Welcome to the home of Village-connections.com

Everyone lives somewhere. This is a website where people are invited share their thinking about building connections that could create the kinds of places they would like to live in.

I am also particularly interested in how localities can usefully network with a university. I would like to see a picture emerge of how people from very diverse backgrounds can communicate together to help create local spaces that all would like to inhabit.

Building on diversity

there is a need to build a community that will work together to identify its problems and find ways to improve itself, a community that recognizes cultural diversity and individual differences as a wealth not a problem, where open honest communication is seen as a natural part of all growth, problem solving and healing.

(John Wardle 1997, St Albans, Christchurch, New Zealand)

Utilizing new information and communications technologies for community development is an official New Zealand Government policy goal, expressed in its Connecting Communities (2002) and Draft Digital Strategy (2004). The first paragraph of Connecting Communities articulates a vision where:

All New Zealanders, either as individuals or as members of communities, have the opportunity to access and effectively use current and emerging information and communications technologies. This will enable individuals and communities to participate fully in the economic, social, educational, cultural and democratic opportunities available in an information society.

(The full Connecting Communities strategy can be downloaded from: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/Documents/Files/Connecting%20Communities.pdf)

The details of the government's digital strategy can be found at www.digitalstrategy.govt.nz

To this, Professor Richard Florida adds the importance of recognizing and nurturing creativity. He spoke about the importance of creative people to the way we organize our communities at the New Zealand Knowledge Wave Forum in 1993. In his book The Rise of the Creative Class: how it's transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life, Florida says:

To build true social cohesion, the members of the Creative Class will need to offer those in other classes a tangible vision of ways to improve their own lives, either by becoming part of the Creative Economy or, at the very least, by reaping some of its rewards. If the Creative Class does not commit itself to this effort, the growing social and economic divides in our society will only worsen, and I fear that we will find ourselves living perpetually uneasy lives at the top of an unhappy heap (p. xii).

My questions in this context are:

1. how can these new communications and media tools enable communities and universities to collaborate to better understand and meet community needs and aspirations?
2. what kinds of central and local public policy development can be helpful?

Main research tool The Silent Connectors film

The Silent Connectors, a one-act play I wrote that has been adapted for DVD/video, is my main research tool. This film seeks to raise some central issues about connections in a local community. Participants in the research watch the film and, through a facilitated process, record their individual and group responses. Research participants and interested visitors to this website play a key role in creating the second act of the play, which will also be filmed.

Finding your way around this website

This website is divided into sections that are constantly changing with the continual input of people as well as with the ongoing development of this project.

Send in your comments at any time to the Discussion Board
Background to the development of the one-act play and a copy of the film script is in The Silent Connectors
Research design and results as they come to hand is in Research
People involved in supporting this PhD People involved
Thesis development, including theoretical framework About the thesis

Your comments very welcome

Thank you for visiting. This is a research website. Your comments (made anonymously if you wish) about this site and material in it are very welcome. Send to yourviews@village-connections.com

If you would like to be kept up to date with developments, please let me know. I'm very happy to put you on our emailing list.

Email hazel@village-connections.com

For any problems with the website email webmaster@village-connections.com

Special thanks to SPEaR

Hazel Ashton would like to especially to thank the Social Policy Evaluation and Research unit (SPEaR) for the financial support that has made it possible to have this website and to make the film of The Silent Connectors.

 :: Latest Village Discussion

Re: planning for new website - 20/02/08 10:57:08

The doctorate around which this current website has been constructed has been submitted. Planning for a new website is currently taking place. This new website... [Read more]

Thanks and update: - 12/06/06 20:17:03

Thanks again to all who have been involved in The Silent Connectors research project. The film script has been written, based around the responses. The... [Read more]

Re: After swimming for a long time you finally. a poem by Danielle O'Halloran - 06/10/05 15:00:12

Thankyou for your interest Rosalie. This poem reflects on identity issues and the connection of people to places, homes, islands that may be part of... [Read more]

Re: After swimming for a long time you finally. a poem by Danielle O'Halloran - 28/09/05 0:39:33

Thank you for your poem Danielle. I have read it a few times and read it aloud and am intrigues by its origin. Wonder if... [Read more]

Thank you - 12/08/05 15:39:44

The Silent Connector research has come to an end. I am very happy with the way people engaged in the process. THANK YOU to all... [Read more]

 :: Latest News & Comment

Spam and suspension of viewer postings

03/06/07 21:38:31

Posted by Webmaster on Sunday, 03 Jun 2007 at 4:09 pm Website visitors may notice spammed material in this section and/or on the side column. We... [Read more]

Sociology Seminar: Building New University-Community Connections

05/03/06 14:48:49

All are welcome to attend this sociology seminar, and/or to comment or raise issues in this discussion section by replying to this message at any... [Read more]

Sociology Conference 2005

04/10/05 21:29:21

SAANZ - Sociology Association of Aotearoa New Zealand 25-27 November 2005-10-04 Theme: Promoting Social Critique Sociology has as a core competence the analysis and critique of social... [Read more]

After swimming for a long time you finally. a poem by Danielle O'Halloran

24/08/05 18:22:47

After swimming for a long time you finally. Go To the island And the island says Go back to where you came from Go back to where you... [Read more]

A story about a boy who wanted to fly like a bird!

24/08/05 12:01:18

A story about a boy who wanted to fly like a bird Once upon a time, a few months ago, I visited family. They live about... [Read more]