Another outcome of the past semester’s HCI Design course is a student project looking at the local sustainability initiative by the City of Bloomington. Will Odom, Dave Roedl and Sindhia Thirumaran explored several concepts to address the needs of those interested in living and promoting sustainable lifestyles. Their blog, Sustainable Bloomington, was the first tangible outcome. Later this month, another concept gets some legs.
From the SB site:
Sustainable Bloomington:
A Community Conversation about our Future
Saturday July 21, 1-4pm
Monroe County Public Library (Room 1C).The event will begin after Farmer’s Market with two small-group discussions conducted between 1-4p. The intent of this unconference is to provide a social space where citizens from all backgrounds and perspectives can come together and discuss issues related to Bloomington and our collective future. We would like to have as many simultaneous conversations as possible, representing a wide range of perspectives, so come prepared to speak on the specific issues that interest you the most. And bring a friend!
We strongly encourage all members of the Bloomington community to come and engage your fellow citizens as we develop a common vision of a sustainable Bloomington. This is not an event about consensus as much as it is about raising awareness and understanding our common goals. These are the ingredients that motivate us to later action.
This will be the fourth local unconference in which I have participated, starting in February 2005 with a pilot effort at the CONA conference and most recently in January 2007 (). I have high hopes for an attendance boom over previous efforts, given a few key factors. First, it’s summer. Second, Al Gore’s award-winning film made it politically hip to think environmentally. Third, there are more people organizing. And fourth, this is the smallest space reserved among the four events (which of course means we will overflow and spill our discussions out onto Kirkwood … like washing a car in order to make it rain).
I expect that those in favor of sustainable environmental policies will be in plentiful supply, but I am also hoping there will be a nice showing of other perspectives, too. The more voices represented, the better the understanding. Drop by the library on the 21st, if you are in town.
