Greetings from Boulder, Colorado, where we just had a 1200 acre forest fire and now we've got snow in the high country!
It's exciting to see so many participants and such rich discussion here. I'd like to add a slightly different spin on the dialogue thus far by sharing a little about the BASIN project, which is at www.basin.org or http://bcn.boulder.co.us/basin
Funded through an EPA EMPACT grant, BASIN stands for the Boulder Area Sustainability Information Network and is a pilot project to provide public access to environmental information, particulally information relating to the watershed.
We've had some good success at using an interdisciplinary and decidedly community/place-based approach to develop the BASIN program, which include the website, newsletters and schools programs. Though focused on one particular region, we've had visitors from all over the world visit our site, which we hope will serve as a model or template for other communities.
Online learning activities, a "library" of local contributions from professors, authors, artists and photographers and maps and historical photos and newspaper accounts help to provide the local context.
The process of acquiring data, validating its quality/accuracy, translating for beginner and more advanced audiences, and closing the loop by offering ways for people to make a difference in their everyday lives is no small task. But, particularly when it comes to water-related issues, the public has been largely out of the loop and often doesn't know where their water comes from or goes to, and is fairly oblivious about how it is used.
Does this approach have merit and could a BASIN template be customized for other watershed or environmental communities? What do you think?
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