From mid 2015, we've launched a new draft approach to civil society engagement - a new approach being developed in consultation with many civil society organizations. The strategy focuses on raising awareness of ICANN and the Domain Name System (DNS) among global civil society at large, and encourages and supports contributions to and participation in ICANN policy

Hi Maureen, Yes, thanks for this - that is a very important question indeed, something we¹d like to be clear about in coming up with the plan. So what the team have currently in this draft plan is as below (this being open for public comment, please do feel free to comment on it :) ). For the purposes of this plan, Œcivil society¹ includes Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), [representatives of] non-commercial individual Internet end-users, and academia, in particular those with interests in Internet-related policy and research. Within ICANN, this will include the GNSO Non Commercial Stakeholder Group (NSCG, with both of its components the Non Commercial Users Constituency NCUC, and the Not-for-Profit Operational Concerns Constituency NPOC), as well as the At- Large community represented by regional At Large Structures (ALS) that self-identify as civil society. Not for profit organizations that serve for profit/commercial interests would not be within scope. (Relations with academia will be handled in coordination with the Development Public Responsibility Department (DPRD) academic relations activities). Regards, Kelvin From: Maureen Hilyard <maureen.hilyard@gmail.com> Date: Wednesday, November 25, 2015 at 1:26 PM To: Kelvin Wong <kelvin.wong@icann.org>, "apac-discuss@atlarge-lists.icann.org" <apac-discuss@atlarge-lists.icann.org> Subject: RE: [APAC-Discuss] [Draft] ICANN Civil Society and Non-Commercial engagement in FY16 Kelvin Just out of interest. How do you define the difference between civil society and At-Large? Maureen From: apac-discuss-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org [mailto:apac-discuss-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org] On Behalf Of Kelvin Wong Sent: Tuesday, 24 November 2015 3:04 p.m. To: apac-discuss@atlarge-lists.icann.org Subject: [APAC-Discuss] [Draft] ICANN Civil Society and Non-Commercial engagement in FY16 Dear APRALO members, processes by civil society volunteers. The strategy will also make clear to civil society the benefits of working with ICANN. Among others, the strategy is proposing: * A new communications strategy tailored to civil society, this incudes social media, regular summaries of ICANN policy, webinars and briefings, dedicated website and mailing lists * New content, developed mainly by ICANN civil society, about the work relevant to civil society being done in ICANN * Information about how to contribute in this strategy consultation will be available via the NCSG and other ICANN civil society organizations Comments are now open through 11 December at: https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/At-Large+ICANN+Civil+Society+Eng agement+in+Fiscal+Year+2016+Workspace <https://community.icann.org/display/atlarge/At-Large+ICANN+Civil+Society+En gagement+in+Fiscal+Year+2016+Workspace> Looking forward to your views on this. Thank you. Regards, Kelvin Kelvin WONG Head, Outreach & Public Responsibility, Asia Pacific Asia Pacific Hub, Singapore Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) www.icann.org <http://www.icann.org> Direct Line: +65 6816 1260 Email: kelvin.wong@icann.org Skype: kelvin.wong.icann To receive news, updates and announcements from ICANN APAC Hub, please subscribe here <http://icann.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=818d573897ed5ea25ee71ebc1&id=a b7ff468f8> .