Common Adventure


From 1967 to 1980, I was involved in helping to coordinate an outdoor
environmental program at the University of Oregon. A feature of this
program was the existence of a common resource Room 23 in the
Student Union. This room was open 24/7 to anyone at the University,
and to people from the larger Eugene, Oregon community as well as to
travelers who were passing by. The main feature of this room was a
large Bulletin Board where visiting individuals could post their
interest (s) in outdoor trips and/or environmental projects.
Thousands of people used this communication opportunity and other
colleges and communities in North America soon copied the idea. Many
of these are still in existence today. This "Weblog" is my attempt to explain this concept and how it is used by communities of people using the Internet today.


By the early 70s a "Common Adventure philosophy" was developed by participants in the U of O Outdoor Program to
answer questions about the legal liability the university might have
for the people who were often organizing and engaging in somewhat
risky outdoor adventures. Basically this concept concluded that
individuals took on an individual responsibility for themselves when
engaging in group activities. The process of posting an idea on the
bulletin board did not constitute acknowledgement of a professional
guide or certified leader. Nor did it imply any payment to the
university or larger community for organizing any of these projects.
Individuals who used the bulletin board would not be able to sue the
university or the person who posted the notice if they were hurt
while engaging in an outoor or environmental activity, for example.

Interestingly, this is a similar concept which is used in the
corporate world where corporations are formed. It is usually called
a "Joint Venture."

Make a note here about Ron Watters description of the Common
Adventure concept where he creates a justification of sorts for paid
professional outdoor program leaders. His papers were primarily
developed for this audience.
http://www.isu.edu/outdoor/CALitReview.htm

My own writings focused on the individual participant and minimized
the relationship to the institution. I wrote several papers between
1967 and 1980 which were distributed to interested organizations. I
intended to write a book or series of professional articles, but my
personal interest was to try to do this with a multimedia project
instead of written words. Using the Internet today may let me bring
this concept to fruition.

In addition to continuing to promote this Common Adventure philosophy
during my life, I have also developed interests in how communication
networks and multimedia affect public land and natural resource
issues.
Today, I am active in producing natural resource interactive
multimedia web sites, some of which also include "Community Centers"
with electronic Bulletin Boards. Efforts are being made through
these ideas to invite citizens and the general public to express
their own personal interests in watershed issues.

In the late1960s The Tragedy of the Commons" written by Garrett
Hardin (Garrett Hardin, "The Tragedy of the Commons," Science 162
(1968): 1243ˆ8.
became an important concept for me. Recently I have read another
article which notes Mr. Hardin and examines his concept in a modern
perspective. David Bollier's article "Reclaiming the Commons" speaks
of the Internet Commons. He suggests that "Hardin's essay might more
appropriately have been titled "The Tragedy of Open Access."
This is an excellent article and it reflects many of my own current interests.
http://solutions.synearth.net/2002/07/30

In addition, I have recently seen and heard comments from Ralph
Nader, speaking about the "Green Party" and the need for more
citizens to become much more involved in current issues. I agree
this is needed. It has always been needed in my lifetime. As a side
note, I should mention that Ralph Nader was also influential in the
late 1960s and 70s, when he helped stimulate the "Public Interest
Research Groups" in colleges throughout America. The U. of O. was
one of these and many students and townspeople who participated in
the Common Adventure program, also were very active with that public
interest projects. Many students participated in independent studies
programs with different University departments and with the College
of Community Service and Public Affairs.

As mentioned above, I have been helping some collaborative watershed
groups develop interactive web sites which also contain watershed
Community Centers with Bulletin Boards. Possibly citizens will
become more involved in special activities in their own watershed if
they have a lot of visual and multimedia material to refer to. A
bulletin board may also let people openly comment on important and
contemporary watershed and management issues.

Finally, I am now reading about the recent phenomenon of the
"Weblog." The Internet today provides any individual with the
opportunity to "publish" concerns or ideas on the web, and to use
photos, multimedia and links to other supporting web related material.

This will by my initial effort to start a "Weblog" to share my ideas
with others who might have similar interests.

The major impetus for this effort now is a realization that events in
my life have a common thread. My educational career focused on
learning theories, especially those that accounted for outdoor and
natural settings. Room 23 at the U. of O. was a "commons." The
common adventure concept uses the same word and now my perception is
that the Internet is also a "common" resource where individuals can
express their opinions and experiences to a potentially large
audience by "publishing" personal web sites and inviting
participation by other internet users.

As noted above, this outline is meant to jot down some outline ideas
for this topic. I am sending this in this rough form with the
assumption that I can revise it and separate some of the topics when
I choose to, in the near future.

Meanwhile, I will post a few web sites I am involved in, especially
the ones who will use the Watershed Bulletin Board. These are:
http://www.uppersevier.net
http://www.potomacwatershed.net
http://www.conasaugariver.net
http://www.pitriveralliance.net
http://www.uppersouthplatt.net

My business web site is produced by myself and my partner/wife Katy
Flanagan. Many natural resource project web sites we have produced
are noted here.
www.mountainvisions.com

Gary O. Grimm

Posted: Sat - September 13, 2003 at 08:00 PM      

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