OpenGeofiction
Hey there,
I recently realized that the number of International Organisations in Pyingshum is rather low; or rather, more or less zero. Now, the last thing I want to promote is a “race” on who can win the most organisations for their respective countries, and I’m sure there are more than enough to come up with to make everyone happy. So I took some time and browsed the wiki (both on OGF and the real world Wikipedia) to look for some organisations that I would like to locate in my oh-so-glorious capital. However, I want to check with you guys if there are any objections or comments. It is very well possible that some organisations might already exist in OGF in one way or the other, or would make more sense to be located in the same city as a “mother-organisation” in some cases. So feel free to criticize my claims in all ways possible please! Or if you are particularly fond of one of them, I’m sure arrangements can be made ;)
In no particular order:
- International Organisation for Students Exchange (maybe affiliated with the ANESCO?)
-World Archive Organisation / World Library … Could be just an international body for cooperation between libraries world wide, but if Pyingshum was seen as a worthy city I would also be happy to map an actual “world archive”; maybe alike to the modern library of Alexandria. I also already have a spot in mind, next to the National library close to the Besoegawan Norikichezi Station.
-International Museum Cooperative; This office could promote the exchange of loan collections between museums world wide.
-International Council for Science; this organisation exists in the real world as well. As far as I’m aware it functions as an umbrella group for all national science organisations. Obviously, all major branches of science have parallel organisations on national and international level; I feel fond to also claim the
-International Mathematics Union (but again, don’t want to seem to grabby)
-International Organisation for Fair Trade labelling
-International Assoziation for the advancement of Organic Food (not pushing any agenda here ;) Just found out they exist in the real world, and think they would look nice on a map)
-Ulethan Film Academy; this one might be on the more controversial side. It could be associated with the Ulethan Culture Association, but for example the European Film Academy in Berlin is independent from any other association I think. Anyways, I always like to dream about Pyingshum as a cultural capital, but if there’s any other city in Uletha that would like to claim the title of “Ulethan cinema capital”, please go ahead
-International Association for the Advancement of High-speed rail
-International Adoption Agency (perhaps another ANESCO affiliate?)
(When it comes to “International” organisations which are more or less rooted in Kojolese culture - like a hypothetical Organisation of the Kojolese Language - I’ll just take it as a given that I have the community’s consent in locating them in appropriate location in Kojo)
I hope I can convince some to give some feedback and hopefully validation to my ideas, but of course criticism is strongly encourages as always.
Cheers, Leo
Discussion
Comment from Alessa on 19 March 2017 at 20:46
Hi! Generally, I agree with your thoughts. I was thinking this myself the other day as I’m starting to populate my capital region with some things. The only thing you mentioned that I’d have interest in would be the global archive. Of course, if I could have a major branch–maybe even a specialty branch…? I think we need to be more creative here on OGF with international organizations. If we are being clever with our mapping, it can really help make our major cities (and sometimes other places) look more realistic.
I think the issue at hand is a matter of perception, however. How many organizations before there are too many? I think we need to be willing to accept branch offices, local subsidiary groups, etc. Unlike the real world, we don’t have a few cities that concentrate a lot of global power. There just aren’t too many places like New York, London, Paris, Brussels, Rome, etc. in the OGF world. St. Richards, Gobras City, and Khaiwoon seem to be the closest we have. It also means that most countries may not have any international organizations aside from local branch offices. I’m not certain that people will really be okay with that, to be honest. I don’t mind a more equitable distribution, but we all want our countries to be important in some way. I myself am only looking to have two or possibly three in my country, and only those related to things my country would seem to value. I think that’s also another distinction. I might love to have my country host something, but the current mapping of it, likely climate, and other things don’t make certain organizations logical. Mauretia probably wouldn’t be a good candidate to host a volcanology institute, since there are no volcanoes–irrespective of my personal interest. I think we all need to be prudent as users.
That said, with international organizations spread around, perhaps this world would have developed with the mindset of sharing? Why couldn’t three cities all house a main office of an international organization? If all of our countries are moderately small, then would each individual one really have the finances, experts, and wherewithal to be the purveyor? I find that doubtful. Maybe there is a “main office” somewhere, but local offices scattered around that frankly might be just as important. We need creativity and need to be willing to share and have things more spread out.
