:

DE sign:
(Deconstructing in-order to find new meanings)

A blogging space about my personal interests; was made during training in Stockholm #Young Leaders Visitors Program #Ylvp08 it developed into a social bookmarking blog.

I studied #Architecture; interested in #Design #Art #Education #Urban Design #Digital-media #social-media #Inhabited-Environments #Contemporary-Cultures #experimentation #networking #sustainability & more =)


Please Enjoy, feedback recommended.

p.s. sharing is usually out of interest not Blind praise.
This is neither sacred nor political.

Showing posts with label #education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #education. Show all posts

Thursday, October 1

She Entrepuneures 2016

Leadership Programmes ::: Swedish Institute ::: She Entrepreneurs 2016

"She Entrepreneurs is a leadership programme for young emerging women social entrepreneurs in the Middle East, North Africa and Sweden. The programme aims to give the participants innovative tools for sustainable change while seeking to create an active network of women changemakers.


She Entrepreneurs runs for one year, with participants meeting for ten days in Sweden and one week in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In between the modules, the participants work on their own initiative locally, coached by group mentors over digital platforms.
The participants are social entrepreneurs from Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Palestine, Yemen and Sweden who address social challenges and strive for positive social change through initiatives based on entrepreneurial principles. During the programme participants are provided with inspiration, knowledge and tools to develop a business idea for sustainable change that they have already started working on in their country or region. Through the programme, participants are also offered the opportunity to meet leading social and business entrepreneurs as well as become a part of an active network of women social entrepreneurs that supports personal and professional development.
The call for applications for She Entrepreneurs 2016 is currently open! The deadline for applying is 8 October 2015 at midnight (Central European Time Zone). "
She Entrepreneurs 2011 from Swedish Institute on Vimeo.


https://eng.si.se/apply-now-she-entrepreneurs-2016/

https://eng.si.se/tag/social-entrepreneurship/



https://eng.si.se/areas-of-operation/leadership-programmes-and-cultural-exchange/she-entrepreneurs/

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=social+entrepreneurship+moocs

https://www.class-central.com/subject/entrepreneurship


7 essential MOOCs for budding social entrepreneurs


http://mashable.com/2014/12/14/moocs-social-entrepreneurs/#MPUuyoSesmqp

Starting a business to make the world a better place is a worthy and even fashionable idea. But what does creating a social enterprise really entail, and what skills should you have under your belt before you jump in?
Aspiring social entrepreneurs can find comfort and knowledge in MOOCs, or massive open online courses. Platforms such as Coursera, Udacity and Udemy feature a number of low-cost classes taught by expert faculty in socent and related fields.
From using social media for social good to HTML programming geared specifically toward entrepreneurs, here are seven MOOCs you should look into before launching a socially conscious company.

1. Social Entrepreneurship: A Crash Course

Platform: Udemy
Price: $25
This MOOC is perfect for beginners looking to dip their toes into the social enterprise space. Taught by Jessica Lax, content developer for social impact at School for Change, Social Entrepreneurship: A Crash Course covers five essential topics: hybrid organizations, earned revenue, impact capital, impact measurement and human-centered design.
You can work at your own pace through more than an hour of video content and slides.

2. Social Media for Social Change

Platform: Udemy
Price: $19
Whether or not your social enterprise idea deals directly with social media, maintaining an online presence is imperative for any business worth its salt. This course addresses key social media strategies for social change, and covers examples of successful campaigns.
The MOOC was designed specifically as a skills-building tool for social entrepreneurs "to address old issues with new tactics for increased results."

3. Programming for Entrepreneurs

Platform: Udemy
Price: Free
Basic coding is a skill everyone needs to have — even schools across the world are adopting it into their curricula. Whether you're looking to build a simple website for your social enterprise or you just want a better understanding of development as it pertains to business, this is the MOOC for you.
Programming for Entrepreneurs teaches rudimentary HTML and CSS programming languages and development concepts, so you can walk away with tangible, interactive prototypes of your business idea. There are 28 lectures, with more than two hours of content.

4. How to Change the World

Platform: Coursera
Price: Free
This MOOC focuses on creative ideas from well-known entrepreneurs, writers, academics and political leaders to discuss how innovation and technology can address the world's most pressing issues. Despite the audacious title, the class hones in on specific units: Poverty and Philanthropy; Climate Change and Sustainability; Women, Education and Social Change; and Social Networks, Education and Activism.
As of this writing, the class is in the middle of its current course of study (until Dec. 29), but you can join the watchlist to see when the next session will take place.
Disclosure: How to Change the World was developed between Wesleyan University and the 92Y, in conjunction with Mashable's Social Good Summit in 2013.

5. How to Build a Startup

Platform: Udacity
Price: Free
Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Blank, who also teaches at Stanford, UC Berkeley and Columbia, instructs this course on the key steps needed to build a startup. The focus of the MOOC is the needs of the customer — the product, how to deliver it and how to engage your target audience.
While there may not be a specific "customer" for your social enterprise, How to Build a Startup will teach you how to identify key resources, partners, distribution channels and overall costs.
As of this writing, the class is in the middle of its current course of study (until Dec. 29), but you can join the watchlist to see when the next session will take place.

