Cataloguing Detroit's Ecology - Kick Starter

The crew that created From the Gut out of Eastern Market [[community based collaborative action) and WinterRoot [[tech reach) has created some interesting projects in Detroit. Their new project Wildflowers of Detroit wants to give another face to the global perspective [[NYT, The Guardian) of Detroit as devoid of content. Take a walk with this project and see what is in Detroit.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...ers-of-detroit

support before Wednesday Sep 28

"Wildflowers of Detroit is a community technology project for cataloging wild plants growing in Detroit, an effort which can enable people's appreciation of Detroit's reawakened ecology. Sometimes it’s called “citizen science," we call it community ecology - residents participating in the study of their own area. There is great value to be found in a community understanding it's own natural process."

the app associated with the project - http://itunes.apple.com/app/wild-det...438086108?mt=8

I can't bring this project up without mentioning and thanking Lowell's long term solo project cataloguing and sharing Detroit's incredible architecture - those 90 year old Art Deco apartment buildings that are Standing with more structure than a new tear-me-down-in-30-years airless box "replacement."

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...ers-of-detroit

From their UPDATES page:

We've decided to announce that all software created by the this project will be open sourced. What does this mean? It means that the database layer, website architecture, iPhone app source code, android code, and all other code will be made available for download to anyone and everyone. It can be easily installed to create similar projects in other towns, or repurposed to create geo-tagged maps of other kinds of living organisms or non-living objects. Think about it as a complete system for using GPS coordinates in concert with community organizing to understand a region.


Also, some people have been asking about native vs. invasive species. We'd like to make clear that this project is mainly about creating the tools to understand what plants do, and do not, exist within Detroit. It's our intention to create an ecological record of the current state of affairs, and allow it to be tracked over time. Our hope is that this will inspire enhanced discussion of Detroit's wild spaces and their role in Detroit's future. We do envision a future where this data, once collected, could be used in the discussion of restoration or development, but this project's goals are more fundamental: simply helping us to become more aware of what nature surrounds us in a city.

We've been updating our blog daily with updates about kickstarting the project as well as information and reflection on plant species you will find in the Detroit area specifically. Check out http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...ers-of-detroit or follow http://www.twitter.com/winterroot to keep up with all the hubub.

Greetings,

Here's the link to our interview that just aired on WDET

http://www.wdet.org/news/story/wildf...roitinterview/

Listen in for some details on bringing the Wildflowers of Detroit into the public purview. Thanks to everyone that has backed this project so far!!!!

Wildflowers VS. Ruin Porn anyone ??????