Description

We are preparing for a public data collection course in English early 2021. This will be an improved version of the course that we did with selected participants earlier this year. We aim for a strong participation from African countries, but it will be open to participants from anywhere.

In order to involve partner organizations, let's prepare a 2 pager that basically explains what the course is, what our experience is so far, and that basically makes a convincing case for other organizations to get involved. I'd say use the following inputs for inspiration/content bits:

• The previously posted news message announcing the previous course and explaining what it is


• The news message about the new data portal


• Quotes and results from previous course participants (please find some good quotes from previous feedback -- but also do ask the people involved if we can use their quote before we finalize the document; if the quote was in Spanish please translate it but add a footnote that says "Translated from Spanish")


• Please add a few images - either not too large and embedded in the text, or larger but after including all content as a sort of appendix. Could be screenshots of dashboards, course progress, previous calls, etc.

Let's come up with good reasons why organizations should partner with us. Here's what I can think of -- please add more as you see fit:

• The entire course is released under a creative commons license and will be made available on our website to the public for free


• Participants in the course directly contribute to a larger project and make urban metabolism data more widely available - a great motivator for students PLUS a great contribution to this larger effort


• The course is part of a larger project (consisting of 3 courses in total) that focus on collection, processing, and analyzing urban metabolism data in a collective effort


• This course is a set up in a way that brings together people from different cities, professional and personal backgrounds, and interests


• There is a large data gap in urban sustainability and by focusing on African cities we aim to address one of the most important but underprioritized regions

What do we want to achieve exactly? Well firstly we'd like to try and capture an audience that is as large as possible. So by involving other organizations we want to expand the reach and tap into new networks and potential students. Secondly, we can improve the course with additional support, either through funding made available or through in-kind contributions. Based on these different options, here is how we can present the options for organizations to contribute:

SPONSOR

Metabolism of Cities has secured baseline funds that help with the development of this course, and most of the course production work is secured through volunteer efforts by Metabolism of Cities members. However, sponsors provide funds that allow us to further improve the development, management and dissemination of this course. Funding would go towards improved video editing and recording, design, administrative support, and development improved data uploading tools.

PARTNER

A partner organization commits to provide in-house support to assist with the development of the course. The exact contribution can be discussed and may consist of providing support around the course development itself including content production, video editing and recording support, or assistance with the communication and dissemination efforts around the course.

SUPPORTER

Supporting organizations help promote the course with their existing networks. They commit to sharing course information on social media and help the recruitment of a dedicated student body, especially from within African cities.

That's it. By all means feel free to modify as you see fit. Please create in a Google Doc for easy shared editing later. Thanks!