6. Social Entrepreneurship

Platform: Coursera
Price: Free (Open Track)
This MOOC comes to you courtesy of the Social Impact initiative at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. Think of it as the next step after the socent crash course listed above. Wharton's course takes a deeper dive into solution design, concept testing, performance measurement, building for scale and more.
You can choose the free "Open Track," in which assignments are based on real-world examples of social enterprises, or the "Signature Track," in which assignments will relate to the specific social enterprise you'd like to pursue.
As of this writing, the class isn't in session, but you can join the watchlist to see when it starts up again.

7. Foundations of Business Strategy

Platform: Coursera
Price: Free
Strategy is important for any entrepreneur, whether you're creating a nonprofit or for-profit company. The University of Virginia's Foundations of Business Strategy teaches strategic analysis, the impact of competitive markets and how to create value through cases discussions of specific businesses.
The final project has each student select one organization through online forums, using the skills the course has taught him and her to provide a competitive analysis.
The course just wrapped up its most recent session on Nov. 23, but you can join the watchlist to see when the next session takes place.

Monday, August 24

Design Build Transform

Design Build Transform http://www.ifyoubuilditmovie.com/

Published on Jun 8, 2015

If You Build It spends a year in the life of one of America's most innovative classrooms.

"There’s something cool about solving problems, especially those really tricky, complex ones. If you meet someone who’s truly great at problem solving, you find they have a tendency to inspire those around them. They’re smart, often funny, and almost always strong, confident, wonderfully infectious individuals.
They’re the kinds of people who would make great teachers.
When Christine and I first heard about designer Emily Pilloton and her partner, architect Matt Miller, we were immediately drawn to them. Our friend Neal Baer had read a book by Emily called Design Revolution, which featured one hundred radical new ideas by designers from around the world that were changing people’s lives. One example is a genetically engineered flower that, when planted in an area that was filled with buried landmines, changed colors when it touched metal. There are do-it-yourself solar panel kits that bring lights to remote villages, water cups made from clay and organic material that purify water and fight disease, and eye glasses that allow the user to adjust to their own needs without a trip to the optometrist.
Emily and Matt both believe that great design—which is really just great problem solving—can change the world. Unfortunately, the people and places that are most in need of improvement often don't have access to designers and architects. Only two percent of the people in the world ever hire a designer or an architect. The world we live in is primarily someone else’s creation, so it’s difficult to feel true ownership of our own surroundings.
That’s why for years Emily and Matt worked hard to bring great design and creative problem solving to communities in need. They were especially careful to listen to those they worked with, and to include input from the community when new projects were designed and built and implemented. And although they were doing incredible work in communities all around the world, they recognized that there was only so much work they could handle. “These people don’t need us, they need our skill sets,” said Emily. That’s about the time their phone rang.
It was Chip Zullinger, a renegade school superintendent from Bertie County, NC, the poorest county in the state. Dr. Zullinger believed that if he could bring Matt and Emily to Bertie County and unleash the power of creative problem solving in a high school classroom, together they might be able to address some of the community’s most pressing challenges. “Would you two be willing to take everything you know how to do and teach it to our high school students?”
Emily and Matt immediately said yes, quickly created a design-build curriculum they called “Studio H,” and just weeks before the first day of class we were in North Carolina shooting what would become IF YOU BUILD IT.
Bertie County is the poorest county in North Carolina and faces countless challenges: high drop-out rates among high schoolers, high unemployment, stagnant education opportunities, high obesity rates, and a lack of access to fresh produce at reasonable prices. Those were just a few of the challenges. Emily and Matt would have been naive to think that their classroom and their students could have solved all of the problems that exist in Bertie County. But of course, that was never the goal. What Studio H was designed to do is plant small seeds and know-how in the students who participated in the class, and by doing so develop a new resource—a new generation of creative problem solvers—that could address some of these challenges in the near future with a new skill set.
We knew early on in the process that we would not (and should not) be able to shoot every day in the classroom. But we also knew that there were bound to be moments during the year that could be helpful in telling this story. So we as filmmakers did something we had never done before: we put cameras into the hands of the students and taught them how to tell their own stories. One student, Jamesha Thompson, was particularly good at shooting video and asking questions. We began to refer to her as the “Barbara Walters” of Studio H. When something important was happening in the classroom that we couldn’t document, we knew we could rely on Jamesha to get the story. This filmmaking technique felt especially appropriate because it was so similar to the Studio H approach; by inviting the students to take ownership of telling their own stories, we were able to create a much more honest and intimate portrayal of what occurred throughout the school year. Much of the footage Jamesha shot is in the final version of the film, and she became fond of saying, “I love the camera, and the camera loves me!”
The making of IF YOU BUILD IT was an extraordinary learning experience for Christine and me. Not only was this a challenging film to produce and an extremely nuanced and difficult story to tell, the lessons that all of us learned in Studio H—students, teachers, and filmmakers—went far beyond the lessons of how to design and build things. What we also learned is that schools need to be what we as parents and educators and students decide they should be, that we as a nation are relying far too heavily on on-line education, that real change can’t occur unless there is shared ownership in the new solutions that are being created to address our most challenging problems, and, perhaps most importantly, that there is a designer inside each of us that just needs a little encouragement to grow and develop.
Bertie County, NC is 2,600 miles from our home in California, and yet this always felt like a very personal story for Christine and me. Our three kids go to public schools in Los Angeles, so we understand the challenges and the potential that public education has to offer. We felt from the beginning that Emily and Matt and their students would make for an interesting story. What we didn’t realize was that it would become such a universal story, resonating with parents, students, and educators far outside Bertie County limits.
Imagine a world with better, more creative problem solvers. That’s what Studio H is about, that’s what IF YOU BUILD IT is really about, and that’s why we are so thrilled to share it with others."
—Patrick Creadon, Director

