Welcome to Napa Local. There is a bit of a history to the organization which we hope to present on another page soon. We are an organization at a transition point and are trying on some new ideas. So for the moment the introduction will include more bullet points than text. Also a preemptive disclaimer needs to be issued on the outline here The outline is very ambitious and it is our attempt to outline what we believe would be a sound approach for a community to engage upon in order to respond to both the challenges and advances our larger society has placed upon us. We are not suggesting any leading role, or what a project like this should be called. Our effort is to try to begin some discussions at least approximating these ideas
As posting board and directory
One of the necessary components to creating a better networked community will be having some kind of listing or billboard function of local groups and individuals who are actively looking to collaborate with others or who the general citizenry is likely to be interested in.
What listings should be placed up first, and how far the extent of such listings might proceed is a topic that will hopefully continue to be discussed and developed at time goes by. Some possibilities might include
1 Local Facebook groups or other grassroots groups
2-Local non profits
3-Existing business with perhaps a priority to emphasize locally owned businesses
4- Public and Government agencies
5 Individuals wanting to start groups
6 An index of profiles of those who want to be involved in discussion or production locally
It is understood that these listings already exist in things like the Yellow Pages, etc. But the question remains whether an open sourced, community initiated, listing platform could potentially provide local business with a free advertising hub. A further consideration is whether such a hub could be amended in ways beyond the basic listing information which provide further benefit to the community. If the future is about getting our needs met more easily then a network needs to exist that exhibit and respond to those needs
Populations
While it may be possible to learn all one needs to know about the problems and resolutions of our various sub populations in Napa through the directory alone by becoming involved with the groups working on such a wide variety of issues, it also makes sense to look at some of these populations in terms of a more generalized approach that outline themes and problems and groups outside of Napa that may have relevance for them. Who exactly gets define what the summary of those issues will look like here will be part of what hopefully is a collaborative process. We certainly hope to seek out our local experts in these fields
1- African American
2 Latino
3-Children
4-Seniors
5-Women
6 LGBT
7Disabled/Illness
8-Homeless
9-Renters
10-Students
11-Criminals/Mental Illness
12 Employers
13 Employees
These are not the only sub population categories worthy of consideration and certainly sub groups of these groups present important questions such as foster children, vacation rentals, etc. It might be worth noting that some populations might be good candidates in terms of needing connections to others in that same population category For instance those with a certain illness, who have no local support group for that given illness, may find a locally networking system such as the one being outlined here, might be able to help them meet one another
Context
The interest level and approach for any given individual to ideas about local coordination and improved networking capacities is going to be mostly based on how they see our community contextualized within larger global and societal concerns. This is of course Pandora's Box in many ways, and we are suggesting great caution that the local discussions look closely at not getting caught up in too many of the typical national debates which seem to go nowhere . Communities may therefore want to look closely consider whether these question are in some senses separate questions we find ourselves facing at the local level. Perhaps the idea might be understood in that individuals come to local networking with this context already in mind and then look for activities at the local level which correspond to their concerns about these larger context questions.
1- Internet and electronic communication
2-Economics
3-Environmentatal
3 Individual health and outlook
4-Social evaluation
Arguably the internet and electronic media's potential contribution to local networking capacity is the driving idea here.. Economics and environmental questions are familiar controversial territory which need to be approached carefully. Communities may have a chance to address either minimize the amount of debate over these subjects and just move forward into local action, or we may choose to attempt some new approaches to discussing these things in a way that do not result in negative feelings towards one another. The basic premise is that communities need goals, goals require a cooperative spirit and conversation and debates that are perhaps not even necessary between community members, and which lead to such negative outcomes, can disable such cooperation.
Education and Discussion
The previous sections have basically assessed distinct groups and populations and the background attitudes that most individuals take into account when considering local networking efforts. for the most part this section is about the process of gathering information, categorizing and discussing the potential of such information, and then planning a way to implement it into action within the community
1-Alternative media
2-Sustainable education
3-Polling/surveys
4- Community as laboratory
5-Communication with external sources and groups
6 Constructive communication/group dynamics
As posting board and directory
One of the necessary components to creating a better networked community will be having some kind of listing or billboard function of local groups and individuals who are actively looking to collaborate with others or who the general citizenry is likely to be interested in.
What listings should be placed up first, and how far the extent of such listings might proceed is a topic that will hopefully continue to be discussed and developed at time goes by. Some possibilities might include
1 Local Facebook groups or other grassroots groups
2-Local non profits
3-Existing business with perhaps a priority to emphasize locally owned businesses
4- Public and Government agencies
5 Individuals wanting to start groups
6 An index of profiles of those who want to be involved in discussion or production locally
It is understood that these listings already exist in things like the Yellow Pages, etc. But the question remains whether an open sourced, community initiated, listing platform could potentially provide local business with a free advertising hub. A further consideration is whether such a hub could be amended in ways beyond the basic listing information which provide further benefit to the community. If the future is about getting our needs met more easily then a network needs to exist that exhibit and respond to those needs
Populations
While it may be possible to learn all one needs to know about the problems and resolutions of our various sub populations in Napa through the directory alone by becoming involved with the groups working on such a wide variety of issues, it also makes sense to look at some of these populations in terms of a more generalized approach that outline themes and problems and groups outside of Napa that may have relevance for them. Who exactly gets define what the summary of those issues will look like here will be part of what hopefully is a collaborative process. We certainly hope to seek out our local experts in these fields
1- African American
2 Latino
3-Children
4-Seniors
5-Women
6 LGBT
7Disabled/Illness
8-Homeless
9-Renters
10-Students
11-Criminals/Mental Illness
12 Employers
13 Employees
These are not the only sub population categories worthy of consideration and certainly sub groups of these groups present important questions such as foster children, vacation rentals, etc. It might be worth noting that some populations might be good candidates in terms of needing connections to others in that same population category For instance those with a certain illness, who have no local support group for that given illness, may find a locally networking system such as the one being outlined here, might be able to help them meet one another
Context
The interest level and approach for any given individual to ideas about local coordination and improved networking capacities is going to be mostly based on how they see our community contextualized within larger global and societal concerns. This is of course Pandora's Box in many ways, and we are suggesting great caution that the local discussions look closely at not getting caught up in too many of the typical national debates which seem to go nowhere . Communities may therefore want to look closely consider whether these question are in some senses separate questions we find ourselves facing at the local level. Perhaps the idea might be understood in that individuals come to local networking with this context already in mind and then look for activities at the local level which correspond to their concerns about these larger context questions.
1- Internet and electronic communication
2-Economics
3-Environmentatal
3 Individual health and outlook
4-Social evaluation
Arguably the internet and electronic media's potential contribution to local networking capacity is the driving idea here.. Economics and environmental questions are familiar controversial territory which need to be approached carefully. Communities may have a chance to address either minimize the amount of debate over these subjects and just move forward into local action, or we may choose to attempt some new approaches to discussing these things in a way that do not result in negative feelings towards one another. The basic premise is that communities need goals, goals require a cooperative spirit and conversation and debates that are perhaps not even necessary between community members, and which lead to such negative outcomes, can disable such cooperation.
Education and Discussion
The previous sections have basically assessed distinct groups and populations and the background attitudes that most individuals take into account when considering local networking efforts. for the most part this section is about the process of gathering information, categorizing and discussing the potential of such information, and then planning a way to implement it into action within the community
1-Alternative media
2-Sustainable education
3-Polling/surveys
4- Community as laboratory
5-Communication with external sources and groups
6 Constructive communication/group dynamics