*** Democracies Online Newswire - http://www.e-democracy.org/do *** From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date sent: Wed, 21 Jun 2000 21:23:27 Communities Online hosts first UK online consultation on neighbourhood renewal In a novel test of the Internet's value in influencing Government policies, local communities across Britain are being helped to respond online to the "National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal" issued by Tony Blair's Social Exclusion Unit. The Community Sector Coalition and Communities Online have joined forces to help local people and organisations from some of the countries most deprived neighbourhoods to discuss and comment on the wide-ranging policy proposals, which include actions on jobs and enterprise, access to the net, learning and training and community renewal. The Communities Online website at http://www.communities.org.uk carries commentary and explanations of the strategy and provides easy facilities for both comment and discussion. Community networking initiatives across the country will organise local access for anyone who has an interest in what the government plans for their neighbourhood and Communities Online will work with the Community Sector Coalition to collate the responses and feed them in to the public consultation, which ends on 30th June. Brian Cohen of the Community Sector Coalition said "Responding to complex government documents is always difficult. Anything that can help under-resourced community groups is to be welcomed and we are very happy to be working with Communities Online in this initiative, which we think is a first. We would particularly welcome comments from people living or involved in community organisations in deprived areas and especially comments from black and ethnic minority groups, including community refugee organisations". Sue Webb of Communities Online said "Usually, Government consultations attract responses from the "chattering classes", from official bodies and from large organisations and these do have some value. Linking the power of the Internet with the local involvement of community initiatives on the ground now gives an opportunity for the people who will be most affected by the strategy to have their own voices heard. We will be trying new techniques to make sure this happens. And we will learn a lot from this to improve dialogue between people and government for the future." Brian Ruddock of the Churches' Community Work Alliance said "I see this as an important first step in a new democratic process. This is a genuine opportunity for the grassroots to use new technology as a vehicle for their community expertise". ^ ^ ^ ^ Steven L. Clift - W: http://www.publicus.net Minneapolis - - - E: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Minnesota - - - - - T: +1.612.822.8667 USA - - - - - - - ICQ: 13789183 *** Please send submissions to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** To subscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** *** Message body: SUB DO-WIRE *** *** To unsubscribe instead, write: UNSUB DO-WIRE *** *** Please forward this post to others and encourage *** *** them to subscribe to the free DO-WIRE service. ***
