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The Cities for Change Forum is an event, but it is also an online platform, built to allow hundreds of groups and movements and organisations to work together online. In this short article, we will tell you exactly how this works, and how you can build your own digital space on this platform.

1. What can you do on this platform?

Here’s a list of some of the things you can do if you launch your own space:

• You can host online discussions
• You can broadcast events, like live webinars
• You have your own blog, so you can publish whatever you want
• You can post videos and images and podcasts and other material
• You can hold votes and you can set up surveys
• The visitors to your space can subscribe to your activities
• You can send out a regular newsletter to your own audience
• You can set up administrators with different permissions
• You can host private meetings, where it’s invite-only
• You can make notes during meetings, you have a built-in shared whiteboard
• You can co-write texts together
• You can upload your own logo in a banner, so the space feels more personalised
• You can invite other visitors to the forum to join your events, collaborate with you, etc

2. How do you set it up?

Here’s a quick how-to guide to setting up your own space:

• Step 1: make your own account, go here
• Step 2: make sure you agree to the terms and make sure you subscribe to the newsletter
• Step 3: make your own group, by filling out this form. We will get in touch with you and help you set up your own programming and other collective processes!

3. Why should I build my own space?

The Cities for Change Forum is a collection of local movements working together. The idea is to make a collaborative forum that is decentralised and collective, so that everyone can build their own conversation, determine their own talking points and navigate their own path in this online environment. But that only works if we all put in some work. For your voices to be heard, it is crucial that you add your group to the forum.

What’s in it for me, you might ask. We think that this is the best way to gather ideas, insights, new models, inspiring stories and radical strategies from across the world all on one forum, all in one month. And we want you to be a part of that. Your group will be part of the CIties for Change Forum, your stories will be broadcast (if you want to!) and your network will grow. Consider it a small first step into new digital methods for organising, building movements and new narratives in a collective way. We don’t know where this process will take us, but we’re curious to find out!