A Twitter chat series in the framework of #TheCityWeNeed action campaign
A World Urban Campaign (@urbancampaign) Twitter chat with gender expert Roberto Rocco (@RobertoRocco) from TU DELFT (@TUDELFT)
Tuesday, 30 January 2018
2-3pm (Nairobi time, GMT+3)
Background
A Twitter chat is a public discussion on Twitter around a specific hashtag (for example, #TheCityWeNeed). Twitter chats are led by a designated moderator (i.e. the World Urban Campaign) who ask questions and facilitate the discussion at a predetermined time. Twitter chats are similar to forum Q&As, which involve people visiting a forum thread at a particular time to chat to the host. In offline terms, hosting a Twitter chat is like hosting an open house for neighbours to discuss a local issue or a community group for people who share a common interest. In both cases, you set a date and time, choose a topic or theme, promote it to your audience, and then host a live, public discussion anyone can contribute to.
A Twitter chat is more than just a fun event for an organization’s followers. From an engagement perspective, a Twitter chat is a golden opportunity to connect with and engage partners in a meaningful way. Hosting a chat shows followers that a representative and the organization is open, accessible, and willing to engage with them—rather than just broadcasting content to them. By initiating and participating in open conversations with people interested in the topics your organization presents for discussion, you as an individual representative create opportunities to connect with new people, including influencers, existing and potential partners, and others in your field.
Objective
A Twitter chat has that element of immediacy and two-way discussion that is a draw for many people. People can ask us direct questions, and we – the World Urban Campaign and YOU – have a chance to display some thought leadership of our own, raise our profile, and grow our audience by participating in a public debate. We may also use this twitter chat as another source of interesting content we can add to our feeds, as well as a way to find interesting people to follow and grow our networks.
Through this Twitter chat, the World Urban Campaign will, together with its lead partner organization TU DELFT and expert Roberto Rocco, discuss #education for the #implementation of the #NewUrbanAgenda in #TheCityWeNeed and provide its followers the opportunity to engage directly with the Campaign by answering questions posed by the co-hosts. The aim is furthermore to create awareness about the importance of public spaces in the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goal 11, in the framework of #TheCityWeNeed campaign.
- The co-hosted Twitter Chat
Our hashtag: #TheCityWeNeed
The Twitter chat hashtag gives our discussion an identity and helps people find and follow it on Twitter.
The co-hosts: @urbancampaign and @RobertoRocco
Every Twitter chat needs a host to start things off, encourage participation, and moderate the discussion and keep it on track.
A topic and content: Education for Implementation of the New Urban Agenda in #TheCityWeNeed
Co-hosted by @urbancampaign & Roberto Rocco @RobertoRocco we will examine how planning and design schools need to change their education to address the New Urban Agenda
Questions and answers: 6 Questions (3 from @urbancampaign, 3 from @RobertoRocco)
Twitter chats usually follow a Q&A format. The host asks questions or posts discussion topics (indicated by Q1, Q2, etc.) and participants post answers (A1, A2, etc.) to make it easy to follow along.
Draft Twitter chat “agenda”:
- 14:00hrs @urbancampaign: Welcome to our twitter chat! Today, we are discussing the #education for the #implementation of the #NewUrbanAgenda in #TheCityWeNeed and our co-host is @RobertoRocco from @TUDelft @BKTUDelft @UrbanismTUDelft
- 14:01 @urbancampaign AND @RobertoRocco: Our twitter chat hashtag is #TheCityWeNeed – be sure to include it in your responses! We’ll be live from 2-3pm Nairobi time today and will ask you 6 questions. Make sure to label your answers with A1, A2…to create an easy communication trail with us. Thank you!
- 14:03 @urbancampaign: Q1 #TheCityWeNeed learns and innovates, and is a laboratory for experimenting with alternative scenarios for a future. Which role do educational institutions play in this regard?
- 14:10 @RobertoRocco: Q2 What are the main issues in the #NewUrbanAgenda that planning and design students and teachers should focus on to achieve #TheCityWeNeed ?
- 14:20 @urbancampaign Q3 #TheCityWeNeed recognizes that cities are changing, which calls for continuous learning, reflection and more flexible planning. Which innovative approaches do you know which can contribute to this?
- 14:30 @RobertoRocco: Q4 How can educational institutions move from an old fashioned architectural education paradigm to an education that embraces the complexity of urban development and incorporates issues of justice, ethics and social sustainability? #TheCityWeNeed
- 14:40 @urbancampaign: Q5 #TheCityWeNeed uses systems thinking to understand urban complexity and the sources of unintended policy consequences. How can universities engage students to focus their studies on these issues?
- 14:50 @RobertoRocco: Q6 How can the public sector, private sector and civic society be brought together to form collaborative alliances for the educational aspects of teaching the #NewUrbanAgenda? #TheCityWeNeed
- 14:59 @urbancampaign AND @RobertoRocco: Thank you for joining us for today’s Twitter Chat. Do you want to learn more about #TheCityWeNeed campaign and how you can be part of it? Please visit thecityweneed.org
- 15:00 @urbancampaign AND @RobertoRocco: Do you want to stay in touch? Email wuc(at)unhabitat.org to share your #UrbanSolutions for #TheCityWeNeed with us!
- A set date and time: Tuesday, 30 January 2018, from 2-3 pm Nairobi time (GMT+3)
This Twitter chat will be the ninth in the series, which will end on 30 January 2017.
Participants: All WUC partners + Twitter followers, All Compass Housing partners + Twitter followers
So can anyone join the Twitter chat?
- The #TheCityWeNeed Twitter chat is for anyone on Twitter who is keen to share ideas about urbanization, cities, human settlements, the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. The more the merrier!
- In advance of the Twitter chat, follow hosts and guest co-hosts on Twitter: @RobertoRocco and @urbancampaign
- To follow the discussion on the day (30 January 2018, 2-3pm (Nairobi time GMT+3), type #TheCityWeNeed in the Twitter search area and click enter.
- To join the conversation, use the hashtag #TheCityWeNeed to respond to questions and responses during the chat.
