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Reimagine Your Local Economy: Harnessing AI for a Regenerative Economy
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Reimagine Your Local Economy: Harnessing AI for a Regenerative Economy
See this board in Miro
Let’s break down how to launch meetings at libraries that will effectively showcase your digital platform and inspire community stakeholders to embrace a regenerative, AI-powered circular economy, all while building community-owned internet networks.
Phase 1: Planning and Preparation
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Identify Target Stakeholders:
- Who are you trying to reach? Think beyond just “community members.” Consider:
- Local business owners (especially those with sustainability focus)
- Non-profit leaders and community organizers
- Educators (from local schools and adult education programs)
- Farmers and agricultural groups
- Makerspace and DIY enthusiasts
- Local government representatives (sustainability or tech focused)
- Library staff and management
- Residents with an interest in tech or sustainability
- Tailor your message: Each group will have different needs and interests. For example:
- Businesses might be interested in new market opportunities in the circular economy.
- Educators might be interested in AI-powered teaching tools or ways to equip students.
- Community organizers might be interested in tools for efficient resource sharing.
- Who are you trying to reach? Think beyond just “community members.” Consider:
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Develop a Compelling Narrative:
- Focus on benefits: Instead of starting with tech details, emphasize the outcomes. How will your platform help them:
- Build a Stronger Local Economy: Showcase examples of circular economy models and how they benefit their area.
- Empower Community Collaboration: Emphasize shared resources, mutual support, and the ability to collectively solve local problems.
- Democratize Technology: Highlight how AI can be a tool for local good, instead of just for big corporations.
- Build Community Resilience: Explain how locally controlled internet access strengthens the community.
- Frame it as an Alternative: Clearly contrast your approach with the exploitative nature of large tech companies. Emphasize local control and ownership.
- Avoid jargon: Use clear, simple language, especially when explaining AI and related concepts.
- Focus on benefits: Instead of starting with tech details, emphasize the outcomes. How will your platform help them:
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Platform Mock-Up and Use Cases:
- Create a basic demo: Even a simple mock-up of your digital platform can be powerful. It doesn’t need to be fully functional yet, but it should illustrate how it works.
- Develop Use Cases relevant to your stakeholders: Prepare specific scenarios demonstrating how the platform could help them in real life. Examples:
- Matching waste materials with reuse opportunities.
- Connecting local producers with consumers.
- AI tools for optimizing urban farming or resource allocation.
- Collaborative project management.
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Partner with Libraries:
- Why libraries? They are trusted community hubs with existing meeting spaces and often have a mission to support digital literacy.
- Reach out to libraries: Schedule a meeting to present your vision and explain how it aligns with their goals.
- Offer value: Emphasize how your program can increase library usage, promote their resources, and increase their relevance in the community.
Phase 2: Launching the Meetings
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Design an Engaging Workshop:
- Keep it interactive: Avoid long lectures. Include small group discussions, brainstorming sessions, and hands-on exercises (even with the mock-up).
- Focus on problem-solving: Start by exploring the challenges they face in their community related to the circular economy, then show them how your platform can help.
- Make it accessible: Provide clear instructions and cater to varying levels of tech literacy.
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Promote Your Meetings:
- Leverage library channels: Use library newsletters, social media, and posters.
- Reach out through partner organizations: Inform your targeted stakeholders, community groups and local networks.
- Create a simple landing page: A webpage or social media page to share meeting details and registration information.
- Use a clear and eye catching message that conveys why it is important for people to come.
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First Meetings – What to Focus On:
- Icebreaker and Introductions: Have a way for attendees to connect with each other.
- Present Your Vision: Clearly articulate the goals of the project and its benefits to the community.
- Interactive Platform Demo: Show how the platform works and how it solves real world issues.
- Small Group Brainstorming:
- Challenges: What are the current obstacles to a more regenerative economy in their local area?
- Opportunities: How might a digital platform help them in addressing these?
- Specific Use Cases: What kind of projects or actions do they want to work on?
- Open Discussion: Encourage feedback, questions, and ideas from the attendees.
- Call to Action: Invite them to participate in the next phase (such as joining a working group or beta testing the platform).
Phase 3: Follow-up and Iteration
- Collect Feedback: Use a survey or discussion forum to gather input on the meeting and the platform concept.
- Iterate and Improve: Use the feedback to refine the platform and your program.
- Build a Community:
- Create online forums for sharing ideas and resources.
- Organize working groups focused on specific projects.
- Host additional meetings to foster collaboration.
- Start Community Owned Internet Development:
- Use the group to explore options.
- Find funding opportunities.
- Find Technical expertise.
Key Takeaways for Success
- Community-Driven: From the very beginning, emphasize that this is about building something with the community, not for them.
- Clear Value Proposition: Focus on benefits, not just technology. Why should they care?
- Accessibility: Ensure that the platform and meetings are accessible to people with varying tech literacy and backgrounds.
- Patience and Persistence: Building a regenerative circular economy and community networks takes time and dedication.
- Collaboration: Partner with libraries, organizations, and other relevant stakeholders for maximum impact.
- Focus on Local Benefits: Highlight that this is about your community, your people and your environment.
This is a powerful vision. By starting with small, focused meetings and building on the collective intelligence of your community, you can create a real alternative to extractive tech models.
Answers are from Gemini 2.0 flash experimental
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