(→‎Content: Meredith Thring)
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botavioral
'''[[User talk:Chriswaterguy|Feedback]] on, addition to and even editing of material on the content ideas page is welcome.''' I am concentrating on helping to get the Appropedia working nicely and the existing content integrated, so I don't have time to add all of the enormous amount of new content that I would like to.
'''[[User talk:Chriswaterguy|Feedback]] on, addition to and even editing of material on the content ideas page is welcome.''' I am concentrating on helping to get the Appropedia working nicely and the existing content integrated, so I don't have time to add all of the enormous amount of new content that I would like to.
   
   
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==Quotes==
==Quotes==


It would be so much easier if climate change hid in caves in Afghanistan and had a beard. It’s a shame that the thought of the impending chaos and destruction wrought by our own making doesn’t quite have the same affect as an 80 year old man with a walking stick. - [http://www.tomtaylor.co.uk/blog/2007/01/21/heating-up/ Tom Taylor]
It would be so much easier if climate change hid in caves in Afghanistan and had a beard. It’s a shame that the thought of the impending chaos and destruction wrought by our own making doesn’t quite have the same affect as an 80 year old man with a walking stick. - [http://www.tomtaylor.co.uk/blog/2007/01/21/heating-up/ Tom Taylor]


==Content==
==Content==
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[http://www.cesta-foe.org/ The Salvadoran Centre for Appropriate Technology (CESTA)] - is located in San Salvador, El Salvador under the leadership of Dr. Ricardo Navarro, the chair of Friends of the Earth International. Along with CESTA and the Sierra Club of B.C., we are promoting appropriate technology for landmines victims. (check spanish wikipedia).
[http://www.cesta-foe.org/ The Salvadoran Centre for Appropriate Technology (CESTA)] - is located in San Salvador, El Salvador under the leadership of Dr. Ricardo Navarro, the chair of Friends of the Earth International. Along with CESTA and the Sierra Club of B.C., we are promoting appropriate technology for landmines victims. (check spanish wikipedia).


Canada’s recent International Policy Statement includes an opening comment on development:
Canada’s recent International Policy Statement includes an opening comment on development:


“Canadians cannot be safe in an unstable world, or healthy in a sick world; nor can we expect to remain prosperous in a poor world.
“Canadians cannot be safe in an unstable world, or healthy in a sick world; nor can we expect to remain prosperous in a poor world.”


===Technologies===
===Technologies===
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[http://www.cesta-foe.org/ The Salvadoran Centre for Appropriate Technology (CESTA)] - is located in San Salvador, El Salvador under the leadership of Dr. Ricardo Navarro, the chair of Friends of the Earth International. Along with CESTA and the Sierra Club of B.C., we are promoting appropriate technology for landmines victims. (check spanish wikipedia).
[http://www.cesta-foe.org/ The Salvadoran Centre for Appropriate Technology (CESTA)] - is located in San Salvador, El Salvador under the leadership of Dr. Ricardo Navarro, the chair of Friends of the Earth International. Along with CESTA and the Sierra Club of B.C., we are promoting appropriate technology for landmines victims. (check spanish wikipedia).


Canada’s recent International Policy Statement includes an opening comment on development:
Canada’s recent International Policy Statement includes an opening comment on development:


“Canadians cannot be safe in an unstable world, or healthy in a sick world; nor can we expect to remain prosperous in a poor world.
“Canadians cannot be safe in an unstable world, or healthy in a sick world; nor can we expect to remain prosperous in a poor world.”


