UN-Habitat "Jam"

Hi all, I was recently alerted to the upcoming online event, that I thought you might all be interested in. You can join in, it's free, and could be interesting.

From December 1-3, the Habitat JAM online event (here) will bring tens of thousands of people around the world together to discuss and debate some of the most urgent and controversial issues that face our rapidly urbanizing planet. The Government of Canada, in partnership with IBM and UN-HABITAT, is sponsoring this 72-hour online event as part of the preparations for the third session of the World Urban Forum, which is being held June 19-23, 2006 in Vancouver, Canada.

There are six topics to be discussed in the Habitat JAM based on the themes chosen for the third session of the World Urban Forum. The JAM forum
topics are:
* Improving the Lives of People Living in Slums
* Sustainable Access to Water in Our Cities
* Environmental Sustainability in Our Cities
* Finance and Governance in Our Cities
* Safety and Security in Our Cities
* Humanity: The Future of Our Cities

The event itself raises some interesting questions about social organization outside of physical spaces. IBM seems to have used this mode of online organizing in its own strategic planning, which is described more broadly (if not in detail) here.

More later.