By Griff Wigley
Introduction
“Effective local leadership is at the heart of our vision for sustainable communities… Councils have unique potential to bring people together and encourage them to work in partnership. That is why we place such importance upon councillors and officers working with others who have leadership roles in communities.” - Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, in the foreward to the January 2005 ODPM document, Vibrant Local Leadership.
The main premise of this document is that a weblog in the hands of a local civic official can be an effective leadership tool. Elected representatives as well as Chief Executives and senior managers of local authorities and other community leaders can use blogs to leverage their leadership skills and activities in ways that aren’t easily done otherwise.
A related premise is that blogging’s potential in the world of civic leadership has been overshadowed by its reputation as a tool for personal diaries, for partisan politics, and as a mainstream media alternative.
The ReadMyDay “Civic Leadership Blogging Project,” a UK Local e-Democracy effort led by NorthLincsNet of the North Lincolnshire Council, is a focused effort to look beyond blogging’s current image and pilot ways it can be used for local civic leadership. This document details what’s been learned thus far – the why, what and how of civic leadership blogging.
© Copyright 2005