====Technologies====
====Technologies====
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http://www.unesco.org/courier/2001_01/uk/planet.htm
http://www.unesco.org/courier/2001_01/uk/planet.htm


According to David Kinniburgh of the British Geological Survey, who has recently completed a detailed study of the arsenic’s route into millions of tubewells, the arsenic concentration in the mud is not extraordinary. Time is the culprit. The mud in Bangladesh lies thicker, wider and flatter than almost anywhere on Earth. It can take hundreds or thousands of years for underground water to percolate through the mud before reaching the sea. All the while it is absorbing arsenic.  
According to David Kinniburgh of the British Geological Survey, who has recently completed a detailed study of the arsenic’s route into millions of tubewells, the arsenic concentration in the mud is not extraordinary. Time is the culprit. The mud in Bangladesh lies thicker, wider and flatter than almost anywhere on Earth. It can take hundreds or thousands of years for underground water to percolate through the mud before reaching the sea. All the while it is absorbing arsenic.  
This, says Kinniburgh, helps explain the diverse pattern of arsenic concentrations in tubewell waters. The contaminated wells almost all take water from a depth of 20 to 100 metres. Shallower wells are clean because they contain mostly recent rainwater or water flowing swiftly through the sediments. Deeper wells tap water in older sediments which have by now been flushed clean of arsenic. It will take thousands of years, says Kinniburgh, before the rest of the arsenic will wash away into the Indian Ocean.
This, says Kinniburgh, helps explain the diverse pattern of arsenic concentrations in tubewell waters. The contaminated wells almost all take water from a depth of 20 to 100 metres. Shallower wells are clean because they contain mostly recent rainwater or water flowing swiftly through the sediments. Deeper wells tap water in older sediments which have by now been flushed clean of arsenic. It will take thousands of years, says Kinniburgh, before the rest of the arsenic will wash away into the Indian Ocean.
Many underground water sources around the world contain arsenic. Parts of Taiwan, Argentina, Chile and China have all suffered epidemics of skin diseases, gangrene and cancer as a result. Smith’s analysis of the Taiwan epidemic in particular helped set the WHO arsenic standards for water and is the basis for his current predictions. Bangladesh, he says, is quite unprecedented.</div>
Many underground water sources around the world contain arsenic. Parts of Taiwan, Argentina, Chile and China have all suffered epidemics of skin diseases, gangrene and cancer as a result. Smith’s analysis of the Taiwan epidemic in particular helped set the WHO arsenic standards for water and is the basis for his current predictions. Bangladesh, he says, is quite unprecedented.</div>




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http://business2.blogs.com/business2blog/2006/02/dean_kamens_lat.html#more
http://business2.blogs.com/business2blog/2006/02/dean_kamens_lat.html#more


Before Kamen met Quadir, he took his inventions to places like the United Nations and the World Bank, part of whose stated goals are to improve access to power and water in the world’s poorest nations.  He says he met nothing but skepticism among the experts who told him there were much cheaper and better ways to make power and clean water.  He describes these encounters as “the most chilling meetings I ever had in Washington.
Before Kamen met Quadir, he took his inventions to places like the United Nations and the World Bank, part of whose stated goals are to improve access to power and water in the world’s poorest nations.  He says he met nothing but skepticism among the experts who told him there were much cheaper and better ways to make power and clean water.  He describes these encounters as “the most chilling meetings I ever had in Washington.”


During one such encounter,  Kamen lost his cool and blurted out: “Okay, you’ve had 60 years and spent $1 trillion on these two issues.  Can you point to the places where you are proud of the success you’ve had?The meeting didn’t get much farther than that.  
During one such encounter,  Kamen lost his cool and blurted out: “Okay, you’ve had 60 years and spent $1 trillion on these two issues.  Can you point to the places where you are proud of the success you’ve had?” The meeting didn’t get much farther than that.  


Says Kamen, “If you are going to wait for governments or NGOs [non-governmental organizations] to change the world, it is going to take another 60 years.
Says Kamen, “If you are going to wait for governments or NGOs [non-governmental organizations] to change the world, it is going to take another 60 years.”


Jamal Saghir, the World Bank’s director of energy and water, says he is unaware of any meetings that might have taken place with Kamen. “We get a lot of requests from inventors to endorse their products,says Saghir. “The World Bank does not support proprietary technology.  We support developing country governments and empower them to make choices.
Jamal Saghir, the World Bank’s director of energy and water, says he is unaware of any meetings that might have taken place with Kamen. “We get a lot of requests from inventors to endorse their products,” says Saghir. “The World Bank does not support proprietary technology.  We support developing country governments and empower them to make choices.”


