About the Plays
The plays in this section are modular strategies to support better environmental data governance. They can be used individually or in combination with one another; they can be adapted and used no matter what relational or technical infrastructure you might currently have. We’ve grouped the plays for each takeaway as relational, technical, or as a support play.
- Relational plays for data stewards refer to the who, how, and when of data governance; the “people” aspects, as well as the processes, practices, and workflows that people undertake.
- Technical plays for data stewards refer to the where, how and when of data governance; the software and digital systems employed by the data stewards.
- Support plays for intermediary organizations refer to the groups that provide infrastructural support or interact with data in some way, including research and academic institutions, foundations, data and tech-focused non-profits, or government agencies.
We’ve written these plays for environmental data stewards. In this section, a data steward refers to any community-based organization, collective, or individual that is managing community-generated environmental data. Each community partner in About the Case Studies, for example, is a data steward.
We also recognize that data stewards don’t work in isolation. We included plays for intermediary organizations that support data stewards since they, too, have a role in championing data governance approaches. An intermediary organization includes the peripheral infrastructure of civil society organizations, researchers, technologists, and government staff that engage with environmental data stewards. OEDP, for example, could be considered an intermediary organization. In addition to the support intermediaries can provide to an individual effort, intermediaries also have the ability to share best practices, templates, and tools across data stewards, to build the larger community capacity.
Each play has different considerations around time, money, and resources; some plays might be more appropriate than others for your specific context. But like a coach on the sidelines, a data steward or intermediary organization can reference the plays, and utilize them depending on what's needed to get the ball down the field.
The first 24 plays were developed as part of the Community Data Playbook (Full report), but the list is updated quarterly based on new research, learnings, and collaborations.
OEDP has already put some of these plays into practice, while other plays are strategies we plan to pursue in the near future. We’re open to collaboration, so if you’re interested in learning more about these strategies, utilizing a play, or collaborating to test out a play, please fill out this form and someone from the OEDP team will be in touch.