Community Almanac

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Community Almanac is a place on the web where you and others in your community can share stories about the heart and soul of the place you live. Launch Tool

Citizens’ shared sense of their community’s heart and soul is built through interaction: stories they tell, places they frequent, people they all know. Yet in today’s hurried world, time and opportunity for interaction with neighbors is curtailed. As people become increasingly isolated in their own affairs, the sense of community dwindles; stories are forgotten; the character of the place begins to fade.

Working with The Open Planning Project, the Foundation is striving to give people a way to capture, share and celebrate their community’s heart and soul via the web. At no cost and with minimal technical knowledge, communities will be able to create their own local “Community Almanac:” a place on the web where residents can share stories (text, photos, videos) about the heart and soul of the place they live. Unlike all-purpose, “placeless” interest groups found on photo sharing sites or blogs, Community Almanacs will be all about one place: that particular community and the self-told stories, values and vision of the people who make it their home.

Community Almanac makes use of the latest in easy-to-use, interactive web mapping technology. It went live in November, 2008. The project website is http://www.communityalmanac.org/   

Goals

  • Help communities articulate, implement and steward their heart and soul
  • Promote more inclusive, collaborative and proactive decision-making about the future
  • Give individual communities a comfortable home in the placeless online world
  • Advance the use of maps and technology with, and for, heart and soul planning
  • Utilize Open Source Technology
  • Develop easy-to-use templates to promote replication

Vitals

  • In November 2007, the Foundation issued an RFP for construction of the Community Almanac. 
  • During January 2008, seven finalist bidders were interviewed with the assistance of an external selection committee. The Open Planning Project, based in New York, New York, was chosen as the Foundation’s software development partner and enthusiastically agreed to split costs with the Foundation. The Foundation engaged Doug Walker of Placeways to assist with project management.
  • Development started in March 2008.
  • Alpha testing started with sample communities in April 2008.
  • The site went live in November 2008.


This tool is currently in Beta development. Please share your experiences, good and bad, at communications@orton.org.