==Yet more to do... Yikes!==
==Yet more to do... Yikes!==
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:I agree with your statement about the peer-reviewed content and open content, and yes, the open wiki editing policy is, and always will be, central to Sustainapedia.  The peer-reviewed approach is purely for those who currently feel they need it to feel comfortable contributing, I also think it is an interesting avenue to publish one's work.  Indeed it will evolve over time.  It is my hope that in time (long term) we can effectively phase out the closed peer-review model and have a completely open space where all community members will be comfortable sharing content.  At this point though, I feel like we need to create a space specifically for the academic community to feel comfortable sharing their original work, and this is one avenue to do so.  Chris, if you think that the open model needs additional highlights in the document, please add or edit a section in. - Ryan
:I agree with your statement about the peer-reviewed content and open content, and yes, the open wiki editing policy is, and always will be, central to Sustainapedia.  The peer-reviewed approach is purely for those who currently feel they need it to feel comfortable contributing, I also think it is an interesting avenue to publish one's work.  Indeed it will evolve over time.  It is my hope that in time (long term) we can effectively phase out the closed peer-review model and have a completely open space where all community members will be comfortable sharing content.  At this point though, I feel like we need to create a space specifically for the academic community to feel comfortable sharing their original work, and this is one avenue to do so.  Chris, if you think that the open model needs additional highlights in the document, please add or edit a section in. - Ryan


''Focusing the Sustainapedia community on high priority content is something that the management team will pursue in order to build the community as fast as possible. And add maximum value in the space.''
''Focusing the Sustainapedia community on high priority content is something that the management team will pursue – in order to build the community as fast as possible. And add maximum value in the space.''


I take it this is talking about creating high quality content?
I take it this is talking about creating high quality content?
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Yes, we will try to focus the community on specific high-priority, high-quality content as fast as possible so as to add the most value to the community as quickly as possible.
Yes, we will try to focus the community on specific high-priority, high-quality content as fast as possible so as to add the most value to the community as quickly as possible.


''two annual prizes one for the greatest number of posts in a year, and one for the highest quality of posts''
''two annual prizes – one for the greatest number of posts in a year, and one for the highest quality of posts''


This will be won by a bot, unless bots are excluded; or someone using a semi-automated program like AWB (autowikibrowser) (less obvious); or a WikiGnome (someone who does routine tasks). Major content creators won't be in the running, and in any case their best way to improve their odds would be by the undesirable habit of saving very frequently while editing.
This will be won by a bot, unless bots are excluded; or someone using a semi-automated program like AWB (autowikibrowser) (less obvious); or a WikiGnome (someone who does routine tasks). Major content creators won't be in the running, and in any case their best way to improve their odds would be by the undesirable habit of saving very frequently while editing.

Revision as of 12:17, 12 October 2007

botavioral Feedback on, addition to and even editing of material on the content ideas page is welcome. I am concentrating on helping to get the Appropedia working nicely and the existing content integrated, so I don't have time to add all of the enormous amount of new content that I would like to.

More extensive drafts, and draft postings for other sites, will be posted at my Sandbox.

Quotes

It would be so much easier if climate change hid in caves in Afghanistan and had a beard. It’s a shame that the thought of the impending chaos and destruction wrought by our own making doesn’t quite have the same affect as an 80 year old man with a walking stick. - Tom Taylor

Content

Dehumidifiers? The Sietch are at least aware of them. Try W

The late Meredith Thring,[1][2] an advocate of technology for developing countries:

"He set up the charity 'Power Aid' to develop engineering equipment needed in rural areas and, at the time of his death, he was seeking to secure the charity's future, specifically for a project to develop a village-size Leaf Fractionation Apparatus which could be built and used in Nigeria. It would produce Leaf Concentrate, a protein- rich diet supplement, from plants."
"He worked out ways to harvest the weed water hyacinth from Lake Victoria and turn it into food, acting as a personal consultant to President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda on this subject."