At the risk of sounding like I’m promoting a race, I’ll list the two I want to have. Hopefully it will demonstrate part of what I’m trying to say. First, I’d like to start and host the Association of Fruit-Growing Countries. Here’s my thought process: Mauretia is a haven of orchards, and I’ve already started mapping large orchard and vegetable areas in the eastern part of the country. I, too, have an idea for its headquarters and am about to start mapping that area of Iola in more detail. It is also something that is really important to me, as I grew up next to orchards and they have been an integral part of my life. So, for me there is an intersection of my personal interests, knowledge, and Mauretia’s position on the map with regards to climate and what is being mapped. A second one that I’d like to start is a breast cancer research organization and affiliated hospitals. Like before, this one is personal–as it touched my family and even me. (Don’t worry, all turned out well!) Unlike the way we think of organizations, I fail to see why there can’t be one, two, or even three other international breast cancer institutes. After all, there are in the real world. Here, is an example of where we can have this type of collaboration, sharing, and still have things that are important.
I’m sorry for the really long reply. In summary, if there is one you’re really passionate about and Kojo would likely be a leader, then go ahead and start it! If someone has a major issue, work it out with them. Maybe there would even be a competing organization or split offices. As long as users are not needlessly selfish and immature, I fail to see why we can’t be creative and come up with something that works for us.
Comment from Leowezy on 19 March 2017 at 21:07
Thank you Alessa for your great reply! I’ll try to touch on everything you mentioned.
I definitely agree with you on that we should spread things out. I’d add though that it probably makes more sense to divide organisations into smaller chunks and then spread these chunks; instead of having 3 offices for a hypothetical Organisation for renewable energy, perhaps there can be one for wind, one for solar, one for hydroelectric, one focused on promoting research on battery technology and so on.
Related to that, I tried to come with pretty specific institutions mentioned above, some of which might also be subdivisions of other like the ANESCO etc. I realise my list might seem a bit long, however I think it’s important to note that there are no overly “important” ones amongst them. I, very subjectively, would value a NATO headquarter of the International Monetary Fund as much more important (and therefore larger) institutions than for example a non-government organisation with maybe 10 staff members that gives out food labels or organically grown food. Also, of course, especially with NGO’s there’s nothing in the way of having more than one for the exact same cause; maybe there are competing food label standards, and there also might be several other world-wide operating adoption agencies of course, some NGO and some as intergovernmental setups.
Also, I realised that “International Organisation” might be a bit of a stretch for some of the points listed above; I think we should differentiate between actual “membership-organisations”, where countries become members and work out solutions together, and small internationally operating interest groups that just happen to need a main office somewhere. I hope that puts my “claims” above into some perspective ;)
Last but not least, I think your ideas about Mauretia being a major fruit producing country and therefore hosting related Organisations sounds wonderful! I would definitely encourage you to go through with that idea. Kojo might even become a member if the organisation’s setup would allow for that ;)
Comment from Alessa on 19 March 2017 at 21:16
Thanks for the insight and endorsement, Leo. I agree that your point of two different types of international organizations is important to keep in mind. That’s kind of what I was trying to explain and model with my two proposals. Plus, subdividing into smaller ones is a good thing. The one you mention is a great idea. There are probably enough AN groups that can be umbrellas for these smaller things, too. Turning to the other type, NGOs should probably abound, and that is where I think we as an OGF community can be really creative. Why not? This is in some ways an “idealized” world. I’d like to think that we are just the type of people that can do something cool with this.
I also see how you’re trying to position Kojo with these specialized organizations. I should publicly state that I don’t have any objections to what you’re proposing for your country. I think you’ve thought through this and are not trying to create a “race.” I think you brought up a great point that needs to be discussed. I endorse all of your selections for your capital city and think Mauretia would definitely have some interest in being a part of them, too.
Cheers!
Comment from Ūdilugbulgidħū on 19 March 2017 at 23:08
In many ways the real world is very ‘unbalanced’. If we share things out more equitably in OGF I think that’s entirely in keeping with the state of this world, at least as it is at the moment (since there are no real superpowers, as such). If things change in the future, we can be open to that as well. For many reasons I like the idea of picking particular specialities for different countries, that fit with local culture and environment, Minority international organisations, you could call them.
At the same time, I think it would be good to build on what we already have set up in the OGF world. For example, I guess that a large part of the role of an International Organisation for Students Exchange would be taken by Academic Support International, which is head quartered in Gobrassanya. Whether organisations are ANESCO affiliated or not may depend on development of the ANESCO organisation - ANESCO is something that would benefit from concentrated effort.
Comment from Leowezy on 20 March 2017 at 07:51
Academic support international is a good example for something that I just missed on the wiki. I totally agree with you that that should definitely go to Gobras city. No intention not to “build on what we already have”, I just didn’t know we already have it.
What exactly do you mean with a concentrated effort for the ANESCO? I’m tempted to say I agree, but I’m not sure what you envision there exactly.
Comment from Sarepava on 20 March 2017 at 10:38
Language is surely a huge factor here. Organisations in RW are much more common in English or French speaking countries, or at least where they are widely spoken as a second language. Staff will be recruited who have to live in that city.