Palestinian organizations are buiding a Word Forum on Education next 2010 and inviting organisations from all over the world to participate in it
Due to conditions of Israeli occupation this event may be held in different places where palestinian live , and also will attract considerable interest ,
So assessing its expansion is a meaningful task
more information soon in the  space wef in palestine

here below some ideas about wef extended

Index

A – We are a  Palestinian organisation, we can participate only in one venue, how do we get the flavour of the whole WEF ?. 1

B –We are an international organization, we intend to send one delegate / one delegation to Palestine WEF : 2

C- To which of the 5 venue in Palestine should our delegate go ?. 3

D –Our organisation does not  have resources to send one delegate to Palestine / How can we support your forum from where we are ?. 3

E - Our network intend to organize specific activities in several places about education on the days of WEF  5

F - We are a forum organizing committee, we intend to make WEF Palestine forum visible in our forum event ( Detroit Belem Asuncion ..) 5

Q – What is, broadly speaking, WEF extended?. 7

Q – What do you expect from WEF extended?. 7

Q – Are Palestinian organizations liable to use WEF extended or is it only for international ones?  7

Q – What are your recommendation to organization participating in WEF extended?. 8

Q – What led you to opt for extending WEF?. 8

Q – How do you train for getting ready to support logistically WEF extended?. 8

 

Case by case Q&A oral messages about WEF extended

intended for meetings of presentation of WEF such as on the photo below,  or on the website in a visible section devoted to wef extend

Index ( paragraphs in blue are for a longer version )

Messages

A – We are a  Palestinian organisation, we can participate only in one venue, how do we get the flavour of the whole WEF ?

Freedom of movement of Palestinian organizations is limited by barriers imposed by Israeli occupation, this led us to define 5 venues -

So we have decided to “extend WEF “ in Palestine between or 5 venues using internet. WEF extended is also a tool for broadening Palestinian participation, along 5 formulas

1/ Your Video meeting activity with another Palestine group present in another venueof WEF-

Define your partner and the topic you want to cover in conformance with Charter of the forum and book a room for in those two venues a the same time - this is easy to organize . and provides two hours of audio/video collective dialogue - in some specific cases a video meeting can be organized with an organization who is not in a WEF venue

2/ Your Participation along with your viewing of video streaming of WEF activities occurring in other 4 venues of WEF

We stimulate organizers of activities taking place in Palestine to transmit their activity on internet and welcome you in internet during their activity so you can get into participatory video streaming of WEF activities and interact with some “ internet contact” person in a chat room – this is the lightest way for interacting , although one needs to be used to chatting on line

Also some common interest activities (opening c ultural shows, closing , will be streamed by WEF comitee

3/ Your streaming of your activity in your venue, for other Palestinian and international organization to participate

You in turn can film your activity on internet and announce in advance to your networks at which adress the associated chat will take place, You can focus on intra Palestinian communication and offer possibly a translated channel for international

4/ Your informal contact with other venues in Palestine continuity hall

In your venue there will be a “Palestine continuity hall” with continuous video link with the other 4 venues , and we are thinking of having in each venue a permanently running room with multipoint link between all 5 venues

5/ Your Video meeting activity with international group-

This is same as 1/ except that your partner is an international organization, and you may be communicating in a foreign language

If one of those 5 formulas interest your organisation, We invite you to make contact with WEF extended, at WEFextended@gmail.com .The sooner you start interesting to WEF extend the more fruitful your internet participation will be

a video meeting in mexico  ( hold in a tent on a public square)

B –We are an international organization, we intend to send one delegate / one delegation to Palestine WEF :

It is very good if you can send some delegates to Palestine!

Of course we know it is costly and can be hazardous, (we will help with our government for facilitating Israeli visas inasmuch this is necessary/possible …. ) The presence of your delegates ir presence will be invaluable for us on many respects and we will welcome them in the best possible way

Also, having in view the extension of the WEF forum we suggest that your delegate be a “human bridge” between groups he will meet in Palestine and his group at home, I-e you while she/he is in Palestine

For this we suggest that you and your delegate be using one of the three WEF extended distance participation formulas on internet that we will promote

1/ Your Video meeting with Palestine groups in WEF-

Your delegate and his home group – you - define in advance a specific “video meeting” time between the home group, and a room in a venue in Palestine , where your delegate will bring Palestinian counterparts he has been interacting with so they can dialogue to you – the home group - for about two hours Several room will be reserved for video meeting in each of the 5 venues