Templates

WikiIndex:template:tag?

conditional arguments in templates. See http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Fact&action=edit

Pages to go over

Merge these links at Category:Appropedia maintenance:

Cats to move:

+Move Category:Demotech/Learning from Poverty (have agreement with Demotech person...)

Cats to create:


Topic pages which are now articles, content to be moved to categories:

Sustainability

Op-shops

Urban planning

zoning issues, commercial activity: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/20/1055828489719.html

Low cost computer

Low cost computer guide.

Have posted to http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/showthread.php?t=462379

Will ask Indo group at http://www.lug.or.id/ & http://www.gerbanglinux.com/ + See http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux

Userboxes

...with cats, for expertise/interest, e.g. water engineering. (expertise can be noted in text on userpage (e.g. I studied Public Health Engineering at UNSW, which is water & sanitation).

+for admins.

+for active wikipedia users

Indonesia

Have started a stub on AT at the Indonesian Wikipedia: Wikipedia:id:Teknologi tepat guna Indonesia. Division of the government science foundation, LIPI. Based in Subang, West Java. Holds Appropriate technology expos & competitions, e.g. an upcoming expo in Pontianak, West Kalimantan. Info:

(Indonesian description of appropriate technology: Teknologi Tepat Guna atau dengan kata lain teknologi yang sesuai kebutuhan sehingga bisa dimanfaatkan masyarakat. - Technology to suit the use, or in other words technology which conforms to the needs so that it can be used by society.)

Old Wikipedia sandboxes

Part 1: Moved from Wikipedia:User:Chriswaterguy/Appropriate technology

Intro

My notes for future edits in this topic area are after the intro.

About me: My focus is on water and Wikipedia:sanitation management, focusing on poorer or less-developed settings. (I have a Masters degree in Water Engineering from the University of New South Wales). When this category is looking a lot better, I plan to help translate some of these pages for the Wikipedia:http://id.wikipedia.org/ Indonesian Wikipedia. I have recently discovered the new organisation, Wikipedia:Engineers Without Borders (Australia) and will possibly work with them in future. (I've also spoken with them about promoting Wikipedia as the ideal place to develop an information source on this subject).

Where to start: There is also a need for a lot more articles on specific technologies. The articles created so far can be seen here: Category:Appropriate technology. There are probably other suitable articles not yet linked to this category.

What you can do: Share your knowledge; Research using the links at the end of the Wikipedia:Appropriate technology page, or by Googling, or whatever, find some info on a relevant technology, and start (or edit) the article on it.

Housing

Two ideas worth some research: Wikipedia:Superadobe and Wikipedia:Grameen housing. More later... --Singkong2005 20:17, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

Organizations

useful links: some interesting stuff here?

One Sky - The Canadian Institute of Sustainable Living - One Sky furthers appropriate technology systems, such as strawbale constructions and pedal- powered technologies, and is focusing on renewable energy at the local, national and international levels.

The Salvadoran Centre for Appropriate Technology (CESTA) - is located in San Salvador, El Salvador under the leadership of Dr. Ricardo Navarro, the chair of Friends of the Earth International. Along with CESTA and the Sierra Club of B.C., we are promoting appropriate technology for landmines victims. (check spanish wikipedia).

Canada’s recent International Policy Statement includes an opening comment on development:

“Canadians cannot be safe in an unstable world, or healthy in a sick world; nor can we expect to remain prosperous in a poor world.”

Technologies

http://www.videa.ca/index.php?pageid=5&articleid=1&slide=5


Wikipedia Sandbox Part 2: Moved from Wikipedia:User:Chriswaterguy/Sandbox

Intro

My notes for future edits in this topic area are after the intro.

About me: My focus is on water and sanitation management, focusing on poorer or less-developed settings. (I have a Masters degree in Water Engineering from the University of New South Wales). When this category is looking a lot better, I plan to help translate some of these pages for the [Indonesian Wikipedia]. I have recently discovered the new organisation, Engineers Without Borders (Australia) and will possibly work with them in future. (I've also spoken with them about promoting Wikipedia as the ideal place to develop an information source on this subject).

