Building the
European Alliance for Community Networking
EACN.
 
 

Picture taken at the First European Conference on Community Networking. Milano97.
 

Who we are.

The European Alliance for Community Networking is an initiave launched by
different local and national civic networks from the First European Community
Networking Conference, held in Milano in july 1997.
 
Community networks are developing at different regions, cities and villages of
the European Union as a voluntary, grassroots movement which purpose is giving
to the citizen, especially the less favored one, the opportunity to participate
actively in the building of the Information Society. This movement is based in the
best civic traditions of creativity, solidarity and cultural diversity of each of the
European Union's countries, regions and cities. American and Canadians paved
the way years ago.
 
In the other side, many European municipalities and regions are establishing webs
with city information, establishing strategies towards "digital cities". Consortiums
like"Telecities" or "Teleregions" go in that direction. Some kind of cooperation with
the civic sector is needed. Europe is the continent with the most dense, complex
and diverse system of cities and villages. An strategy oriented to joint these
Information networks whith this civil society can make a difference in the
information era.
 
We think it is time to coordinate the effort of the civil society in order to
share experiences and draw some new perspectives. The voluntary, citizen-based
approach to the Global Information Society can be an effective way to achieve
some goals such as civic training and democratic participation, complementing the
market and the public Administration efforts.
 
You are all invited to joint the Alliance, an lively expression of the European civil
society.
 
Goals
•  To help European citizens to participate actively in the design and

the building of European Information Society

To alert educational and academic institutions regarding the


potential role of community network as a learning environment for the
information society and as a new interdisciplinary research field

To raise awareness among the public of the benefits of community


networks, creating a positive attitude within the media towards the
community network movement.

To inform the political representatives on how community networks


can help to reinvigorate the democratic process in each of the countries of
Europe

To negotiate with the commercial sector ways to sustain and


collaborate with the community networks movement in creating new work and
market opportunities

 

 
Founding members(alphabetic order)
 
Bcnet, Barcelona Xarxa Ciutadana,
DigiStaat, Amsterdam,
Freenet Finland,
Hiperbole, Bologna, Italy.
Onde, Desenzano del Garda, Italy.
Mataro On Line, Catalonia
Rete Civica de Milano,
TINET, Tarragona a Internet,
UK Communities On Line,
Vecam, (France),
 
Activities.

• Exchange of experience about:
• Management of community networks and projects
• Technical issues
• Social issues - with the community
• Financial
• Structuring and managing content
• Setting up channels for developing bilateral partnerships between networking projects.
• Providing support for services not available within a particular country.(f.e. videoconferencing, software, consulting,...)
• Sharing products.
• Developing common software.
• Developing content which could be shared on each other's web pages

People.

At the First European Networking Conference in Milano, july 97, these people joined in the discussion and expressed an interest in promoting the European Alliance for Community Networking:

• Paolo Barbesino <p.barbesino@sussex.ac.uk>
• Vichi Cannada-Bartoli <cannadav@regione.lombardia.it>
• Fiorella De Cindio <decindio@dsi.unimi.it>
• Andres Dochao <epitelio@eurosur.org>
• Leda Guida <com@comune.bologna.it>
• Joost Flint <joost@dds.nl>
• Veronique Kleck <vecam@globenet.org>
•  Heikki Korpinen <korpinen@freenet.hut.fi>
• Michael Mulquin <michael@communities.org.uk>
• Irene Neilson <ien@csc.liv.ac.uk>
•  Manuel Sanroma <msanroma@tinet.fut.es>
• Artur Serra <artur@ac.upc.es>
• Claire Shearman <claire.shearman@mcr1.poptel.org.uk>
• Jaume Teodoro <teodoro@eupmt.upc.es>
• Gigi Tagliapietra <gigi@siosistemi.it>
• David Wilcox <david@communities.org.uk>.
• Gunter Woltron <g.woltron@magnet.at>
International partners.
 
• Telecommunities Canada
• AFCN, Association for Community Networking (USA)
 

 

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Document presented in Parthenay III, Sept 1997.
Last review, january 1998.