Hopenhagen #COP15

Hopenhagen is a campaign to encourage public participation in the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
7-18 December 2009

iWatch is asking you to prevent terrorist attacks

This PSA is from iWatch, the citizen surveillance program from the Los Angeles Police Department. As said in the PSA it is a kind of neighbourhood watch for the whole city. “It is a community awareness program created to educate the public about behaviors and activities that may have a connection to terrorism.”

A neighbourhood watch program can be very useful but I agree with Jim Harper’s comment on opposingviews.com:

Asking amateurs for tips about terrorism will have many wasteful and harmful results, like racial and ethnic discrimination, angry neighbors turning each other in, and—given the rarity of terrorism—lots and lots of folks just plain getting it wrong. People with expertise—even in very limited domains—can discover suspicious circumstances in their worlds almost automatically when they find things “hinky.”

Although the iWatch program is about behaviors and activities, not individuals, it will not work that way.

Storytelling: Choose A Different Ending

Great use of media at YouTube from the London Metropolitan Police. You choose the ending: “Take the knife” or “Don’t take the knife”.
When writing this post 199.000 choose for option one and 191.000 choose option two. For what it’s worth, I think most people choose both.
But there are more choices to make. Try it for yourself.

These storytelling video’s are part of a campaign partly aimed to promote a new website: droptheweapons.org. The website from the Metropolitan Police is made to show how real people can turn away from violent crime.

“Know when to say no. Picking up a gun or a knife always makes a situation worse never better.”

Why I Choose immunization

The California Department of Public Health in partnership with the California Immunization Coalition, have recently unveiled a website campaign dedicated to being informed about immunization. Staying protected from diseases such as Hepatitis A/B, Chickenpox, and Tetanus is made possible through the use of vaccines – this is what the Why I Choose campaign hopes to make known to the general public.

There is a wealth of information on vaccine safety and more diseases that are preventable through immunization. The great part about the site is that it’s based on real stories and real people in the community – reflecting the need to address genuine concerns that everyday people may have.

Stories from real situations can be powerful tools in improving public health and I think the Why I Choose campaign is onto something.

They have also made it a point to integrate certain social aspects such as Twitter and a photo contest.

This is a guest post by the always enthusiastic Andre Blackman, founder of Pulse + Signal, the blog highlighting new ideas and innovation in Public Health.

Grass is dumb

I’m a big fan of the ongoing sequence from Sukle Advertising for Denver Water. Simple and effective message, humorous but not silly. Use only what you need.
Grass is dumb, you have to feel guilty watering the lawn 2 minutes less.

And what would a Denver Water summer be without old reliable—the coolest FREE yard sign ever. Let the whole city know that your house is conservation central.

Postcards Pose Tough Questions

The Ask Yourself campaign from Dropping Knowledge is a series of over 100 digital postcards which promote dialogue on social themes of global significance. Answers can be added as comments by clicking on the postcards and each card can be shared through dragging and dropping into emails. Registered users are encouraged to pose questions as well. See more below.

Q&A at its best: participatory, provocative and pertinent.

One Small Change - For the Health of It

Nice catch from Pulse and Signal’s Andre Blackman about the One Small Change campaign from the Salt Lake Valley Health Department in Utah (USA).

The One Small Change campaign focuses on the simple things you can do to improve your health. Through the use of stickers and other community efforts, they encourage Salt Lake County residents to incorporate one small change into their lifestyle this year.

The “center” of the campaign is the YouTube video, created 100% in-house with a budget of $0.00. They shot the video using a tiny Flip camera and edited it using iMovie.

At Pulse and Signal a interview with this local county health department about the use of social media. If you are a local county health department thinking about taking the plunge into the uses of new media, please pay attention.

SF QuakeQuiz

Recently launched: QuakeQuizSF, a simple but effective quiz to inform the San Fransisco Bay Area citizens what to do in case of an earthquake.
Six daily life situations pictured with illustrations where users have to decide which action they should take when the emergency happens.
Looks simplistic at first sight, but it gets the key information across in an effective way. When a quake hits, you want to know the first thing you should do in any situation.
The site is created by I shot him because I loved him, damn him. in collaboration with asketic sf.
(Thanks Martina and Nedra)

Take Jane

Produced by the UK-based NO2ID, Take Jane suggests that a national ID “will kill people, by leading murderers to their victims.” Other language on their website points out further contexts in which anonymity is desirous: fleeing government oppression, avoiding involvement in criminal activity, and becoming invisible to other persecutors.  It’s worth noting that all of these conditions involve persons in liminal states, where other rights typically don’t apply.  Is this scaremongering, clairvoyance, or a well-reasoned argument?

Have your rights been restored?

Three ads from the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition (FRRC). It is their mission to have Florida join the 40 states in the nation that automatically restore the civil rights of all individuals with past felony convictions upon completion of non-monetary terms of their sentences.

Copy: “Our nation’s future is at stake. Your voice shouldn’t be silenced by your past.”
“If your civil rights have been restored after a felony conviction, you may now be eligible to register to vote. Don’t miss this opportunity to fully participate in our democracy. Contact us and we’ll help you every step of the way. Because your voice - and your right to vote - are too important to be silenced.”