From the director of WORDPLAY and I.O.U.S.A. comes a captivating look at a radically innovative approach to education. IF YOU BUILD IT follows designer-activists Emily Pilloton and Matthew Miller to rural Bertie County, the poorest in North Carolina, where they work with local high school students to help transform both their community and their lives. Living on credit and grant money and fighting a change-resistant school board, Pilloton and Miller lead their students through a year-long, full-scale design and build project that does much more than just teach basic construction skills: it shows ten teenagers the power of design-thinking to re-invent not just their town but their own sense of what's possible.

Directed by Patrick Creadon and produced by Christine O’Malley and Neal Baer, IF YOU BUILD IT offers a compelling and hopeful vision for a new kind of classroom in which students learn the tools to design their own futures.

Wednesday, June 19

Ila souria Competition

 Ila souria Competition > July



عبّر عن نفسك

في هذه الفترة من الانتاج الاعلامي الغزير من جميع المصادر، ولكن حيث نسمع كل شيء ما عدا رأي الشعب السوري، تقدّم “إلى سوريا” للشابات والشباب السوريين فرصة التعبير عن أنفسهم

إن معارف المختصين والجردات و تحليل المختصين من كل أنحاء العالم، كلها أشياء أساسية لا يمكن فصلها عن رأي اللاعبين الحقيقيين للثورة وخاصة الشباب الذين يساهمون غالباً، في هذا السياق المأساوي، بحياتهم لبناء المستقبل

أي مستقبل؟

لذلك تعرض “إلى سوريا” على كل واحد، السؤال التالي

ما الذي يساعدكم على البقاء والحفاظ على الامل منذ بداية الثورة؟ بأي مستقبل تحلمون؟ وكيف تفكرون بإمكانية تحقيقه؟

هناك طريقتان للإجابة على هذا السؤال

ـ إما بواسطة نص،

ـ أو بواسطة صورة ( أو الإثنين معاً للذين يرغبون بربط كلماتهم بتصوّر ما

نص مع حريّة تعبير كاملة و مطلقة (رسالة، قصة، شعر، إلخ) وصورة مع الامكانيات اللامحدودة للغة المرئية (رسوم، كاريكاتور، منحوتات، تصميم، صور، ملصقات، إلخ)

الشروط

إجابة نصية= 200 كلمة كحد أقصى باللغة العربية أو 300 كلمة باللغة الفرنسية او الانكليزية.

300 dpi مع دقة jpg إجابة صورية= الابعاد القصوى للصورة: إرتفاع 20 سم ـ العرض 15سم، مسجّلة بقطع

تجدر الإشارة إلى أن المنشور سوف ينشر بالأبيض والأسود (مستوى الرمادي):على المبتكر إذاً أن يأخذ بعين الاعتبار هذه المعطيات الاساسية في تكوين اللون، إما من خلال العمل مباشرة على هذه الثنائية أو عبر اختيار الالوان الملائمة في الاطار المفروض

نطلب من الجميع الالتزام بهذه الشروط لاسباب تتعلق بالتصميم الرسمي الذي علينا تسليمه للطابع.

من المستحسن تحديد الاسم او العائلة او اسم مستعار والعمر ومكان الاقامة الحالي والمعتاد (للنازحين والمنفيين

ستنشر الردود على الانترنت على موقع “إلى…” و مجموعة مختارة ستنشر (كتاب، حجم 24ـ 18سم) باللغة العربية او الفرنسية او الانكليزية مع نشر أعمال المؤتمر الاول لإلى…، إلى سوريا.01، اللذي سيقام في معهد العالم العربي في باريس، في تشرين الاول المقبل

يجب ارسال النصوص والصور المقترحة بالبريد الالكتروني وذلك قبل ٧ تموز ٢٠١٣ على العنوان التالي

ila.alaati@gmail.com

نشكركم على تعريف اصدقائكم و معارفكم على هذه المبادرة. و ننتظر شهاداتكم بفارغ الصبر

إلى سوريا

http://www.ilasouria.org/الصفحة-الرئيسية-welcome/

EXPRIMEZ-VOUS !

