Welcome to Ning

Thanks to the efforts of the Communications and Awareness Committee, imagineCALGARY now has its own forum for social networking. A new Ning website that focuses on the imagineCALGARY Vision and sustainability issues in the Calgary community has recently been launched.

In addition to learning about sustainability-themed initiatives and events, the imagineCALGARY Ning site offers visitors a chance to share their point-of-view and create momentum within the community.

“We had a couple of key reasons for developing the Ning site,” says John Lewis, Coordinator of the Communications and Awareness Committee. “Firstly, it creates a way for Partners and members of the public to discuss issues of sustainability and imagineCALGARY.  This will serve to grow knowledge and build momentum for action in the community. Secondly, it helps individuals and organizations outside the Partnership engage with imagineCALGARY.  This will hopefully allow for broader interest in the imagineCALGARY initiative over time.”

Anyone can join the Ning community, and it’s definitely one-stop-shopping in terms of information sharing. You can post videos, write a blog, browse the libraries or promote a sustainability event.

Three key groups have been created that are focused around imagineCALGARY Partner priorities for 2008 – the Economic Well-Being Group, Environmental Sustainability, and High School Completion/Successful Transitions. Information on how the imagineCALGARY Vision relates to these areas – and Targets and initiatives that are already underway – is also included.

You can join any or all of these groups, and post information yourself, or simply check out the related resources and what others are saying. And if you want to create a group of your own? That’s easily done, as well.

“The Ning site is meant to complement the information that’s already on the imagineCALGARY website – not duplicate it,” John says. “Ning has a social networking focus that will give people a place to discuss the imagineCALGARY initiative and sustainability in general in a casual, timely, collaborative and accessible way.”