Areas of Expertise

citizen-ecosystem focuses in eight areas:

• Citizen
• Communities
• Environment
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Culture and Leisure
  
• Business
• Web
• Buzz

Citizen
The ability to compete and prosper in a global economy heavily relies in the capacity to attract, retain and develop creative citizens. For this to happen, the right incentives must be in place, as they will ultimately stimulate the exchange of knowledge and skills. Citizens are no longer seen by governments and public bodies as a passive audience, incapable of organizing and promoting their personal and collective interest.

Promoting citizens active participation in decision-making processes is encouraging a culture of accountability and new mechanisms for public servants to recognize and establish public needs; develop, communicate and distribute public services; and evaluate the level of citizen's satisfaction. The emerging role of creative citizens is inevitably promoting and reinforcing not only new ways of governance, but new sources for economic development. Any region aspiring to be competitive can not afford to overlook the fact that creative citizens are assets that have to be constantly cultivated and renewed.

Communities
New creative, innovative, distinctive and self-sustainable strategies for urban community collaboration and organization are enhancing citizens capacity to network collectively. Communities have expanded their capacities in a new vision of neighborhood development, where residents organize themselves and work along other civic and environmental groups to build livable and sustainable communities. Community creative building is about revitalizing and strengthening the ability of citizens, associations and organizations to work collectively to foster and sustain positive lasting neighborhood changes through the development of a shared sense of responsibility and ownership.

Environment
The environmental movement has effectively transformed for a more modern and mainstream society. Every major publication, from magazine articles to books, even movies, has done a good job bringing the subject out. But to translate awareness into action, sustainable solutions, products and lifestyle choices, need to be as readily available, convenient and cheap as the alternatives. The rapid growth in interest and adoption of sustainable practices, such renewable energy supplies, green building technologies, efficient water treatment systems, responsible consumerism, green rooftops, carbon neutrality production principles, urban pedestrianisation schemes, carbon off sets, etc. have place new sets of responsibilities and challenges on companies, governments and citizens.

Companies have the challenge to demonstrate how their brand connects with consumers desire to live a more sustainable life and to test alternatives to future-proof their business model.  Public authorities at all levels are expected to tackle environmental challenges, rather than simple and limited environmental protection. Every city government these days is actively developing a sustainable strategy. Citizens are making more responsible buying decisions, from organic labels to fair traded goods, and are actively contributing in reducing their ecological footprints. Today, more than ever, economic growth, social equality and environmental sustainability have to be equally aligned.

Corporate Social Responsibility
The corporate world is experiencing a cultural transformation on the global marketplace that is seeing a growing number of consumers redefine the criteria by which they make their purchasing decisions; they are now being based on an evolved set of values: integrity, sustainability and social responsibility. Consumers are extremely conscious of brand behavior and skeptical of companies that fail to take into account their environmental footprint. As camera and video phones are becoming both ubiquitous and more powerful, everything companies do or don't do, will be subject to public scrutiny. Mass consumers/employees reviews will increasingly become real time and on the spot; mass postings will also unmask, outnumber and neutralize fake reviews posted by companies trying to profit from these new channels.

Some of the world's largest corporations have announced major sustainable initiatives, forcing the Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) agenda in boardrooms all over the world. However, these efforts have to demonstrate their genuinity and that they are more  than a fancy PR exercise. This can only be done, by delivering results, local citizens can directly perceive and benefit from. General principles of CSR fall into the categories of ethics, accountability, governance, financial returns, employment practices, business relationships, products and services, community involvement and environmental protection. Companies that understand and authentically incorporate these new set of values in their production process - from communications to product development - are posed to take advantage of an increasingly discerning marketplace.

Culture and Leisure
There is a growing recognition that culture and leisure are key drivers for urban economic growth and regional competitiveness. Local governments and policy makers must be aware that cities with a vibrant cultural atmosphere and a good reputation for tolerance and openness tend to attract more tourism, better businesses and a higher number of talented creative citizens. Marketing a city requires creating the right strategies for promoting an area to attract inward investment and improve its reputation and image. It's about opening culture and creativity to its surroundings and enhancing local quality of life through the promotion, appreciation and consumption of the public space and cultural products. The modern city depends on its genius to understand the potential of culture and how it will ultimately promote a new and fresh local environment in which citizens live, work, consume, learn and enjoy.

Business
Businesses all over the world are experiencing a transformation towards the adoption of sustainable, open and fair business practices. Companies need to understand that encouraging sustainability can be profitable and more importantly that it creates new business opportunities, which are often overlooked by conservative competitors stuck in the paradigms of the past. New technologies and products that can stem degradation, rehabilitate ecosystems and tackle social inequalities and problems are on the rise and no societal force other than business is in better position to deliver the sustainable goods and services demanded by today's society.

Web
Social software and tools are reshaping the ways in which people interact, as the facilitate discussion and debate, and help people get organized - from the Katrina People Finder site, created within hours after the event, to the MySpace website that helped mobilize hundreds of thousands of generally apolitical young audience for the massive protests against immigration law - are just a few examples of the web's potential to act as catalyst for social change. Social networks, blogs, voice over IP, sms, podcasts, rss, content communities and wikis are empowering grassroots movements by bringing citizens closer to local issues. Citizens with mobile phones are becoming the guardians of human rights and cyberdemocracy, exposing issues that up until now have been typically ignored by mainstream media. Governments and companies will have to become more responsive, as citizens' demand for accountability, scrutiny and quality increases.

Buzz
This category includes sustainable solutions generating "buzz" through the webosphere that do not fit into any of the other categories, but yet align with the company's principles of promoting - participation, accountability, economic vitality and ecological regeneration - It allows the company on one side, to incorporate the latest solutions that are still shaping up into an ever expanding sustainable toolbox, and on the other, it offers the possibility to our clients to become early adopters of sustainable practices and eventually serve as reference point for others.