All over the world, individual people and local communities are confronted with eco-problems they cannot solve in isolation. The `Virtual versus Real Communities' group set out to investigate information architectures that may enable the building of new forms of communities, through which eco-opportunities can be addressed. Can we live, love and work in the digital domain? Can we get together? Your place or mine?

Ecopresence

We have multiple memberships of multiple communities; they tend to overlap. Communities have a range of temporal and material existences -- some communities endure for years, beyond the lifespan of any individual. Others are being moulded or designed as we speak and may cease to exist by the end of the week. Ideas of identity, individuality, disguise, truth -- abstract issues that have real consequences when trying to analyse the processes -- are important in designing real/virtual communities.

Communities are characterized by shared modes of expression, ways of thinking, patterns of behaviour, metaphors, issues that are cared about, values. They are discrete -- members are distinguished from non-members. They are fragile, easily disturbed--but sometimes enduring and sources of strength and support.

There are many ways in which people interact (i.e., on an individual basis, or through groups, networks and communities). Physical communities are the ones we have known for ages, distinguished and identified by their appearances in the real world: buildings, communal spaces or shared places. In a sense, these 'real' communities may be thought of as being virtual in their ephemeral qualities.

You can design an infrastructure for a community, but you cannot guarantee a community will come and "inhabit" it--communities cannot be designed, they must emerge. Over time, members engage in primary relationships that connect them to each other and to the community as a whole. Also, communities are surrounded by a 'cloud' of secondary relationships and connections that are a source of invention, challenge and growth. How can knowledge be kept within a community? Can you be part of a community you do not share certain values with, or whose people you do not even like? When does a group of people become a community? How does a sense of belonging emerge? It helps to care -- either about the people in your community, or about the issues involved.

Virtual communities are often identified by their communications on electronic networks. They can be hard to join and intolerant, but also anonymous and empowering. Although they just recently appeared and their social protocols and conventions are immature, their impact and intensity may be at least as great as those of the physical communities we are so used to.

Reflection and action

The way we view and relate to nature and the planet determines our attitudes as well as our patterns of action. To address the factor 20 challenge, we need to change our current world view -- new patterns of action must go hand in hand with new patterns of reflection. Consider the shift from the "we" of the Middle Ages, to an "I" that has continued to strengthen since the Enlightenment, before starting to fragment towards the end of this century. Now, we must progress towards an emerging (new) "we" - that of Gaian unity, a new form of community that establishes strong ties between people and the earth. How can such a paradigm shift (Geocentric - heliocentric - anthropocentric, and now - biocentric) be encouraged by electronically supported communities?

Ecopresence

Ecopresence is network environment with information and communication facilities that support communities in their endeavours to investigate new patterns of action and reflection with regard to ecological issues. It is an architecture that unlocks resources in a community whose primary bond is attending to ecological care and repair, through new patterns of multi-layered action and reflection. This action-reflection circularity is the creative and constitutive 'heart' of the community: the actions of community members are voluntarily (!) reflected upon by the community at multiple levels (actions, habits, ways of thinking, world views). Simulations allow individuals and groups to 'test fly' into solutions before the act in the real world. Thus, it complements and blends with the planetary physical ecology. New business concepts and models thrive in this environment. Rapid, efficient ecological transformation drives the development of these new businesses.

Karma Card

Access to the environment starts with a card/key that can be afforded by anyone and can be tailored to fit a local culture, its social conventions and the preferences of each individual: the 'Karma Card'. It acts as an information filter, an authoring tool, a storage device, and a link to the ecological community. Its uses are multiple, yet the content and control of the card is completely up to the individual owner. Unlike most exisiting 'identity' cards that are handed 'down' to their owners by institutions, the Karma Card is constructed by the owner in a 'bottom-up' fashion. Influence is driven by position in the network ecology rather than technical prowess or available computer power.

Educating Eva

An example of how such a community might work is the scenario for Educating Eva. Eva is a 15-year-old girl that learns about sustainable farming by forming a bridge between her existing learning community (i.e. her school) and the virtual community.

Eva's virtual community is the global community of children. She discusses issues related to organic farming with children from China and Peru. Eva can use her Karma Card to convey her concerns to that community. It helps her to find the information she seeks, and distribute the knowledge she brings to it and its members. The Karma Card is a tool intermediating knowledge and relationships in learning situations between children.

When Eva works with mentors as an apprentice in real communities with such people as farmers, bankers or scientists in her home town, she will ask 'kid's questions' and maybe even provide 'kid's answers'. However, these are not just her questions and answers, they come from the entire community of children. They are well-developed and allow her to make a more meaningful contribution to the 'real' discussion.

Conclusion

The elegant architecture of the Karma Card allows Eva to 'play' the virtual community, calling forth its experiences, questions and answers. The Ecopresence ecology of the virtual community of children enables the emergence of a new epistemology, a children's way of thinking and reasoning, a children's way of asking important questions. In a future where problems call for creative and new perspectives, Eva becomes a valued partner in the construction of new solutions in her society. Her communal kid's way of thinking is one of the catalysts in new forms of reflection that may change our patterns of action: an enhanced framework of care and repair towards a Factor 20 future.

Participants

• James Coulson, Student, Jan van Eyck Academy, The Netherlands
• Frederico Garcia, Student, University of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland
• Sally Grisedale, Human Interface Designer, Apple Computer Inc., USA
• Rob van der Haar, Interaction Designer, Philips Research Redhill, UK
• Marie Sierra Hughes, Lecturer, Quality Manager, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia
• Christine Karman, Consultant, BSO/Origin, The Netherlands
• Margot Lagendijk, Information Ergonoom, KPN Research, The Netherlands
• Jules Marshal, Journalist, Wired Magazine, The Netherlands
• Bert Mulder, Information Consultant, Dutch Parliament (moderator)
• John Rheinfrank, Doblin Group, USA
• Marc de Rooij, Policy Official, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, Directorate-General for Environmental Management, The Netherlands
• Arto Ruokonen, Student, University of Art and Design, Helsinki, Finland
• Paul Scheffers, Journalist, NRC Handelsblad, The Netherlands
• Rob van der Spek, Service Projectleader, Kenniscentrum CIBIT, The Netherlands