Appropedia:FAQ: Difference between revisions

The Appropedia Foundation has been asked to describe Appropedia's role as knowledge brokers by answering the following questions.

This page is a work in progress and probably should not be quoted directly at this stage. --Chriswaterguy 10:42, 2 June 2009 (UTC)Reply[reply]

Note that some of the other pages at Category:About Appropedia may be useful in filling out this page - these can be linked and or quoted here.

the goals

See

• Appropedia:Vision and mission (very brief)
• Appropedia:Objectives (more detailed - work in progress)

organizations involved

The Appropedia Foundation is an independent organization.

The directors and other individuals involved in the Appropedia community have many other ties, including:

• Academics from Humboldt State University, Queens University, Kingston and Clarion University of Pennsylvania whose students create and compile knowledge using Appropedia.
• Engineers Without Borders UK,
• Full Belly Project, working with an academic and his students at Humboldt State University to improve designs for appropriate technology in food processing, and documenting them on Appropedia.
• Village Hope, LeapingStone (which share a board member with the Appropedia Foundation, i.e. Curt Beckmann)
• OLPC - Appropedia's content is beginning to be compiled into bundles for distribution in the XO laptops.
• The Transition Towns movement, editing The Transition Handbook openly on the Appropedia wiki. (The first edition was ported here, and the second edition will be based on the new version developed on Appropedia.

activities

the main activities

Activities of the Foundation and the Appropedia community:

• the wiki. The main role of the Foundation is to make available the platform for knowledge-sharing. The actual work is taken on by the community, with people from around the globe, including "bottom of the pyramid" countries such as India and the Philippines, sharing their knowledge, designs and ideas through the wiki, and using it as a way to make connections with other (makers/workers...?)
• promotion of open content for development
• facilitating the transfering of information from other sources to the wiki (see Porting
• development and support of the Appropedia community of contributors and users
• engagement with other organizations and communities
• blog
• Microblogging at Identica & Twitter

is Appropedia wholly virtual does it have some tangible activities in the real world?

• "Appropedia" normally refers to the wiki, which is virtual. The power of knowledge means that by enabling the sharing of information, knowledge, wisdom and creative ideas, we make a powerful impact in the real world. Working together in the virtual world leads to synergies and face-to-face connections. These are confirmed as we hear of the real-life fruits of this in feedback from contributors to Appropedia.
• The Appropedia Foundation does engage in building relationships with other change agents, both in the virtual world and in real life:

• It took the lead in organizing OSNCamp 2008
• In their travels, the directors seek out and engage with creators of written forms of knowledge, and other "holders of wisdom" which

way of organizing the activities

As a wiki, the most fundamental organization that occurs is "emergent," with contributors from around the world finding ways to work together without a hierarchical structure.

Certain sub-projects are more highly organized - notably the academic efforts (the work of students as part of their classes) and the porting efforts, bringing in collections of knowledge developed by external organizations.

See also Appropedia Foundation.

anything else of relevance