Dans cette période de foisonnement médiatique de toutes origines mais où l’on entend tout sauf l’opinion du peuple syrien, Ila Souria propose aux jeunes syriennes et syriens de s’exprimer.

Les savoirs de spécialistes, les
inventaires et état des lieux, les analyses d’expériences de par le monde,
toutes choses essentielles ne peuvent être dissociées de l’opinion publique, et donc de celle des véritables acteurs de la révolution, en particulier des jeunes, qui dans ce contexte tragique contribuent, de leur vie souvent, à construire l’avenir .

Quel avenir ?
Aussi, Ila Souria soumet à chacun la question suivante :
Qu’est-ce qui vous aide à tenir et à garder espoir depuis le début de la révolution ?
De quel avenir rêvez-vous ? Comment pensez-vous pouvoir le réaliser ?

Deux façons de répondre à cette interrogation :
- soit par un texte,
- soit par une image (soit les deux pour certains qui voudraient associer une représentation à leurs mots).

Texte avec une totale liberté d’expression (lettre, récit, poésie, etc.) et image avec une infinité de possibilités de langages visuels (dessins, caricatures, sculptures, maquettes, photographies, collages, etc.).

Contraintes :
Réponse textuelle = maximum de 200 mots en langue arabe et de 300 mots en langue française ou anglaise.
Réponse graphique = dimension maximum de l’image : hauteur 20 cm – largeur 15 cm, enregistrée au format jpg avec une résolution de 300 dpi.

A noter que la publication sera éditée en noir et blanc (niveau de gris) : au créateur donc de prendre en considération cette donnée essentielle dans sa composition colorimétrique, soit en travaillant directement dans cette bichromie soit en choisissant les “bonnes“ couleurs dans le cadre imposé.

Nous vous demandons à tous de bien respecter ces contraintes pour des raisons pratiques liées à la maquette graphique que nous aurons à remettre à l’imprimeur.

Il est souhaitable d’indiquer les prénom et nom ou le pseudonyme, l’âge, le lieu de vie actuel et habituel (pour les déplacés ou les exilés).

Les réponses seront publiées en ligne sur le site ILA… et une sélection des réponses reçues sera publiée (livre, format 24x18cm) en arabe, français et anglais avec une parution pour le premier colloque de ILA…, Ilasouria.01, qui se déroulera à l’Institut du monde arabe à Paris en octobre prochain.

Les textes et les images proposés devront être adressés par mail à ila.alaati@gmail.com et cela impérativement avant le 07 juillet 2013.

Merci de faire connaître cette initiative, à vos proches et connaissances. Nous attendons avec impatience vos témoignages !

http://www.ilasouria.org/exprimez-vous/


HAVE YOUR SAY !

There is no shortage of opinions in the media about the situation in Syria. It seems everybody has something to say – but we’re not getting to hear from the Syrians themselves. That is why Ila Souria is reaching out to the young people of Syria, so their voices can be heard.

Specialists’ input, inventories and assessments of the state of affairs, analyses of pertinent experiences around the world… all are essential ingredients that cannot be dissociated from public opinion and the feedback of those who are directly involved in the revolution—especially young people who, in this tragic context, in many cases are giving their very lives to help build the country’s future.

What kind of future lies ahead?

Ila Souria would like people to consider the following questions:
What has given you hope, and kept your hope alive, since the beginning of the revolution? What kind of future do you dream of? How do you think it can be achieved?

There are two ways to submit your answers:
– in written format
– in visual format (or both, for those who wish to combine images and words).
Your written contributions can take any form you like (letter, story, poem, etc.) as can your visuals (drawings, caricatures, sculptures, models, photographs, collages, etc.).

Conditions:
Written contribution: Maximum of 200 words in Arabic or 300 words in French or English.
Visual contribution: Maximum height of 20 cm and maximum width of 15 cm, submitted in JPG format, resolution 300 dpi.
Please note that the final document will be published in black and white (grey scale). Creators should therefore take this into consideration in their colour choices and composition, either by working directly in black and white or by choosing an easily adaptable colour palette.
All contributors are asked to kindly adhere to these limits, which are required to meet practical printing considerations.
It is preferable to include your full name or pseudonym with your contribution, as well as your age, your current place of residence and your usual place of residence (for those who are displaced or in exile).
Contributions will be posted on the ILA website, and a selection will be included in a book (24 cm x 18 cm) to be published in Arabic, French and English. The book will be launched at the Ilasouria.01 symposium, which will be held at the Institut du monde arabe in Paris in October 2013.

All contributions must be sent by email to ila.alaati@gmail.com by July 7, 2013, at the very latest.

Be sure to spread the word about this initiative to as many people as possible.
We look forward to hearing from you!

