Where cities meet cities.
Imagine you're a city manager in Kigali, Kowloon or Kamloops faced with a water quality crisis or waste policy issue. How can you quickly scope the latest ideas and proven solutions? Consultants are expensive. Google isn't the answer. Academic databases are impenetrable. The sustainability noise is deafening — where can you find a signal?
Now imagine an Amazon-like online destination where the 'products' are sustainability solutions and the conversations of countless consumers, like you, continuously identify the best solutions — all of which are free! The world has never had an opportunity to share and build the sustainability knowledge already within our cities. GUSSE is an innovative online website that brings together the most current, valuable and trusted solutions for urban sustainability, then refines and applies them within a ‘social networking' framework that harnesses collective wisdom on a global scale.
GUSSE was launched in June 2006 at the World Urban Forum 3 in Vancouver, which attracted over 11,000 delegates from around the planet who have an interest in the urban environment. Communicopia was deeply involved from the inception of this project, and led the business requirements, brand mantra, identity creation, website design, as well as provided overall project management and vendor coordination for the project. Like many of our favourite projects, this was a collaboration among numerous amazing people including content lead Elisa Campbell at the Design Centre for Sustainability at UBC, visionary Dr. David Vogt (who we also work with on Mobile MUSE), host UBC, technology genius Stephen Forth at OPN Design, and Nola-Kate Seymour at International Centre for Sustainable Cities.
The site is still in prototype stage and is looking for further funding to take the idea global. It still has some kinks but is intended to show what is possible with further development.
Visit the prototype site today at www.gusse.org and add your voice to the discussion!