Links for July 5th to July 6th

These are my links for July 5th to July 6th:

• Asset Transfer Unit launched – Space Makers Network – Site: https://www.atu.org.uk/
  Twitter: https://twitter.com/asset_transfer
• "How to Freecycle Woolworths!" | Changing the World (and other excuses for not getting a proper job…) – For those of us who've been arguing for the creative reuse of empty space as part of a response to the recession, there was exciting news last week. The Department for Communities and Local Government announced £3m in small grants to help people reuse empty shops for creative and socially beneficial projects.
• Empty shops to be transformed into community space: New Start – Latest news for regeneration, economic development & sustainable communities – Up to £3m will be made available to convert empty shops into social enterprises, learning centres and local art displays, ministers have announced. DCLG said the funding was to help communities find creative ways of reducing the negative impact empty buildings have on high streets across England. Other measures announced include new planning application waivers, interim-use leases, and temporarily leasing shops to councils so they can be renovated for use as cultural, community and learning services.
• Looking after our town centres – Planning, building and the environment – Communities and Local Government – This short guide is for town centre managers and their local partners. It offers practical help in setting out how we can work together to make sure that our town centres reach their full potential, even in tough times, so that we can all enjoy, and be proud of, the centres of our great towns. But it also looks further ahead. It is vital that those involved in town centres – planners, service managers, businesses, local groups and communities – develop a clear vision, and actively plan to take advantage of new opportunities when the recovery begins.
• Hazel Blears backs ‘revolution to recycle’ buildings – Space Makers Network – Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has today unveiled a series of measures to back a people's revolution to recycle buildings by putting real power in the hands of locals to support communities during the downturn and beyond. The tougher economic climate has led to renewed interest in communities maintaining local assets, from post offices to pubs.

  As part of the Government's empowerment agenda, Ms Blears has announced a new single advice line – 0845 345 4564 – and other Government support to make it easier for people to take control of community assets, from community centres to theatres.

• Sustainable Energy Academy – Home – The Sustainable Energy Academy promotes education and action to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings and communities. We network with people and organisations at local level to achieve national impact. SEA are currently spearheading Old Home SuperHome – an ongoing programme to transform the existing housing stock in the UK, with the ultimate aim of reducing domestic carbon emissions by 60%. The scheme is building and promoting a network of exemplar, energy-efficient old dwellings, which will be local and publicly accessible, within 15 minutes, to nearly everyone in the country.
• Online Marketing: 46 Links to Promote Your Local Business Online « SCORE Women’s Success Blog – My theme today is local online marketing, with the emphasis on local. I’m covering local directories, local review sites, local ads, local social media strategies (i.e., how to use Twitter to promote locally), local blogs, and local search engine optimization.

  Think of these links as a crash course in local target marketing on the internet. If the list overwhelms you, read only the contents of the first link in each section for key points.

• Four crowdsourcing lessons from the Guardian’s (spectacular) expenses-scandal experiment » Nieman Journalism Lab – Okay, question time: Imagine you’re a major national newspaper whose crosstown arch-rival has somehow obtained two million pages of explosive documents that outed your country’s biggest political scandal of the decade. They’ve had a team of professional journalists on the job for a month, slamming out a string of blockbuster stories as they find them in their huge stack of secrets. How do you catch up? If you’re the Guardian of London, you wait for the associated public-records dump, shovel it all on your Web site next to a simple feedback interface and enlist more than 20,000 volunteers to help you find the needles in the haystack.
• The Energy Democracy Project – A plan to help transform the management of energy resources in Africa
• Khula Dhamma Community | South Africa – We aim to manifest a conscious, supportive and self-sufficient community that celebrates and co-creates with Nature; where all ages and cultures come together to explore the mysteries and possibilities of human spiritual potential.