Monday, May 27

Revitalisation of Historic Cities


Revitalisation of Historic Cities
#AKAA #AKDN

Revitalisation of Birzeit Historic Centre
Location: Birzeit, Palestine (West Asia)

Architect: Riwaq - Centre for Architectural Conservation, Ramallah, Palestine

Client: Birzeit Municipality

Completed: 2009 ongoing
Design: 2007-2011

Sunday, May 5

Diller (at) GSD

Diller (at) GSD
#Women-in-Architecture

Learning from Laureates

Learning from Laureates
Thom Mayne, FAIA, the 2013 winner of the AIA Gold Medal winner and 2005 Pritzker Prize laureate, sat down (via Skype) with 2013 Pritzker Prize Laureate, Toyo Ito, Hon. FAIA. The SoCal Sculpturalist reached out across the Pacific to talk to Tokyo's post-Metabolist master about his career in design and the changing role of architectural practice in a post-digital age.
Mayne describes Ito as an "architect's architect"—and in this exclusive video for ARCHITECT, the two discuss what that means.
  Learning from Laureates from ARCHITECT Magazine on Vimeo.

Wednesday, September 19

LG . Mohammad Al-Asad


Local Governance Mohammad Al-Asad



As is the case in most Arab countries, the political discourse in Jordan has become very lively over the past year and a half. Politicians and decision makers – both present and previous ones – have been energetically presenting their views about the current state of political life in the country, and to where it should be heading. In spite of the wide variety of views they may express, almost all seem to view politics as a centralized activity that takes place on the national level. The empowerment of local government, primarily expressed through municipal government, is generally absent from their thinking.
One notable exception is provided by Walid al-Masri, the former mayor of Irbid. He has strongly advocated empowering municipal authorities in a real and meaningful manner. He emphasizes that the authority of municipalities should extend beyond issuing permits, paving streets, and collecting garbage, to an active involvement in matters such as public health, education, and mass transportation. This means that the ability of municipalities to collect taxes and to develop and implement bylaws should be expanded and strengthened.
As authority is increasingly decentralized and transferred from national bodies to municipal ones, people will be able to have more influence over many of the issues that directly, continuously, and intimately affect their lives. Also, decentralization will relieve national politics of considerable pressures, and will make them less divisive and conflict-ridden. It will allow many issues to be addressed and resolved on the local level rather than pushing them to the already overcrowded and overstressed arena of national politics.
It is at the municipal level that the practice of participatory democracy truly begins and much of its takes place. Here, people can come together – both as individuals and groups – to address and influence a wide range of issues affecting their daily lives. On a most basic level, these include how their buildings may be constructed and used, how traffic moves through their streets, and where cars may park. They also include how their garbage is collected and managed, how their water and electricity services are delivered, and how their sewage is disposed of and treated. They also should comprise how their children are educated, their public health clinics are run, and their public transportation is organized.
Many of the decisions affecting our daily lives should be taken on the local rather than national level. Municipal institutions are able to accumulate more immediate and intimate knowledge of the needs, concerns, and aspirations of a city’s residents in comparison to national centralized institutions. Moreover, municipal government functions at a smaller scale than national government, and this allows people to more readily become involved in them and in a manner that may not be easily realizable in national politics. It is easier at that level to engage in the various components of political activism, whether organizing, making alliances, lobbying, fundraising, or negotiating. Through this, people get to take control of their affairs as city residents, rather than feeling helpless, powerless, marginalized, and alienated in relation to the decision-making processes affecting their lives.
If increasing authority is given to elected municipal structures in Jordan, both municipal institutions and city residents will need to undergo a steep learning curve. This is especially true considering that both have had so little influence over urban affairs for such long periods of time. Errors will be made. Resources will not be always be used in a most efficient manner. Voters initially may not vote for those best qualified to represent them as mayors and city councilors. The all too familiar mayor whose legacy usually ends up consisting of buying a new mayor’s car, redecorating his office, and hiring his relatives, while leaving no positive impact on the city, will not disappear overnight. However, lessons will be learned quickly. Voters will come to appreciate the responsibility they take on when they vote. Municipal officials will quickly realize that they need to deliver tangible improvements to city residents if they are to stay in office beyond the current elections cycle. Also, municipalities will learn from each other, and they will compete with each other. In relatively little time, best practices will begin to emerge and spread.
For all this to happen, however, municipalities need to be given real authority, and the people of the city need to be able to fully decide through the voting process who takes on positions of municipal authority. Here, I am reminded of an opinion that Walid al-Masri has put forward: If the authority given to municipalities is limited to matters such as issuing permits, people will vote for those who will make it easier for them to obtain those permits. This even applies if the permitting process results in decisions that are clearly against the public good, as with allowing people to build larger buildings than they should, or permitting functions to take hold in locations where they shouldn’t be (a wedding hall in the middle of a residential area, which generates horrific levels of noise, traffic, and garbage, is one of many such examples). Voters under such circumstances will elect those with whom they have strong blood ties or social ties. However, if municipalities also have authority over issues such as education, public transportation, and public health, voters will begin to think differently. Rather than automatically electing those with whom they have close personal ties, they will start thinking about electing those who are able to deliver better education to their children, better health facilities to their families, and better public transportation to commuters. With that, the democratic process begins to enter a more mature phase.
Although the subject of decentralization is often mentioned in Jordan, it is not usually given more than lip service. While there is much talk about the political reforms that need to be made in the country, and while divergent and often conflicting opinions are being put forward as to what defines reform, these differing opinions seem to come together in viewing politics as a centralized activity. If meaningful reform is to be achieved, it has to include serious efforts at decentralization. Decentralization, in turn, cannot be achieved without empowering municipalities.
 The Article is co published by Tareeq & 7iber #Jordan 
in #Arabic http://tareeq.me/?p=2122 
To Know More about M. Al-Asad Kindly check http://csbe.org/