Where to start: There is also a need for a lot more articles on specific technologies. The articles created so far can be seen here: Category:Appropriate technology. There are probably other suitable articles not yet linked to this category.

What you can do: Share your knowledge; Research using the links at the end of the Appropriate technology page, or by Googling, or whatever, find some info on a relevant technology, and start (or edit) the article on it.

Housing

Two ideas worth some research: Superadobe and Grameen housing. More later... --Singkong2005 20:17, 30 November 2005 (UTC)

Organizations

useful links: some interesting stuff here?

One Sky - The Canadian Institute of Sustainable Living - One Sky furthers appropriate technology systems, such as strawbale constructions and pedal- powered technologies, and is focusing on renewable energy at the local, national and international levels.

The Salvadoran Centre for Appropriate Technology (CESTA) - is located in San Salvador, El Salvador under the leadership of Dr. Ricardo Navarro, the chair of Friends of the Earth International. Along with CESTA and the Sierra Club of B.C., we are promoting appropriate technology for landmines victims. (check spanish wikipedia).

Canada’s recent International Policy Statement includes an opening comment on development:

“Canadians cannot be safe in an unstable world, or healthy in a sick world; nor can we expect to remain prosperous in a poor world.”

Technologies

http://www.videa.ca/index.php?pageid=5&articleid=1&slide=5


Wikipedia:Filters

Simple filtration can improve the water quality, even if the pore size is much larger than the pathogens or toxins to be removed, as the pathogens and toxins mostly adhere to particles rather than floating freely or being in solution; also, filters remove particles smaller than their pore size, through electrostatic attraction and adsorption.

roughing filter - both sanitation & water?

Arsenic

create Wikipedia:Arsenic contamination of groundwater

Wikipedia:International development Wikipedia:Arsenic link-to

search/ask Source.

Start:


create Wikipedia:shallow well article:

qwika.com - search Wikipedia:shallow wells, follow link-to. incl Wikipedia:Water purification.

Dipankar Chakraborti

Bangla... Dipankar Chakraborti http://www.physics.harvard.edu/~wilson/arsenic/references/Comment_2004_Chakriborti.doc


Drinking at the west's toxic well (Indian and Bangladeshi arsenic poisoning, aid program stuff-ups)

AT in other articles

in Wikipedia:water purification

Other water purification techniques & Portable water purification


  1. Appropriate technologies: Affordable and effective technologie

Wikipedia:Slow sand filters are suitable for community or municipal level water treatment, and provide a very high quality output of water with relatively simple operation, and are used in wealthy nations as well as poor communities. Its downsides are the large area used and occasional downtime after maintenance; however both of these can be reduced by changing the system of maintenance, and ploughing rather than scraping the surface. See article for details.

The crushed seeds of Wikipedia:Moringa oleifera or Wikipedia:Strychnos potatorum can be used as flocculants, allowing the impurities to be more easily removed by sedimentation or filtration.

A type of Wikipedia:ceramic water filter was recently developed which can be made with clay, mixed with organic matter such as coffee grounds without a Wikipedia:kiln, and fired using an open Wikipedia:dung fire.

The Wikipedia:LifeStraw is a small manufactured device which allows the user to drink straight from unclean water.

Wikipedia:Cloth filters and Wikipedia:solar water disinfection are suitable for use on a small scale, using jars or bottles, requiring only very few resources.

In some cases multiple methods may be used to produce safe drinking water. For example solar water disinfection requires fairly clear water, so a simple method of filtering, such as a cloth filter, may be used first.

Spring water typically doesn't need treatment, unless it is polluted at the outlet. The quality of water at the outlet may be protected with a Wikipedia:spring box.


AT

Characteristics of these technologies

Low cost and low maintenance requirements are of prime importance. More frequent maintenance can be considered appropriate, if the maintenance can be done with locally available skills, tools, and materials. It is usually only "appropriate" to use technologies that can at least be locally repaired.

