6 Feb
2025
6 Feb
'25
1:17 p.m.
I wonder if there is any worth in us as a co-hort trying to re-engage with
this, now that Promising Trouble is shutting down?
Kim (or anyone else) - did we have any contact with Matt before? There
might be an opportunity to partner and get funding for us to provide a
"community coordinator" or "community hub" for example? I suspect the
reason Promising Trouble stopping is a lack of funding but we (in the form
of Kim and out < £3000 overhead) might be a lot cheaper.
*Katja Mordaunt* (she/her)
Technical Project Lead
Geeks For Social Change
https://gfsc.studio
I work part time for GFSC and may not always be able to respond immediately
to your message. Likewise, please don’t ever feel the need to apologise for
responding to my emails at your own pace.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Katja <katjamordaunt(a)gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Feb 6, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Subject: Fwd: Next Steps for Community Tech
To: Katja Mordaunt <katja(a)gfsc.studio>
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Promising Trouble <communitytech(a)buttondown.email>
Date: Thu, 6 Feb 2025 at 12:02
Subject: Next Steps for Community Tech
To: <katjamordaunt(a)gmail.com>
[image: A colourful illustration of many different kinds of people
collaborating using technology to improve their communities.]
<https://www.ellyjahnz.co.uk/?utm_source=communitytech&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=next-steps-for-community-tech>Illustration
by Elly Jahnz
<https://www.ellyjahnz.co.uk/?utm_source=communitytech&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=next-steps-for-community-tech>
The start of 2025 has been a time of change at Careful Trouble.
Until now we’ve been an organisation of two parts - half not-for-profit,
half-consultancy - and we’re sad to say that a new year has seen the
closure of our not-for-profit arm, Promising Trouble.
From now on we’ll be operating as Careful Industries, with a focus on
inclusive innovation and careful AI training and consultancy. You can keep
up to date by signing up to our newsletter
<https://www.careful.industries/newsletter?utm_source=communitytech&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=next-steps-for-community-tech>
.
Moving forward, this email list will no longer be active, and will be
deleted soon.
But that doesn’t mean it’s the end of Community Tech Community of Practice.
It is now under new management - Dr Matt Dowse at the Centre for
Sociodigital Futures.
Thank you for being part of this community, for sharing ideas and inspiring
others with your work. We’re looking forward to what comes next as the
community continues to grow.
Below is a message from Matt:
------------------------------
Since the start of the Community Tech Community of Practice, Promising
Trouble have curated a network and a platform that has brought together
individuals, groups, and businesses from across the UK who are interested
in community tech. Now that the programme has ended, there is an
opportunity to develop and widen its reach and continue the good work.
I’ve been researching Community Tech as part of my role as a researcher at
the Centre for Sociodigital Futures at the University of Bristol:
www.bristol.ac.uk/censof
<http://www.bristol.ac.uk/censof?utm_source=communitytech&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=next-steps-for-community-tech>
.
Over the past 18 months I’ve attended the Gatherings, joined on line, and
met with many of the members of the Community of Practice as part of the
research that I have been doing. I’ve also met with many other people who
are not part of the Community of Practice in the UK and Europe who are
involved in Community Tech of all kinds.
I think that there is a great opportunity to bring together an intentional
community of people interested in the ways that tech can engage with
communities in positive and progressive ways. This includes past Makers and
Maintainers, Developers, and all those many people who are interested and
curious about Community Tech.
I’m offering to steward a new Community Tech Network, building on past
work, and focussed on providing opportunities for connection,
collaboration, learning, and sharing resources.
As many of you know, Community Tech is a term that seems to describe many
activities. These include local activism, peer to peer learning, acts of
solidarity, coding, sharing, and making. Community Tech is also a vehicle
for alternative ways of organizing, different approaches to innovation, and
thinking about economies, tech for good, and the challenges that Big Tech
brings to the communities that we live in.
A Community Technology Network has the potential to continue to grow this
movement, connecting and sharing the great work that is being done across
the UK.
*If you are interested in being part of a Community Technology Network,
please contact me by email – **matt.dowse(a)bristol.ac.uk*
<matt.dowse(a)bristol.ac.uk>*k>*. *Tell me about the work that you are doing and
what you want from a Network like this.
You can find some of the work of the centre that I work in here Communities
and their sociodigital futures | Research | University of Bristol
<https://www.bristol.ac.uk/research/centres/sociodigital-futures/stories/communities-and-their-sociodigital-futures/?utm_source=communitytech&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=next-steps-for-community-tech>
as
well as a recent essay that I wrote with Rachel at the end of 2024
here Communities
and their sociodigital futures | Research | University of Bristol
<https://www.bristol.ac.uk/research/centres/sociodigital-futures/stories/communities-and-their-sociodigital-futures/?utm_source=communitytech&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=next-steps-for-community-tech>
With best wishes and I hope to hear from you soon
Matt
------------------------------
This was issue #6 of Community Tech. You can subscribe
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