By Maureen James

As the name suggests, this site is meant to be a "virtual space" for networking and sharing ideas and stories. Intended to build upon the main themes of the GK97 conference, the Village Well has been visited by numerous professionals, non-governmental organisation (NGO) activists, and academics from across the globe. At the Village Well, you will find interesting case studies as well as broad philosophical debates.

www.villagewell.gk97.gc.ca

The Village Well is brimming over! Organisers have added new threaded dialogues geared specifically toward high school and university students, as well as Spanish-speakers. While all are just getting started, participants have already begun introducing themselves. Some appear to be having fun with the space, inviting others to check out their websites, etc... while others are tackling very difficult questions, such as how IT may transform educational and pedagogical concerns.

In the Building New Partnerships section, a legal scholar from Estonia points out how useful the Internet could be to help with the sharing of information that might facilitate legal and constitutional reforms in emerging democracies around the world. Another participant, from Chuao, Venezuela, highlights the necessity of using IT in order to share information about a variety of different projects. This contribution reminds us that IT should not be used "for its own sake", but for tangible goals that can be shared by entire communities.

The Village Well reminds us of the basic principles of community development, such as the need to establish multi-directional communication between people, and the need to take full advantage of ALL available media. If the medium is the message, however, our vision of development must be broader than the scope allowed by IT, no matter how alluring that view may be.

For further general information, email:

info-vw@gk97.gc.ca

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