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Guidelines & Suggestions for Participation
Intercultural Communication 101 | E-Conference Code of Conduct
Addresses and details for posting messages will be made available prior to the e-conference. Online archives will be updated regularly to facilitate navigation among and reference to earlier messages.To facilitate discussions, participants are asked to consider the below guidelines for constructive contributions:
- Introductions: In your first posting, please briefly introduce yourself to the group (1-2 sentences may suffice).
- Please keep postings on-topic and within the timeframe allotted for each subject.
- Length: Please keep individual postings brief (preferably 500 words or less). E-Reminder: Short emails get read; long emails don’t. If your message is lengthy, consider splitting it into multiple posts.
- Please be respectful of your fellow participants. (Flamers beware: you will be removed.)
- In the interest of participants' limited disk space and dial-up connections, email attachments will not be posted. Proposals for articles and links to related materials may be submitted to forum@eco-res.org for inclusion on the Resources, References & Recommended Readings page and referenced within individual emails. (If you submit links, please reference them in your original post for easy access.)
- Please remember that approved posts will be sent to the entire participant group. Personal messages to individual contributors will not be forwarded, but should be sent directly to the intended recipient.
- The operating language for posts and recommended materials is English.
- List removal: This discussion is moderated. Off-topic contributions and spam will not be posted, and their contributors may be removed from the registrant bank.
- If you have questions, comments, or suggestions about the e-conference, please contact the moderator.
Remember: This e-conference will only be
as useful as its participants make it.
Your contribution is valuable!
There are many ways to participate in the discussion. Please consider the below suggestions:
- Share your experience, as an individual or on behalf of your organization. Where possible, please provide examples or case studies. “Best practices” and “lessons learned” from your or your colleagues’ experiences will be greatly appreciated.
- Ask questions and answer others’. If you use terminology that may be exclusive to your field, please include brief definitions for the group.
- Send links to case studies, reports, or bibliographies related to the topic or other information resources you have found useful (i.e., publications, discussion lists, databases, websites, and so on). These will be included in the online e-conference resources section.
- Network, network, network: Explore ways to form local, regional and international partnerships with your fellow participants.
- Spread the word: Share what you learn in the forum with your colleagues, students, friends, and family.
- Make it real: Take what you learn — and put it use. Then come back to share your experiences with us.
- Think globally, act locally: Consider forming a local discussion group during the e-conference to discuss the proceedings. When the e-conference ends, keep your group going — and come back for our next dialogue!
Effective Intercultural Communication
“Intercultural communication occurs whenever a message produced in one culture must be processed in another culture.” (Porter & Samovar, 1994)
Recognizing the diversity of our group, the EcoRes Forum would like to remind participants to consider the following general guidelines for intercultural communication. Bear in mind: Our group encompasses an endless variety of “cultures”: gender, nationality, ethnicity, profit/non-profit, academic/activist, language/dialects, religious/non-religious philosophies, and much, much more.
- Be sensitive in drafting your messages: Please edit your posts carefully, bearing in mind that English is not the first language of most participants. This also applies to language differences in fields — not all fields define similar terms in the same ways. Whenever possible, please avoid the use of jargon, idioms, and colloquialisms.
- Be extra careful with humor: Without body language and facial expressions, email messages are very easy to misinterpret. Accordingly:
- Best practice: Be sensitive, proceed carefully, and assume the best spirit and motive for each participant and each post, until absolutely proven otherwise.
E-Conference Code of Conduct
One of the greatest strengths of this e-conference series lies in its diversity. Our participants, guests and panelists come with widely varying views on the environment, politics, ethics, and how (and even if) these fields overlap and interact. We see this diversity as a strength, and ask that all participants appreciate this dialogue and debate as a vital, constructive part of issue exploration.
The EcoRes Forum is dedicated to the free and respectful exchange of information, ideas, and education on the socio-cultural aspects of climate change. We are committed to maintaining a safe, equal, and open platform for discussion, in which participants with differing views feel free to express themselves. As long as posts remain on-topic, they will not be removed on the basis of views expressed. However, please be aware that this requires that all participants exercise respect and courtesy in their posts. Abusive language or personal attacks will not be tolerated. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, hateful, or otherwise objectionable messages
- Messages invading another’s privacy
- Messages attacking another participant, rather than the content of a participant’s message. Constructive disagreement is encouraged; however, please comment only on the argument/position taken, rather than against the person posting the message
- Messages containing racial, religious, sexual or ethnic slurs or insults related to mental, physical or intellectual qualities
- Messages advocating violent action or illegal activities
In addition, disruptive messages (i.e., repeated posts of the same message, commercial advertisements, chain letters, etc.) will not be posted to the Forum. Links to materials related to e-conference topics (including conference announcements, organizational materials, and so on) may be submitted to forum@eco-res.org for inclusion in a separate web page.
The EcoRes Forum reserves the right to remove any posts in violation of these guidelines. Those responsible for such posts will be removed from the registrant bank. If you encounter a post in violation of the above, please report this directly to abuse@eco-res.org.
Thank you for your participation, and for helping the EcoRes Forum maintain its open-access status.
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