ABOUT THE PROJECT:
The Magnum Foundation is working on a project on the South Side of Chicago called SEE POTENTIAL. Emily Schiffer, a photographer we’ve supported through theMagnum Foundation Emergency Fund, is creating large-scale photographic installations on the exteriors of abandoned buildings that will aid South Side communities to envision sustainable and healthy re-developments in their own neighborhoods. The Kickstarter video we created with Emily gives a good sense of the spirit and aims of the project:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/196569648/see-potential

PLATFORM:
We hope to create a relatively simple platform to test mid-june that will map community support and aggregate community input for sustainable development projects. Data collected and mapped would be available to present to policy makers, community leaders, and organizers.

The platform’s main purposes would be:
· Place a network of sustainable development projects on a map of the South Side
· Tally community support for these projects
· Facilitate dialogue regarding developments and entrepreneurial projects
· Inspire community to envision future sustainable changes

Proposed platform elements:
· Visually appealing Map
· Thumbnail images mark each potential development site
· Tally that registers when people send texts from mobiles to support each project
· (If Possible) ability to call in comments from telephone or mobile
· Comments aggregated for each project, ability to dialogue and respond
· Information about each development project

We hope to be able use one of the existing platforms like Ushahidi, and shape it to fit the project’s needs (instead of creating an entirely new platform). The proposed platform would be tested in June in one South Side neighborhood that will have 4-5 installation sites. After activating the platform in June, we would ask the community assess the platform and help imagine additional features to add in future iterations of the project.

BUDGET:
We have $1,000 in the budget for a student to design the first iteration of the platform to be ready to test mid-june. There would be a line in the budget for platform development for each subsequent set of installations (July) (Sept).

Please send an email to Emma Raynes eraynes@magnumfoundation.edu if you are interested in this opportunity.