Port Phillip Speaks

=== Global News ===
*April 12 2007 - Peter Singer keynote speaker at at Port Phillip Speaks Community Summit, Saturday April 28 2007. Singer, who was nominated by Time magazine in 2005 as one of the world’s top 100 influential people, will talk about building sustainability, both on an environmental and community level. Port Phillip Speaks will result in a new community plan to guide the council’s and the community’s work for the next ten years. 
Singer, who has lived in St Kilda (when he’s in Australia) since 1996, says he was attracted by the
council’s innovative experiment in participatory democracy.
"I’ve had a long term interest in making the world more democratic. In fact, my very first book was
on the subject of democracy and disobedience, and emphasized the importance of real
participation in the democratic process."
"The way Port Phillip Speaks is organised is a big departure from the traditional town hall meeting
where sometimes the loudest voices dominate. I’ll be interested to see if it does actually allow
more people to have a say. I’m also keen to see how participants handle the technology of key
pads, laptops and big screens."
According to Singer, more local governments should follow Port Phillip’s lead in finding a variety of
ways to measure community progress other than simply economic indicators.
"How much waste our households generate, whether our kids walk to school or how many people
in our block or street we regularly talk to also tell us how we’re traveling as a community and as a
society more generally."
Singer has written a forthcoming article for Project Syndicate, an international syndication service,
about the council’s street party and ‘smiles per hour’ program which encourages people to smile
more often on the street.
Singer says Port Phillip is serious about being a good global citizen, because instead of seeing a
high rate of private car ownership as a sign of prosperity, the council regards a decline in the
number of cars owned in the city, and an increase in the usage of public transport, as a sign of
progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and encouraging a healthier lifestyle.
The column, to be released on April 16, praises the City of Port Phillip for not seeing its role merely
as providing basic services like collecting rubbish and maintaining the roads, but also taking a
broader view, looking at the next generation’s opportunities for living a life of good quality, as well
as at the quality of life of today’s residents.
Singer notes that preventing crime is a high priority for governments everywhere, and often
encouraging friendship and cooperation comes much lower on the list. But he points out that
encouraging friendship and cooperation can be easy to do, uses few resources, and can have big
payoffs.
=== Related topics ===
*Community involvement
*Quality of life
=== References ===
*Port Phillip Online Media release
=== External links ===
*Port Phillip Online
*Port Phillip Speaks Community Summit
*Port Phillip Speaks Community Summit, on MySpace
category:Australia
category:Community involvement
category:Indicators