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The 5 Key Functional Areas of MICAS
Monadnock Institute for Community Advancement and Sustainability consists of five main organizational areas:
1. A Virtual Educational Network
MICAS helps to organize a community-wide “school without walls.” The majority of learning opportunities -- classes, workshops, seminars -- are offered out in the community, among the dozens of participating organizations such as schools, farms, art and dance studios, churches, and other public and private organizations and spaces.
2. An Institute for Training Citizenship Skills
MICAS will create, co-sponsor, and promote programs that enhance the human capacity for trust, cooperation, harmony, justice, respect, inclusion, understanding, appreciation, communication, opportunity, empowerment, emotional intelligence, co-intelligence, and purpose. We believe only by advancing such core competencies will persons become engaged, proactive citizens who can work effectively with a diversity of people, challenges, and resources.
3. A Community Resource Development Network
MICAS will network and coordinate local educational, business, community, church, and youth groups, non-profit organizations, social service agencies, and individuals to provide the fullest picture of, and provide access to, our community’s assets. Collaborations and coalitions to initiate new projects, share capacity, and to achieve economies of scale may arise as community groups engage in informal networking or more formal Visioning Circles, Collaboratories, Open Space processes, and other programs.
4. The Monadnock InterNetwork
MICAS will spearhead the development of a comprehensive community-owned and -run, interactive internet portal. Individuals and organizations will have their own web pages, and be able to publish calendars and blogs. Chats, forums, galleries, voting and polling modules, rideshare boards, and collaborative tools will ultimately be developed, and potentially a community barter system will be implemented.
5. Media Outreach
MICAS disseminates its own and the community’s educational efforts through radio, public television, web newsletters, webcasting of audio and video, and a variety of print outlets. MICAS will also develop a media library to archive lectures, classes, and community events. Already our community has the Oasis Forum radio show on WKNH 91.3 FM Sunday evenings (hosted by John-Michael Dumais), featuring interviews with local and regional activists, practitioners, authors, and artists. Keene is soon to have its own Public-Education-Government Channel, which can serve as a clearinghouse for sustainability programs, as well as a creative focus for our citizens, especially our youth, to become involved in documenting and creating programs that benefit the community and planet.
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