I recalculated the index using the UN's published methodology, but taking per capita emissions into account. The resulting [Human Sustainable Development Index (HSDI)] gives some interesting results.His HSDI rankings are available here (pdf). Now that Australia has put a price on carbon, we can presumably rise up from the 26th rung of this new scale.
Australia, the United States and Canada fall straight out of the top 10: Australia slides from 2nd place to 26th, the United States drops from 4th to 28th, and Canada falls from 6th to 24th. Cultures that value moderation do well in this sustainability index: Norway remains in the top position, Sweden rises from 10th to 2nd and Switzerland moves from 11th to 3rd. But anyone who has visited the Nordic countries will recognize that moderation need not compromise a high standard of living. And for the first time, an Asian state appears in the top ten. Hong Kong rises from 13th place to 4th. Japan and South Korea, originally just outside the top ten, move down by only one or two places.
Noticeably, oil-producing countries and those with intensive oil use drop the most. The United Arab Emirates, Brunei Darussalam, Qatar, Luxembourg and Bahrain are no longer listed in the ‘Very High Human Development' quartile.
Using the HSDI, Mongolia advances slightly. My country is likely to become one of the fastest growing economies in the world, but the current HDI offers no encouragement for it to grow sustainably. Ulaanbaatar is already one of the worst capital cities in the world for air pollution. The country's water, forage and forest resources are depleted. Mongolia is at a turning point in environmental, social, economic, political and cultural development. We urgently need international collaborations to preserve our natural and cultural systems and introduce green technologies.
The “Occupy” movement, whether displaying itself on Wall Street or in the streets of Oakland (which has, with unspeakable cowardice, embraced it) is anything but an exercise of our blessed First Amendment. “Occupy” is nothing but a pack of louts, thieves, and rapists, an unruly mob, fed by Woodstock-era nostalgia and putrid false righteousness. These clowns can do nothing but harm America.
“Occupy” is nothing short of a clumsy, poorly-expressed attempt at anarchy, to the extent that the “movement” – HAH! Some “movement”, except if the word “bowel” is attached - is anything more than an ugly fashion statement by a bunch of iPhone, iPad wielding spoiled brats who should stop getting in the way of working people and find jobs for themselves.
This is no popular uprising. This is garbage. And goodness knows they’re spewing their garbage – both politically and physically – every which way they can find.
Wake up, pond scum. America is at war against a ruthless enemy.
Maybe, between bouts of self-pity and all the other tasty tidbits of narcissism you’ve been served up in your sheltered, comfy little worlds, you’ve heard terms like al-Qaeda and Islamicism.
And this enemy of mine — not of yours, apparently - must be getting a dark chuckle, if not an outright horselaugh - out of your vain, childish, self-destructive spectacle.
In the name of decency, go home to your parents, you losers. Go back to your mommas’ basements and play with your Lords Of Warcraft.
Or better yet, enlist for the real thing. Maybe our military could whip some of you into shape.
They might not let you babies keep your iPhones, though. Try to soldier on.
Schmucks.
FM
In my last post,I spoke about identifying audiences, aims, objectives and briefly touched on tools. In this post-event article, I wanted to share the slides from my talk, and talk a little bit about what defines a digital campaign and the importance of statistics and reporting mechanisms.
There are a number of differences between a traditional campaign and a 'digital' campaign, chief amongst is that online campaigning is rarely stand-alone. It is a component within a wider campaign, and should be treated accordingly. Very rarely does an online campaign exist solely on it's own - it should always be approached as a stepping stone towards your real-life goal or aim.
I've chosen some of the examples in the slides below because they are interesting and novel ways to approach a campaign utilising very simple concepts and existing services/technologies. Some of the most powerful online campaigns are not due to the expensive website or new, innovative tool, but rather are focussed on thinking outside the box and finding a new way to enact and empower a supporter base.
Evaluation and reporting is one of the most important things you can do. With online campaigning, the figures are very accessible and data-mashing can produce amazingly accurate results. Learn from them. In the slides above I have show (a redacted version of) an example of Oxfam’s monthly reporting mechanism. These reports are compiled from a range of sources, all of which are freely available - Facebook Insights for Pages, Google Analytics and Hootsuite reports. Reporting like this can help both prove the effectiveness of a campaign to supporters, donors and other external parties, but more importantly it gives you an internal benchmarking system and allows for adaptation while the campaign is running. Ensure you build reporting mechanisms based on analytical data collected on a regular basis.
I mentioned in my talk the need to keep looking afield for fresh ideas and new ways of looking at campaigning online. Subscribing to a number of different websites and blogs (via a service such as Google Reader) dedicated to social media, digital campaigning and new online products can, if you have the time, be invaluable in gleaning new insights into the field.
Some of my favourite places to hear of new campaigns and learn from others are:
Finally, I cannot stress the benefits of connecting with like-minded people. Digital campaigning for social or environmental justice is a very niche field, and it is sometimes hard to find people who understand both the moral/social background of your work alongside the technical skills required. I have found the e-campaigner's forum email list to be a great way to connect and share with digital campaigners around the world. It is UK based but members are global. Their events (held in Oxford and recently also in Vienna) are also very helpful. I'm currently thinking of pulling together an Australian event similar to the ECF event in 2012 - if this is something you'd be interested in, please do get in touch.
Key points to remember from my talk
Happy to continue talking about how an effective campaign can be won and/or run online - join me on Twitter at @norton_tim:)
First published on Plan to Win