2/ Your Participation along with your viewing of video streaming of WEF activities in Palestine

 Your delegate suggests “a participatory activity streaming” to Palestinian organizers of an activity where your delegate will have a prominent participation , so you can attend virtually this activity and bring in your views through participation in the chat room associated to this activity

If each of the hundreds of delegate that we expect is warned about this human bridge role , manages to catalyze one video meeting between his home group and a Palestinian group , this will mean hundreds of meetings more, in all 5 venues , and will multiply by 10 the number of Palestinians having dialogues with international groups and vice

This will create an invaluable flow of dialogue and stimulation for us in Palestine, and will also breed solidarity, based on personal video audio contacts in many areas of the world

Indeed, we have decided to “extend “WEFp. We want to allow distance participation to our event- We have set up a WEF extended subcommittee which will take care of distance participation in the forum using internet in an organized way , and we are taking all necessary logistical measures for this ( internet , computers, video projector )

3/ you are also welcome to organize activities about education in your home city on the same days of WEF, the presence of a delegate in Palestine can help stimulate this

 Those activities at home will complement the moments of intercommunication arranged with your delegates and allow to root the activity in your national context

The participation in WEF extended starts now, if you are interested contact the team at WEF extended, write to WEFextended@gmail.com .The sooner you start , the better results you will get

C- To which of the 5 venue in Palestine should our delegate go ?

He or she is welcome to co where you have most link with Palestinian organizations , otherwise ask us, and we may indicate some orientations

Once arrived , delegate will be confronted to barriers similar to what we experience daily due to Israeli occupation - To reduce the weight of those barriers we have decided to “extend WEFp “ in Palestinen between or 5 venues and not only with the rest of the world

Israeli Occupation and fragmentation leads us to have the forum in 5 venues we know that this is making 5 smaller forums instead of one bigger one, more synergetic and motivating, and we want to counter this splitting effect We want to allow distance participation between the 5 WEF venues using internet

We will propose Palestinian groups coming in one venue to arrange video-meetings activities with Palestinian group in another venue, and have collective exchange on issues they want

Also we are preparing in each venue a “Palestine continuity hall” with continuous video link with the other 4 venues , and are thinking of having in each venue a permanently running room with multipoint link between all 5 venues

D –Our organisation does not  have resources to send one delegate to Palestine / How can we support your forum from where we are ?

Sending delegates is very important but by far not the only way for participating in WEFP ! We know that there are a lot of organizations that are interested in WEF but no to the point of sending a delegate to Palestine. That is one strong reason why we have decided to “extend WEFp “

We want to allow distance participation in our event thanks to internet from many organizations .We come not to talk about “supporting” us , we talk about “participating in the activities of WEF and making contacts and contributions ”

We propose three distance participation formulas by increasing level of commitment to WEF participation from your organization

We sincerely hope that if you engage in distance participation to WEF, using the WEF extended formulas you will not only be acting to “support us” , but also will withdraw interest and “added value” in term of ideas and contacts in Palestine and elsewhere in the world for your own agenda

1/ Your Participation along with your viewing of video streaming of WEF activities in Palestine - this is easy going without much commitment

You can browse the streaming program of WEF, and select and view an activity as it is going on , and you can participate in a internet chat room associated to this activity room , where you can give feedbacks and inputs to “internet contact people” specifically assigned to this task , sitting in the activity room, and interact with you so they can speak in your name in the real room

This is an occasion for making contacts with other people form over the world who are in the same situation as you : watching the same activity video and sharing views in the associated chat room

2/ Your Video meeting with Palestine groups in WEF-

- this is requesting commitment to schedule prepare and attend the video meeting

Here the initiative is yours: You explain what is your group , you propose a time , a topic and one of the 5 venue in Palestine , ( may be a venue where you have contacts already ) - We confirm according to availability of the internet equipped rooms in our venues

The idea is to have a two hour dialogue with audio and video interactivity between your group and WEF participants in Palestine ( if we prepare this together in advance we will help you establish contact with like minded Palestinian group) Experience shows that when the dialogue is started, the will to continue is stronger than technical difficulties ( no image because of intenet poor connectivity ) Several room will be reserved for video meeting in each of the 5 venues

3/ Your Decentralized WEF activities

- this is the most complete way for distance participation , committing to organize an activity in your home city and prepare distance participation to WEF In this context

Here also you have the initiative , you can organize an activity about education issues in your home city during the days of WEF and you announce it as a WEF extended activity.We list it , in a special part of our program, and also you arrange for a intercommunication moment with WEF using formula 1 or 2 above

The participation in WEF extended starts now, if you are interested contact the team at WEF extended, write to WEFextended@gmail.com .The sooner you start , the better results you will get

We have set up a WEF extended subcommittee which will take care of distance participation in the forum using internet in an organized way , and we are taking all necessary logistical measures for this ( internet , computers, video projector, volunteers )

 

E - Our network intend to organize specific activities in several places about education on the days of WEF

That is very good ! This is precisely what we have in view in our WEF extended distance participation initiative - We have decided to “extend WEFp “to allow distance participation to our event and that is precisely what your are proposing !