بقلم محمد شجاع الأسد*


كما هو الحال في غالبية بلدان العالم العربي، فإن الخطاب السياسي في الأردن تغير كثيراً خلال السنة والنصف الماضية. فالسياسيون ومتخذو القرار – الحاليون والسابقون منهم – يبدون آراءهم بشغف عن الوضع السياسي الحالي في الأردن، وأيضاً عن الإتجاهات المستقبلية لهذا الوضع. ومع اختلاف آرائهم، إلا أنه يبدو أنهم يتفقون في اعتبار السياسة نشاطاً يحدث على المستوى الوطني المركزي وليس على المستوى المحلي. ولذلك، فإن تعزيز وتمكين مؤسسات الحكم المحلي، الممثلة في الغالب بالبلديات، هو أمر عادة غائب عن تفكيرهم.

ومن الاستثناءات المهمة لذلك هي آراء وليد المصري، رئيس بلدية إربد السابق. إنه ينادي بدعم البلديات وتمكينها تمكيناً حقيقياً، ويركز على أن السلطات المتاحة للبلديات يجب أن تتوسع لتتعدى أموراً مثل منح التراخيص وتجميع النفايات وتعبيد الشوارع، لتتضمن ما هو أوسع من ذلك مثل الصحة العامة والتعليم ووسائل النقل العامة، هذا بالإضافة إلى تعزيز قدراتها على فرض الضرائب المحلية ووضع الأنظمة.

وإذا تمت تقوية اللامركزية وتحويل سلطات من المؤسسات الوطنية إلى البلديات، سيكون لسكان المدن دور أكبر في إدارة العديد من الأمور التي تخصهم وتهمهم. كذلك فإن اللامركزية ستحرر النشاط السياسي الوطني من العديد من الضغوطات، وتجعله أقل عرضة للممارسات التي تؤدي إلى التوتر والتفرقة والمواجهة، إذ ستسمح اللامركزية للعديد من الأمور أن تعالج وتُحل على المستوى المحلي بدلاً من إقحامها في حلبة السياسة الوطنية المشحونة والمكتظة بالقضايا المختلفة.

إن الممارسات الديمقراطية التشاركية تبدأ عند مستوى المدن وبلدياتها، وهناك يتجلى العديد من هذه الممارسات بوضوح، إذ يتجمع الناس عند ذلك المستوى – بصفتهم أفراداً ومجموعات – لمعالجة العديد من الأمور التي تؤثر على حياتهم اليومية. وهذا يبدأ بكيفية تشييد أبنيتهم واستعمالها، وإدارة حركة السير واصطفاف السيارات في شوارعهم. ويتضمن أيضاً إدارة نفاياتهم، وتأمين الماء والكهرباء لهم، وتصريف مياههم العادمة ومعالجتها. ويجب أن يتسع ليتضمن كيفية تعليم أولادهم وإدارة العيادات الصحية العامة وتنظيم وسائل النقل العام.

وهناك العديد من القرارات التي تؤثر على حياتنا اليومية التي يجب أن تُتخذ على المستوى المحلي بدلاً من المستوى الوطني. إن البلديات أقدر على التعرف بشكل دقيق على احتياجات سكان المدينة وعلى الأمور التي تقلقهم وعلى آمالهم بالمقارنة مع المؤسسات التي تعمل على المستوى الوطني. كذلك، إن البلديات أصغر حجماً من المؤسسات الحكومية المركزية، وهذا يسمح لسكان المدن أن يتفاعلوا معها على نحو يصعب تحقيقه بنفس الفعالية مع المؤسسات الوطنية المركزية. ويكون أسهل عليهم المشاركة في النشاط السياسي سواء من ناحية التنظيم أو تكوين التحالفات أو التفاعل المباشر مع متخذي القرار. ومن خلال كل ذلك، يشعر سكان المدينة أنه لهم دور مهم في إدارة شؤونهم، بدلاّ من الإحساس بالضغف والعجز نحو ممارسات اتخاذ القرار التي تؤثر على حياتهم.

