Co-Designs (CDS for short) holds a broad scope on subjects, because new designs need room to grow and experiment with. So subjects can come from a wide spectrum, such as engineering, economic systems, environmental management, political structures and urban planning. One could say it has an encyclopedic character. The difference with an encyclopedia (like wikipedia) is that the (new) designs have not yet been realized concretely, or they may have but are still quite unknown and unproven. Since wikipedia demands notability, those items can not be placed there until they get notability. Hence, we have a vicious circle.
The opportunity to publish new designs does not mean that any sketchy design must be received with open arms. The designer must abide by some guidelines according to which the design should be formatted. It is hoped that this format-demand (the model-format) will invite people to make structured designs.
So I have created a model to follow when people create their own models (of course this model is also a candidate for improvement). It is not restrictive but it describes and standardises the way in which the models are displayed, linked together and developped. Also it can be called a meta-model.
Creating a model is in my definition a prescriptive thing. A model in my definition is a way to achieve certain goals (desired effects) in a structured way, without creating unacceptable undesired effects. One can disagree with the goals as well as the measure to which the proposed model will cause them. Also on the potentially negative effects can be disagreement.
However, if both effects and methods are explicit, they can be reviewed scientifically. More research must be done to elaborate the process of model-review.
Co-Designs has been started by Joris Bollen on 2008-08-13. Some problems are too complicated to think of alone (actually a lot of them).
