HomeAbout the RECSearchForumSite MapContact Us
REC Home PageREC PublicationsThe BulletinVolume 10 Number 3
 

Information technology

 

NGOs don't need programmers to make these do-it-yourself sites

Non-profit organisations can build their own web site for a low cost by simply filling in a form online, through an initiative by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC).

The goal of the programme, called ActionApps, is to make it easy for all members of a non-profit organisation to set up and maintain a web site, using nothing more than a web browser.

Other goals of the programme, according to the ActionApps web site, are to:

  • "Encourage collaborative campaigning, media production and knowledge creation by developing a way for activists and NGOs to easily pool content across multiple web sites." Non-governmental organisations who join in the network of ActionApps sites can share their content with each other.

  • "Support and draw upon the growing open source software movement." The software is free, and web developers are encouraged to share any improvements they make.

Although the software costs nothing, there is a fee for hosting of the web site, which must be paid to the local APC provider.
The provider for Central and Eastern Europe is Econnect in the Czech Republic, e-mail: martin.beran@ecn.cz .
Other APC members and partners in the region include: BlueLink Information Network, Bulgaria, http://www.bluelink.net ;
Change Net, Slovakia, http://www.changenet.sk ;
GreenSpider, Hungary, http://www.zpok.hu ; and
StrawberryNet, Romania, http://www.sbnet.ro .

ActionApps have already been used by many groups, including GreenPeace in the Czech Republic, who built a specialised news page about solar energy at http://solarni.cz/ stoskol/dok.shtml .
Econnect in the Czech Republic used the software to create an information portal during the IMF/World Bank summit in Prague, at http://globalizace.ecn.cz/monitor.shtml .

Find out more about Action Apps at their web site: http://www.apc.org/actionapps/index.htm.


UNED resources assist in Agenda 21 assessment, preparation for Earth Summit

UNED Forum (United Nations Environment and Development Forum), an international multi-stakeholder non-governmental organisation that seeks to promote global sustainable development, has a wealth of online resources for environmentalists, including many specifically aimed at helping prepare for Earth Summit 2002, in Johannesburg.

UNED has recently produced two documents designed to assist in national assessments of implementation of Local Agenda 21 programmes. According to an e-mail announcement from Toby Middleton of the UNED Forum, "The first is a National Reporting Template, giving time bound targets from the agreements met at the various global Summits. The other relates specifically to the Education Commitments from Agenda 21."

These documents are now online at http://www.earthsummit2002.org/es/national-resources/default.htm .



Your key to new websites


  Home PageAbout the RECSearchForumSite MapBack to Top
 
  REC