Dear all (especially those who reacted to my message)
Apologies for not having got back to you before. For some reason I get all the updates of the groups I'm subscribed to, but for this one, the most important one, it didn't happen. So I logged in just to check things out and noticed all these reactions! Sorry for this! Hopefully you understand that this is a new system and lots of debugging is still going on.
My question to those who reacted is whether you want to take the lead in organising the projects you mentioned. As a coordinator, I'm happy to assist you with the organisation, but you are the leaders of these very exciting projects. You take them wherever you want to take them. Just to give an example, @Daniel Neilson, you posted an extremely relevant question, that I think lots of people are interested in. Perhaps start with a reading group on the subject––say, Diane Coyle's book "What's the Use of Economics?" and then have one or two webinars on it, perhaps try to invite Diane Coyle to participate in one, and so forth? As I said, I'm happy to assist in suggesting literature, contacting potential speakers, making sure that GoMeeting (the software we use for webinars) is ready for you, etc.
Unfortunately, I can't take the lead in these projects, otherwise I will never finish my PhD. But I really want to encourage you to put forward the projects you'd like to carry out. I think all of the concerns I have seen here are valid and worth exploring. The chances that this exploration begins are just higher if those who are concerned, take the lead. So, if you're prepared to take the lead in enquiring about the issues you mentioned, please contact me.
At least for a little while, I suggest trying my email as well––ysi@mvergarafernandez.nl
I look forward to hear from you.
All the best
Melissa