Community Network Analysis (CNA) Project Dr Peter Day, Dr Jon Don, Richard Cupidi, Mark Walker, Anne Stafford & Keith Beadle

Community Research Our partnerships and activities with communities are: –intended to empower participating communities –shaped by community assets and resources but driven by community needs community needs are what drive our academic interest and activities.

Praxis in Participatory Action Research Knowledge Generation Critical Self- Evaluation Debate Endogenous Participatory Action Melkote, S.R Theories of Development Communication. In Mody, B. (ed). International and Development Communication: A 21 st -Century Perspective. London: Sage. p139 -Power implications -Relationship between researcher and community Doing with -Not expert & subject

Project aims Utilising a range of participatory methodological tools and approaches, CNA aims to: Investigate the potential, for adoption by geographic communities and communities of practice/interest, of network technologies (including mobile telephony) as tools for building and sustaining social capital. Test, through social network analysis, the impact of ICTs on the social ties and cohesion of community groups and networks through active communications and information flows.

What is the CNA project? Nationally funded research project based on principles of community participation and mutuality Community information flows & communication patterns/behaviour If and how ICTs can be, or are being, used as tools to build active, healthy communities

Project overview 1) Profiling the community 4) Community communications space 3) Participatory learning workshops 2) Social network analysis You can contact the CNA project team by phoning us on or Alternatively you can us at or Our postal address is Peter Day, CNA Project, CMIS, Watts Building, University of Brighton, Moulsecoomb, Brighton, BN2 4GJ.

1 st 12 months of project Engaging with community & voluntary sector –How? Baseline research –Sussex Community Internet Project (SCIP) for P2B.net project –Communities of Interest Network (COIN)

Exploring the landscape A report on services, resources, participation and gaps for Communities of Interest in 15 Neighbourhood Renewal Areas in Brighton & Hove –Gap in communication, understanding and collaboration –Need to achieve greater synergy –Improve empowerment & capacity building –Nature of facilities & resources –Desire to network & engage with others

Technology, the community and us

What, for instance, could we provide? blogs mailing lists wikis content management contact management/finding people and places calendars and schedules image libraries shared links announcements for sale/ wanted adverts shared drawing spaces RSS feeds webmeetings podcasts learning management systems database integration/publication peer to peer services GIS design services integration services forums chatrooms instant messenging internet service provision webcams polls and surveys e-learning games graffiti interactive whiteboard video conferencing MMS/SMS messageboards news and articles GPS services self-organising/social software groupware administration statistics site/domain management document conversion tools authoring tools etc

What community groups want content / site management / blogs / wikis mailing lists / / forums / chat database publication hosting and support search statistics errr…

Sustainable technologies Problems: –safe exploration and experimentation –when the project ends Some (partial) solutions: –open source / open standards –clustered / redundant –flexible / evolvable / self- organising

Technology development Sandbox (CNA) Stable community server (SCIP)

Engaging the community Stories from a story-telling workshop –Geraldine’s story –Geraldine & Una’s stories Developing collaborative partnerships –Dialogue  talking & listening –Building trust  working at the participant’s pace –Takes time  requires patience and a lot of hard work –Expect the unexpected  be prepared to hear unwanted or unpalatable things –Frustrating  but results will be worth it

Questions? web