وإذا تعززت سلطات البلديات المنتخبة في الأردن، فإنه سيكون على سكان المدن والمؤسسات البلدية التي تمثلهم على حد سواء الكثير ليتعلموه، خاصة أنه لم يكن لأي منهم أي تأثير فعال على أوضاع الحياة في المدن لفترات طويلة من الزمن. وستُرتكب العديد من الأخطاء. فمثلاً، لن تُستخدم الموارد المتاحة للمدن بالضرورة على أفضل وجه، ولن ينتخب المواطنون بالضرورة من هم الأفضل لتمثيلهم من رؤساء بلديات وأعضاء مجالسها، ولن يختفي فوراً رئيس البلدية النمطي الذي سيتذكره الجميع بأنه اشترى سيارة جديدة لرئاسة البلدية وأعاد تأثيث مكتب رئيس البلدية ووظف أقاربه، ولكن لم يترك أي أثر أيجابي على المدينة. ولكن الجميع سيتعلمون الدروس المهمة بسرعة. وسيعي المواطنون بالمسؤولية التي ترافق عملية التصويت، وسيتعلم مسؤولو البلديات أنه عليهم أن يقدموا تحسينات ملموسة لسكان المدينة إن أرادوا أن يعاد انتخابهم. وستتعلم البلديات من بعضها البعض، وأيضاً ستتنافس مع بعضها البعض. وبعد مرور القليل من الزمن، ستظهر وتنتشر الممارسات الإيجابية المختلفة بين البلديات.

وحتى يحدث كل هذا، يجب أن تعطى البلديات سلطات حقيقية ويجب أن يشعر سكان المدينة أنهم يقررون من خلال عملية التصويت من هم المسؤولون عن إدارة بلديتهم. وفي هذا السياق، أعود إلى آراء وليد المصري بخصوص الحكم المحلي. يقول المصري أنه إذا اقتصرت مسؤوليات البلديات على أمور مثل إصدار التراخيص، فإن السكان سيصوتوا لمن يسهّل عليهم الحصول على هذه التراخيص، حتى ولو كانت ضد المصلحة العامة، كما في السماح للسكان بتشييد أبنية أكبر مما يجب أو السماح لأبنية معينة أن تتواجد في غير الأماكن المخصصة لها (من الأمثلة الكثيرة على ذلك السماح بتواجد صالات أفراح في وسط حي سكني، إذ أنها تولد مستويات غير مقبولة من التلوث الصوتي والإزدحام المروري والنفايات). وفي مثل هذه الظروف سيصوت المنتخبون لهؤلاء الذين تربطهم بهم علاقات قرابة أو علاقات تقارب اجتماعية أخرى. ولكن إذا كانت البلديات مسؤولة أيضاً عن أمور مثل التعليم والصحة العامة والنقل العام، فيسبدأ سكان المدينة بالنظر إلى عملية الانتخاب بشكل آخر. وبدلاً من انتخاب هؤلاء الذين تربطهم بهم علاقات قرابة، سيبدأوا بالتفكير بانتخاب من يستطيع أن يؤمن التعليم الأحسن لأبنائهم والخدمات الصحية الأفضل لعائلاتهم وخدمات النقل العام الأكثر كفاءة لهم. ومن خلال هذه التطورات تدخل العملية الديمقراطية مرحلة جديدة وأكثر نضوجاً.

ومع أن موضوع اللامركزية يذكر في العديد من الأحيان في الأردن، إلا أنه لم تتخذ أي جهود جدية تهدف إلى تحقيقه. ومع أننا نسمع الكثير عن الحاجة إلى الإصلاح السياسي في الأردن، ومع أننا نسمع آراء متباينة وحتى متضاربة بخصوص تعريف هذا الإصلاح، إلا أنه يبدو أن هذه الآراء المتباينة تتوافق إجمالاً في اعتبار السياسة نشاطاً يحدث على المستوى المركزي، هذا مع أن الإصلاح دون اللامركزية سيكون ناقصاً، وتحقيق اللامركزية يعتمد أساساً على إعطاء البلديات صلاحيات حقيقية.
*الدكتور محمد الأسد مهندس معماري ومؤرخ، وهو مؤسس مركز دراسات البيئة المبنية.

Thursday, August 23

His Majesty ::: Bucky

Buckminster Fuller ::: Everything I Know

session 01 (entire) - January 20, 1975 

session 02 (entire) - January 20, 1975 


session 03 (entire) - January 20, 1975

session 04 (entire) - January 20, 1975 


session 05 (entire) - January 20, 1975 


session 06 (entire) - January 20, 1975 




The Twelve Parts are available (at)   http://archive.org/details/buckminsterfullereverythingiknow01
http://archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3Abuckminsterfuller&sort=-publicdate

Have Fun =)

Saturday, February 4

Architectural Edu > Brit

Architecture Review EXCLUSIVE: 

SCHUMACHER SLAMS BRITISH ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION


The submissions to the current RIBA President’s Medals demonstrate once more that architectural education in Britain is operating in a parallel universe. The (best?) students of the current generation as well as their teachers seem to think that the ordinary life processes of contemporary society are too boring to merit the avant-garde’s attention. Instead we witness the invention of scenarios that are supposedly more interesting than the challenges actually posed by contemporary reality. The points of departure for the majority of projects are improbable narratives with intended symbolic message or poetic import.


