information communication technology as:

1. a tool for mass mobilisation for offline activism
2. a vehicle for new forms of online activism 
3. the creator and driver of online civic space 
4. a platform for knowledge-sharing and collective learning and 
5.  a source of new models of governance.

The webinar session will be moderated by CIVICUS Secretary General Ingrid Srinath, and presentations will be given by a diverse range of participants on topical issues including:

• ‘A radical exercise in democracy: Lessons from Iceland’s crowd-sourced constitution and its implication for better governance’ –Representative, Icelandic Constitutional Council
• ‘The shifting technological parameters of journalism and its role in revolution in the Middle East’ Mohammed Ziyaad Hassen, Senior Planner Social Media, Al Jazeera, Qatar
• ‘Towards sustainable change: Moving from online activism to offline action’ Amanda Atwood, Information and Communication Officer, Kubatana, Zimbabwe

The session is expected to last for two hours and will be conducted in English. Participants will have the opportunity to provide questions and comments through an instant messaging service.

Key questions we hope to explore are:

1. CSOs and online activists: what are their relative strengths?
2. Nurturing nascent new civic spaces: what are the challenges?
3. Harnessing new forms of activism: what does this mean for the CSO?
4. What would better support for cooperation look like?

Space is limited so mark your calendar and register now at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/630646777