    • in some cases made entirely with local resources, even using local finances - Kar.

Not necessarily "low" technology

Appropriate technology can benefit from the latest research, as with the Wikipedia:cloth filter which was inspired by research into the way cholera is carried in water. It may use very recent technology - for example a type of white LED lights is sometimes used in remote areas of Nepal due to their low power requirements and reliability.[3]

Sustainability

Features such as minimal use of resources, use of locally available resources and low usage of fossil fuels can give some advantages in terms of Wikipedia:sustainability. For that reason these technologies are sometimes used and promoted by advocates of sustainability and Wikipedia:alternative technology.

Small to intermediate scale

Which allows use and independent control by the poor.



Philosophies

Wikipedia:International development

AT: development theories/philosophies and appropriate technology. KK & DK (New Sci). community led, participation.

intermediate technology (merge) - Intermediate Technology - Excerpts from Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, E.F. Schumacher, 1973]. discussed in the context of the need to "bring into existence millions of new workplaces in the rural areas and small towns." intermediate technology would be immensely more productive than the indigenous technology (which is often in a condition of decay), but it would also be immensely cheaper that the sophisticated, highly capital-intensive technology of modern industry.

Village Level Operation and Maintenance. participation; internal and ext input; kk; DC

Pumps

see VLOM and "Handpump failures" re EthiopiaHandpumps: a losing battle?

see also low-lift irrigation pumps], for Small-scale irrigation. Wikipedia:Chain pumps - examples are known in the nineteenth century for low-lift irrigation purposes.

see http://www.google.com.au/search?num=30&hl=en&q=%22Village+Level+Operation+and+Maintenance%22&meta= for more (esp check one with Kar in the url. Check cache.)


Testing Google calendar for web pages

<iframe src="http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=e25lhlt0cejefrvfbaq7ssjgi4%40group.calendar.google.com&title=Chris%20Watkins'%20-%20events%20I%20might%20go%20to&height=614" style=" border-width:0 " width="640" frameborder="0" height="614"></iframe>

Dean Kamen, effectiveness of aid...

http://business2.blogs.com/business2blog/2006/02/dean_kamens_lat.html#more

Before Kamen met Quadir, he took his inventions to places like the United Nations and the World Bank, part of whose stated goals are to improve access to power and water in the world’s poorest nations. He says he met nothing but skepticism among the experts who told him there were much cheaper and better ways to make power and clean water. He describes these encounters as “the most chilling meetings I ever had in Washington.”

During one such encounter, Kamen lost his cool and blurted out: “Okay, you’ve had 60 years and spent $1 trillion on these two issues. Can you point to the places where you are proud of the success you’ve had?” The meeting didn’t get much farther than that.

Says Kamen, “If you are going to wait for governments or NGOs [non-governmental organizations] to change the world, it is going to take another 60 years.”

Jamal Saghir, the World Bank’s director of energy and water, says he is unaware of any meetings that might have taken place with Kamen. “We get a lot of requests from inventors to endorse their products,” says Saghir. “The World Bank does not support proprietary technology. We support developing country governments and empower them to make choices.”

Yet more to do... Yikes!

A few thoughts on the Sustainapedia-Appropedia Launch Document

These are some bits I'm planning on putting in or changing, but waiting till morning, lest my edits conflict with the incorporating of Prof. Rod Ruoff's edits. --Chriswaterguy · talk 08:40, 27 March 2007 (PDT)

Note that the Appropedia site is already underway, with a year of work on content, presentation, technical issues, policy and partnerships - so we're launching a well-developed, ready-to-go resource and community.

Q's:

  • Bring in Cameron & Kate?
  • What about name? Ignore in launch doc?
  • Founders:
    • How many founders will there be?
    • When is it too late to be a "founder"? (I would have thought before now, but I can be flexible). Should we tone this down?


What our partners contribute

  • we often ask for good-quality content, which is then searchable on the site, and is able to be incorporated into the main topic pages of the wiki. The material is also then more visible, being on a prominent site. In any case, we do give credit.
  • ask for links.

