Why, what and how ... Project Dirt stripped down

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - asked by Jack (Peckham Power Co)

Why?

It’s all too easy to end up not doing what you really want to do. Each day slips away, decisions are short term; what am I going to eat tonight, can I get to that party on Friday, when’s my next pay packet. It makes sense – complete sense, because of the world we live in and the choices available to all of us dictate what we do from hour to hour, day to day, year to year.

At its core is the idea that Project Dirt can HELP make that little bit of progress. Project Dirt doesn’t progress things itself – that is absolutely the wrong track. It's a catalyst - nothing more.

People

Project Dirt at its simplest provides a platform where people can interact. And it’s the people that are the most important factor – you, me, the person on the bus and guys in the coffee shops. They are absolutely crucial to everything going on around us; environmental or not. The world is shaped by people, by their talent, knowledge, stamina, beliefs and desires – and of course the tangible part of this is their actions (what they do). The great thing is that each person is unique – and that means everyone has something to offer.

Coming together

Humans are pack animals. We work best together, have traded for centuries, lived collectively in cities and on many occasions, have fought together to preserve an ideal. Great achievements often come from a team. If there’s a common goal, consensus and agenda – then this is best achieved through people collectively coming together. For this to happen, things need to be coordinated (managed) and information needs to be available.

Progress

Progress is an important word – a big prospect … and yet we seamlessly progress as people and communities everyday. Sometimes we’ll realise this (such as going to school and learning) and most of the time we’re oblivious to what we’re taking in and learning.

PEOPLE + COMING TOGETHER = PROGRESS

What line will we take?

Generally a neutral one. Why – because people need to be able to use Project Dirt how they want to. There will be times, I’m sure when Nick and I put our foot down, make a song and dance about something we really believe in. Something we want to flag. By and large however, we don’t want to constrain what people have to offer. Because it’s the wealth of knowledge and expertise that needs to be nurtured and we don’t want to impede or stifle this.

So again, what is Project Dirt?

We’re not a website, we’re a community. We’re not exclusive, we’re inclusive. We’re not preaching a message, we’re improving information links. We’re not another forum; we’re a projects based network encouraging activity.

We’re enthusiastic about what can be done, optimistic and determined to provide a good service. We have belief in people, in their ability to make things happen. In the talent within our society and how this can be used to help achieve a common goal – environmental improvement. We believe real and permanent change can be achieved through information sharing and application.

Further Reading

If you would like more details about the Project Dirt site, please read the overview (PDF).We've also now uploaded our draft Structure Document (DOC) for comment (this is definitely a working draft!), as well as our draft mock-ups (PPT) of the website. Please make any comments in the forum!

For our terms and conditions - please see the "terms of service"at the bottom of each page on the site. This represents the terms of service of the platform provider.