The UK Catalyst Awards were created to recognise "inspiring stories of people who help their community by using social technology in new and exciting ways". There are 10 awards up for grabs, each one focusing on a slightly different aspect. The People's Choice Award, still open for public voting, has an impressive list of candidates.
Each one of them is a proof of how passion can fuel creativity and how commitment can help us make a difference. For example, Patient Opinion, one of our projects which has only a few weeks ago received the New Statesman New Media Award; Enabled by Design, an online community to help people with special needs achieve a more independent life; The Wiki Project on migration through the eyes of asylum seekers; or, from our friends, School of Everything and Big Art Mob. What all these projects have in common? The desire to tackle social problems by using... er... social tools.
We all appreciate the role social tools, and online social networks, play in our personal lives. We are aware of how social tools are increasingly being adopted by organisations. But one of the biggest promises comes from the use of social tools as intervention, democratisation, involvement and engagement mechanisms. "By the people for the people" comes to mind. I know, I know. It is a cliché. But you will have to agree this is what each one of the short-listed award candidates are trying to achieve.
We have been very lucky to help shape some of these initiatives (e.g. Patient Opinion, Do the Green Thing, Innovation Exchange) and we have other equally interesting propositions coming our way. Stay tuned!
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