Accordingly, the resultant works are statements or allegories rather than designs. This is evidenced by the emphasis on evocative, atmospheric imagery, with little or no demonstration of how the visualised spaces organise and articulate social life processes and institutions. For instance, the Bronze Medal (first prize in the Part 1 category) proposes to place ‘an acoustic lyrical mechanism’ into a quarry in Bangalore. ‘The building is played by the wind, acoustically transforming the abrasive sounds of quarrying.’ The Silver Medal (first prize in the Part 2 category) presents itself in the form of a dystopian science fiction movie in which Brixton is transformed into ‘a degenerated and disregarded area inhabited by a robot workforce’. The robots are supposed to symbolise immigrant labourers; they are meant to represent racist exploitation.
One of the runner-up projects presents itself with sarcasm as a ‘genetically engineered “nature factory” for luxury goods, masquerading as a revamped “eco-industry”’. Like the Robots of Brixton this ‘nature factory’ is not a design but an ironic allegory intended as critical commentary.
The other projects in this category that have been selected and highlighted by the RIBA Journal (by publishing them with a project description) ‘engage’ the following ‘topics’: an algae monitoring facility, a retreat for Echo from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, and a storage building based on the fictional narrative that all citizens would deposit personal things into safety boxes throughout their lives in order to be later confronted by their past.



Although there is rather less explanation about the other entries, the project titles (eg, Pyrolytic Power Plant, Tsunami Alert Community, Hydrodynamic Landscape, Mushroom Farm, Guild of Tanners and Butchers) as well as the dominance of atmospheric (mostly dark, cloudy, poetic and dystopian) imagery suggests a similarly idiosyncratic, unreal understanding of what constitutes a worthy design brief. The last two years were also similar: the 2010 winner was a ‘shipwrecking yard’ and the 2009 winner proposed ‘motorised coastal defence towers acting as a warning device to mankind with respect to climate change’. Again, these are not designs of spaces intended to frame social life, these are narratives and messages pushed by evocative imagery.
There is no doubt that creative imagination and skills are in evidence here. However, it is difficult to see what such works achieve and contribute to the advancement of the discipline of architecture. The RIBA’s director of education, David Gloster, seems to endorse what I criticise here: ‘The ability of the best work to create its own world while still reflecting everything that has been going on around its authors was captivating.’ Gloster also welcomes what he considers to be ‘a pronounced political edge’ and he takes this as an indication that ‘students haven’t given up on architecture as catalyst for change’.
I believe that architecture co-evolves with other subsystems of society like the economy, politics, the mass media, science etc. In this co-evolution innovative architecture can be as much a catalyst for progress as innovations in science, the mass media, or in the political system. However, I doubt if the invention of other worlds as arenas for imaginative design is the way to achieve this. I also doubt that architecture could be a site of radical political activism. I believe that architecture is a sui generis discipline (discourse and practice) with its own, unique societal responsibility and competency. As such it should be sharply demarcated against other competencies like art, science/engineering and politics.


Architects are called upon to develop urban and architectural forms that are congenial to contemporary economic and political life. They are neither legitimised, nor competent to argue for a different politics or to ‘disagree with the consensus of global politics’ (as David Gloster suggests). ‘Critical architecture’ commits the fallacy of trying to substitute itself for the political process proper. The result might be a provocation at best, but often ends up as nothing but naive (if not pompous) posturing. Success in the world is not to be expected from such pursuits.
The demonstration of creative imagination and virtuoso visualisation skills is not enough to merit an award. Should we not expect the best students and teachers at the best architecture schools to make a serious contribution to the innovative upgrading of the discipline’s capacity to take on the challenges it might actually face via its future clients and commissions?
I consider the best schools to be a crucial part of the avant-garde segment of the discipline charged with the permanent innovation of the built environment. It is here that systematic research and serious design experiments can be conducted in ways that are more principled and more forward looking than would be possible within professional practice on the basis of real commissions. Academic design research allows designers to select and focus on specific aspects of the built environment, and abstract from other aspects.
Academic design research − and a Part 2 project could play this role − is not a full simulation of a real project with all its concerns. Thus neither the design brief, nor the design solution of an academic thesis project, have to be pragmatic in a straightforward way. The realism I mean is of a more subtle order. It calls for an optimistic probing of our contemporary world with respect to the opportunities it offers and considers the vogue of otherworldly narratives as counterproductive.


better view > 


http://www.architectural-review.com/view/overview/ar-exclusive-schumacher-slams-british-architectural-education/8625659.article

Monday, November 28

DSS @stirling 2011

This post been shared on #Facebook by a good friend
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2414296583/
I would like to repost it here believing in the importance of the subjects mentioned besides it's all my favorite topics in one place/space!


Isn't that great!






  Presentations from this year's Design Skills Symposium which was held in Stirling.




Sarah Longlands - The Role of Place and Diversity


Steven Tolson - Investment Inputs: Citizens, Developers and the State



Max Hislop - Liveable Places: Green Networks



Tom Steele - Making the most out of Property and Assets



Ben Hamilton-Baillie - Streets, Networks and Public Space



Stephen Hill - How to live more sustainably: Aligning Personal and Professional Values



David Sim - People Oriented Development