The Fellowship are looking for 8 Fellows who are working in the Greater Manchester Community and Voluntary Sector. The programme is for people who may have very little experience in technology, but a lot of experience of working in communities, and curiosity about the ways in which technology is shaping everything that we do.
This isn’t about digital skills, or coding or talking about access and inclusion – and this isn’t about digital service delivery or democracy, open data and digital rights, as important as those things can be. This is about where community intelligence – all that insight about what’s happening in communities – in our community spaces, in our town halls, in our neighbourhood relationships, in our Mutual Aid groups, in our Facebook groups, and how that gets used to shape and determine a community’s future.
What’s involved
Over 4 months, from September – December, 8 Fellows will be taken through this prototype programme.
What it will ask of you is the following:
1.5 hours a month to take part in a Scanning + Sensing Network
2 hours a month to attend a talk and workshop
4 hours a month for reading, interviews, ethnography or taking part in Office Hours
1 day a month for writing, reflection and group work (2 x groups of four people)
Group work will involve each group tackling one ‘wicked problem’ – this should draw on a real-life example from one cohort member – either a persistent concern that feels too complex to tackle in the context of business as usual, or a problem where technology has been applied as a quick fix but has not helped to resolve the issue (it may have, even, made things worse)
It’s a two day a month commitment and each Fellow will be given a £1,000 stipend to cover this time.
The shape of the programme
There will be a series of 8-10 sessions and workshops for people to debate, share, learn from each other, problem solve, and make sense of the future for civil society in Greater Manchester. Where appropriate world class contributors and collaborators will be brought in, but the focus will be on building collective learning and shared wisdom.
Monthly
The programme will be focussed around a Scanning and Sensing Network -- the start of a new horizon scanning infrastructure for Greater Manchester’s civil society. This is where the Fellows will meet once a month together and – using prompts related to technology – share and make sense of what’s changing in their communities.
24 September – Introduction to the programme and each other
8 October – Influencing and narrative
22 October – Data and design justice
19 November – Social spaces and infrastructure
10 December – Online spaces
For more information and to apply click here
Deadline: 4 September 2020