This section has been prepared to help first-time visitors get a reasonable understanding in a few minutes of the general organization, main events and principal accomplishments (and shortcomings) of The Commons, as well to lay out some ideas as to what we hope to accomplish with all this in the years ahead.

As a matter of principle we encourage first time visitors, including those who come here for a specific program or event, to spend a few minutes workign down the menu to your left from top to bottomo to get a feel for how all this is intended to work. The fact is that the specific activities and programs are indeed part of a greater whole, and if one misses that then a significant part of what we are trying to do gets lost in the works. We would deeply regret that.

Tools and organization

This is a quite large and somewhat complicated site and tool set -- fair enough given the considerable level of ambition that we have for The Commons and its many parts. We have worked hard however to make it user friendly: relatively easy to get into, understand and make quick and efficient use of. If you will take a bit of time in these first stages to familiarize yourself with the various components of this tool set, you should find that it offers a number of things which will help make this a quite pleasant and creative experience. In brief . . . A quick overview of our approach and the values that we feel are part of the solution. General navigation aids (You will need to consult these only if you are not a confirmed user of the web.) World Sustainability News Alerts Start your sustainabile morning with a good cup of coffee and today's World Sustainability News on your screen. This newsfeed calls up items from the world print press which will tell you what has gone on in our sector over the last 24 hours (and month). In five languages. Try it. You will come back for more. World Sustainability Resources 1001 links to carefully culled and indexed web sites and programs that are making their own contributions in countries and cities around the world. Hard to think of a better place to start your search. Personal Responsibility: Helpful tools and checklists Plenty of people are out there and talking the talk of sustainability, us included. But are you, are we, walking the walk of sustainable lives? Check yourself out and draw a few conclusions for yourself. The Commons World @Forum This is our central library and communications center, offering a free, public, shared central repository of information, experience and counsel for people and groups who feel that the sustainability is worth working for. Message Center/Discussion Forum This carefully moderated forum ionvites our members to swap announcements of new projects or events, information and leads. The importance of using technology Without using it and using it well, you have to believe me: you will not be able to get there from here. Check out Sustainable Transportation's Dirty Secret for some of our thinking on this International Peer Support Actions We have three sets of assets that allow us to get together to support outstanding project initiatives: (a) a lot of committed people who know a great deal about our topic, (b) a shared interest not only in improving physical movements but also in the sustainability and social justice agendas, and (c) an effective networking and communications medium. Read on. Join the New Mobility Agenda This is all you need to do to sign up for the World Forum (and the NewMob Cafe) and have access to their features. Searching the site and beyond A series of windows that can help you find a wide variety of information on your topic. This is a quite vast site and there is much in here that may not necessarily jump out at you. But you can Search for it. Check it out! Contacting us Just in case. Preparing your visit If you come to Paris, we want you to have a good stay here. Here you have a few leads which may help you do just that.     Home   About Site map   Latest Translate   Contact   Top Le Frene, 8/10 rue Joseph Bara 75006 Paris, France, Europe. T: +331 4326 1323 Copyright © 1994-2004 The Commons ® All rights reserved. Last updated on 8 June 2004