I copy hear my email from July sent to the emailing list.
Hey all,

So great that the city is inviting OKFI to be part of the committee/board! Participatory design, commons, supporting citizen driven innovation and self-organizing communities are in the heart of my research and design practice (also in the projects i am part of in OKFI), and therefore I would be very interested in the position. Unfortunately however, I think in practice I would not be able to represent OKFI due to my other commitments and conflict of interest. Luckily it looks like there are other good candidates for the position. :) thanks for volunteering!

I was wondering is it a challenge or an opportunity if the selected person has ongoing projects/commitments with the city. For example like avoimet juuret (participatory budgeting) and Hack4fi (with Helsinki City Museum).

Another thought:
Usually these committees do not pay for participation/contribution and the basic assumption is that the person gets a salary from the organization represented. Should we as an organization pay for the time one is contributing? In my opinion this kind of committee role is work and we as an organization should pay people who do the job. I know this voluntary work issue is tricky, and some may (or may not) think that one can work for free because e.g. the cause is important, or to advance one’s career or widen one’s network, but I think when we as an organization are asked for representation we should try to make sure that the people are getting compensated (or that it is part of their job at OKFI).

In general i think that the working groups should discuss and suggest the person for different committees, however I understand that perhaps this position overlaps with many groups and therefore the decision should be done in the core level.

All the best,

Sanna

I agree that this might be something to discuss with the core since participation is a part of openness and like you said, we've got a bunch of working groups that it overlaps with. ;) Also, we have to make a decision pretty soon because we're already late.

@sannamarttila I don't feel it's a problem to be named if you're working on projects already. I think it's a strength rather than a liability.

If I make a proposition for us to vote on the people who have expressed their interest, would you like to be nominated?

Sanna's response: "Hyvä ja kiitos Mikael kun olet aktiivinen! En itse voi olla käytettävissä, koska vaihdan myöhemmin syksyllä duunia!"

I'll add the rest of the mails with proposals from the chain for background. :arrow_heading_down:

#1 @tarmotoikkanen:
Well, being a design-researcher and working quite a bit on participatory design methods, this seems like something I would have some expertise on. And living in Helsinki, I also have a vested interest. :) Sign me up if no-one else wants the position even more.

#2 @mattikinnunen:
I would be interested. This would be something I wish to use my very limited NGO time on. Both as a supporter of openness and as a neighborhood activist.

#3 @akisaariaho:
I would be interested. Helsinki is doing interesting things with participation and active citizens. I would love to be involved and bring them to Espoo as well.

#4 @mikaelseppala:
I'm definitely interested! I was part of the citizen group that was engaged to develop the city's participation model.

I'm also running the Social Innovation for Systems Change Finland community that seeks to promote global best participation practices here in Finland. Taking part in this group would be a great opportunity to take things forward.

We're also preparing an OKFI project application with Miska around environmental sensors and citizen participation. We're looking to collaborate with the Helsinki city folks on the topic.

#5 @mikahonkanen:
Could every candidate say something what they want to do / achieve in this role?

It's great that there are so many people volunteering for this position. I think it is very important that there is someone active promoting the ideas of OKFI. For a minute, I was seriously thinking of applying this myself, but I don't think someone from Kuopio is an optimal candidate. Closer daily connections with Helsinki and OKFI would be needed.

@mikaelseppala can you formulate a proposal or do we need more info, as in e.g. a candidate’s promises on what to do in the position like @mikahonkanen suggested?

Kirjoitan nyt suomeksi, koska alkuperäinen tehtävä on suomeksi kokonaan. Kannattaa tosiaan huomioida, että tästä ei saa (usein mitään) korvausta. Tehtävässä kannattaa strategisella tasolla edistää avoimuutta eteenpäin Helsingissä yhdistyksen edustajana. Esimerkiksi kokonaisvaltainen tiedonhallinta jne. ja kaikki muut ajatukset. Oikeastaan kannattaisi laatia yhdistyksen yhteinen strateginen ohjelma, jotka valittava henkilö sitoutuu edistämään tässä tehtävässä. Kannattaa myös pitää vapaaehtoistyön puolta. Liian usein ajatellaan, että kansalaisjärjestöjen ihmiset ovat "ilmaista työvoimaa". Tähän ei minun mielestä pidä liikaa suostua. Strategisella tasolla vahva ehkä / kyllä, mutta taktisella ja operatiivisella tasolla ei. Mutta tämä kommentti yhdistyksen rivijäsenenä ja ja edustan tässä vain itseäni.

Minusta tästä olisi ollut tärkein asia sisältö, eikä henkilö. Jokainen henkilö osaa pienen osa kokonaisuudesta. Siksi en nyt tässä äänestä henkilöä, mutta toivon, että kaikki 4 miettivät yhdessä, mitä kaikkea se yksi henkilö voisi edistää.