You are proposing the Third formula the most committed one, with or without delegate to Palestine As you may have seen, we have defined and included in our call the idea of “extended activities” of WEFP. Your extended activities will be announced in WEF program , and the video meeting that you organize will also be announced in our program- you will be really part of WEF dialogic process

We sincerely hope you will withdraw interest and “added value” in term of ideas and contacts in Palestine and elsewhere in the world for your own agenda

Any such dialogic activity focusing on education that you will organize alone or with other organizations where you live will be giving strength and visibility to WEFP. It will be also a great motivation to include moments of distance participation with Palestine and interact collectively and concretely between your group and groups in Palestine and deepen links and cooperation towards education, along two formulas

1/ Your Video meeting with Palestine groups in WEF-

 It can be by organizing video meeting with Palestine - this is easy to organize . and provides two hours of audio/video collective dialogue

2/ Your Participation along with your viewing of video streaming of WEF activities in palestine

Also we will stimulate organizers of activities taking place in Palestine to transmit their activity on internet and welcome you in internet during their activity so you can get into participatory video streaming of WEF activities and interact with some “ internet contact” person in a chat room – this is the lightest way for interacting , although one needs to be used to chatting on line

The participation in WEF extended starts now, if you are interested contact the team at WEF extended, write to WEFextended@gmail.com .The sooner you start , the better results you will get

 

F - We are a forum organizing committee, we intend to make WEF Palestine forum visible in our forum event ( Detroit Belem Asuncion ..)

Of course we will try to send someone from Palestine to your event to explain the forum, and explain above all that sending someone to Palestine -which is most important -, is by far not the only way for participating in WEFP !

So the following message can be conveyed as of now to all organizations participating in your forum and interested in education issues

We have decided to “extend WEFp “ we want to allow distance participation to our event

We propose three “distance participation formulas” presented by increasing level of commitment to WEF participation from organizations, irrespective of whether they will send delegate in WEF Palestine or not

1/ Your Participation along with your viewing of video streaming of WEF activities in palestine - this is easy going without commitment

You can browse the streaming program of WEF, and select and view an activity as it is going on , and you can participate in a internet chat room associated to this activity room , where you can give feedbacks and inputs to “internet contact people” specifically assigned to this task , sitting in the activity room, and interact with you so they can speak in your name in the real room

This is an occasion for making contacts with other people form over the world who are in the same situation as you : watching the same activity video and sharing views in the associated chat room

2/ Your Video meeting with Palestine groups in WEF- -

 this is requesting commitment to schedule prepare and attend the video meeting

Here the initiative is yours: You explain what is your group , you propose a time , a topic and one of the 5 venue in Palestine , ( may be a venue where you have contacts already ) - We confirm according to availability of the internet equipped rooms in our venues

The idea is to have a two hour dialogue with audio and video interactivity between your group and WEF participants in Palestine ( if we prepare this together in advance we will help you establish contact with like minded Palestinian group) Experience shows that when the dialogue is started, the will to continue is stronger than technical difficulties ( no image because of internet poor connectivity )

3/ Your Decentralized WEF activities  where you live–

this is the most complete way for distance participation , committing to organize an activity in your home city and prepare distance participation to WEF In this context

Here also you have the initiative , you can organize an activity about education issues in your home city during the days of WEF and you announce it as a WEF extended activity. We list it , in a special part of our program, and also you arrange for a intercommunication moment with WEF using formula 1 or 2

We sincerely hope that if you engage in distance participation to WEF, using the WEF extended formulas you will not only be acting to “support us” , but also will withdraw interest and “added value” in term of ideas and contacts in Palestine and elsewhere in the world for your own agenda

The participation in WEF extended starts now, if you are interested, contact the team at WEF extended, write to WEFextended@gmail.com .The sooner you start , the better results you will get

We have set up a WEF extended subcommittee which will take care of distance participation in the forum, and we are taking all necessary logistical measures for this ( internet , computers, video projector, volunteers )

 

Questions and Answers

Q – What is, broadly speaking, WEF extended?