Appropedia:Partners #A history of collaboration. (It's very much from my point of view, reflecting my experience, at this stage.)

part of my concern is about the "list of founding individuals" and the way that's ordered. It's a little tricky picking an order, but when all else is roughly equal we could go for alphabetical. We certainly should give acknowledgment to people who sign up early, but I would play it more softly. The main recognition that people get should be earned respect within the community, I feel. I also like describing things in a narrative as it makes it possible to acknowledge people's unique contributions without ranking them.


The innovative approach to wikis is interesting and that functionality could be valuable, if only for providing a space where certain people are more comfortable with contributing. However the place of fully open wiki content (as with the Appropedia's current open editing policy) is still extremely important, I believe - central, in fact. How all this will work together is something that will evolve. Do we agree on the centrality of the open wiki? If so, we highlight this. If not, that's fine, but I'd like to know your thoughts.

I agree with your statement about the peer-reviewed content and open content, and yes, the open wiki editing policy is, and always will be, central to Sustainapedia. The peer-reviewed approach is purely for those who currently feel they need it to feel comfortable contributing, I also think it is an interesting avenue to publish one's work. Indeed it will evolve over time. It is my hope that in time (long term) we can effectively phase out the closed peer-review model and have a completely open space where all community members will be comfortable sharing content. At this point though, I feel like we need to create a space specifically for the academic community to feel comfortable sharing their original work, and this is one avenue to do so. Chris, if you think that the open model needs additional highlights in the document, please add or edit a section in. - Ryan

Focusing the Sustainapedia community on high priority content is something that the management team will pursue – in order to build the community as fast as possible. And add maximum value in the space.

I take it this is talking about creating high quality content?

Yes, we will try to focus the community on specific high-priority, high-quality content as fast as possible so as to add the most value to the community as quickly as possible.

two annual prizes – one for the greatest number of posts in a year, and one for the highest quality of posts

This will be won by a bot, unless bots are excluded; or someone using a semi-automated program like AWB (autowikibrowser) (less obvious); or a WikiGnome (someone who does routine tasks). Major content creators won't be in the running, and in any case their best way to improve their odds would be by the undesirable habit of saving very frequently while editing.

I've replaced this section with Curt's suggestion: "We will promote content development in several ways. We will recognize contributors (individuals and organizations) in an appropriate and inspirational way. Several ideas are currently under discussion."
I think this leaves the door open for some much needed discussion, and we can find a unique way to reward individuals and organizations for their contributions.


There is a method of measuring the amount of text contributed. I still don't think it's a great metric, but it's an improvement over number of edits. I recall a study done on the persistence of edits in Wikipedia, looking at anonymous editors vs registered editors.

(Interesting but tangential note: It turned out the anonymous editors contributed more actual content per edit than registered users; they measured "persistent content" or words to that effect, i.e. additions that weren't reverted by others. I think registered users are more likely to do minor edits, polishing, gnome work, compared to anons who are less likely to be wiki savvy and just contribute content.)

I like where you're going with this, if you find any of the reports detailing these studies, let me know, it's always good to have them on reference.

Goals: to be in the top 5 for Google ranking on search terms including (short term goals)

  • sustainability wiki
  • green living wiki
  • sustainable housing wiki
  • international development wiki
  • poverty wiki
  • appropriate technology wiki (we're there, woo--hoo! it's worth mentioning that, as a goal already achieved)
  • alternative technology wiki (VE wiki is there, so hopefully we will be soon, esp after requesting link updates from referring sites. Is it worth putting Google Analytics on the VE wiki - is it easy, or hard work? But I digress...)
  • water wiki
  • sanitation wiki
  • permaculture wiki

Long term - top 10, preferably top 5, without the wiki term:

  • sustainability
  • green living
  • sustainable housing
  • international development
  • poverty
  • appropriate technology (currently 18th - we're improving!)
  • alternative technology
  • water
  • sanitation
  • permaculture

Thesis

Testing word to wiki conversion at: User:Chriswaterguy/Thesis/

Notes

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