WEF extended is a political and methological initiative from the WEF organising committee directed to all people organizations interested by our social forum on education event in Palestine ,

It is based on consideration that Dynamics around education issues in Palestine and elsewhere in the world will gain from a large international participation in wef

 

By getting on board WEF extended, your organization can participate significantly to WEF from where you live, organize activities associated to WEF, and make contact with many Palestinian organisations

 If you have a delegate in Palestine he can help a lot bridging with you back home

 

Wef extended offers three formulas for distance participation

 

• Participation in chat room moderated by activity organizers while viewing live streaming of wef activities held in Palestine, or other places
• Self organized Video meetings activities between groups in or out of Palestine on the topics they want
• Organizing activities associated to wef , anywhere in the world, and connecting to Palestine using the first two formulas

 

Q – What do you expect from WEF extended?

We expect

• more international contacts for Palestinian CSO, and durable, easy to sustain contacts with further video meetings .. and delegate traveling
• better experience in collective distance participation in our intra-palestinian networking and also abroad,
• significant increase in the perceived size of WEF in terms of number activities ( video meeting activities inter-venues between Palestinian cso, and with international counterparts and effective number of participants to activities (including those that view the streaming during or after it is being held , and those who participate in chat

 

Q – Are Palestinian organizations liable to use WEF extended or is it only for international ones?

Yes wef extended is useful for anyone who cannot be in any venue of can be in only one venue

• Some Palestinian may be interested by WEF and not be able to come to a venue ; they can participate streaming or video meetings
• Some Palestinian organization can come to only one venue, and wish to have participation in what is happening in other venues
• Note WEF activities in Palestine will be all taking place in WEF venues, the notion of Expanded activities does not apply to Palestine

 

 

Q – What are your recommendation to organization participating in WEF extended?

 To all organisations

• Anticipate contact with WEF extended team ! wefextended@gmail.com anticipation gives time to create human relationships with the team and clarify understandings regarding logistics of internet intercomunicaiton , practice the chat rooms etc.. and also find contacts and polish the topics with them
• Assign clear tasks in your organization regarding WEF extended – who is in charge of streaming the activity who is in charge of being the “internet contact” on line, who is taking care of the technical arrangement for videomeeting, who is active to look for counterparts, what is expected from the delegate of the organizations in Palestine, early starting teamwork will yield very

 

 

To Organisations in Palestine : get in touch with WEF extended team wefextended@gmail.com, develop internet intercommunication skills to lower the circulation barriers imposed by Israeli occupation – Contribute volunteers to WEFextended in the venue close to you

 

To Organisations in Palestine willing to stream their activities : assign clear task of camera-person and internet contact person, anticipate communication to your networks so they know that you will be broadcasting

 

To Organisations abroad : you are welcome to stream your video meetings ! tbis will stay as a memory

 

Q – What led you to opt for extending WEF?

Several factors

• Positive records of extended events in world social forum 2009 2010
• Positive assessment of extended experiences we have had so far in our build up process ( wef preparating seminar in march , video meeting in may with mexico ..)
• Desire to counter through internet communication the fragmentation effect of organizing one event in 5 venues, in order to include participants despite freedom of movement limitations imposed by israeli occupation
• Consciousness that wefp is a great occasion to gather more international participation beyond the most motivated delegates coming in person, that Palestine civil society organisations, given the exceptional interest raised by Palestine in world politics, needs to develop autonomous intercommunications with the whole world beyond what is possible through travelling individuals

 

Q – How do you train for getting ready to support logistically WEF extended?

 

We use the daily occasion/necessity of the wef build up process inside Palestine , which has to deal with limitations imposed by isreali occupation, to train and build our WEF extended support team.

 

Organizing a synchronized event in 5 different venues, with coherence of approach, methodology , image, coordinated logistics, is indeed a daily challenge. We need well informed and participatory WEF working groups encompassing all 5 venues to make this possible.

a first extended seminar in march allowed distance participation by written chat while viewing live transmission ( here a snapshot from the live transmission ) http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/5409781

 

The role assigned to WEF extended team is to stimulate practise of video meeting and participatory streaming of wef build up preparation and organizing meetings

 

WEF committee makes regular assessment with WEF extended team of how we are collectively mastering those techniques for enhancing significant use of distance intercommunication technique beyond the public of internet savvy persons.