To everyone who’s new to Grove, welcome! 
I’m Tanmayi and I’m a part of the team at Rainmatter Foundation. Taking this opportunity to run you through the idea and scope of Grove to help you make the most of the platform.
What is Grove?
Grove is a climate-focused public forum that aims to bridge the information gap in the areas of climate, ecology and environment. It is an initiative by the Rainmatter Foundation to bring together organisations and individuals, curious and passionate about climate action, to discover and support each other, build a public knowledge repository, initiate conversations, and be an evolving resource of climate solutions.
Why do you need to be on Grove?
Grove is your platform. It’s your chance to share your work, vision, ideas and questions with a like-minded, climate-conscious community and benefit from mutual learning.
What goes on Grove?
There are multiple categories you can post under. These include but aren’t limited to Rewilding, Collaboration, Funding, Events, Updates, etc. Like the conversations, these categories are also evolving. Take the time to explore these categories and the conversations going on there, and feel free to contribute to the same.
A few pointers to get you started:
- Introductions : Do introduce yourself and/or your organisation, your areas of interest, and what you’re looking for out of the forum.
- Event Information: Upcoming programs, events, talks, workshops, sessions fall under this category. Share relevant information such as the background, context, coordinates/ URL, registration link, creatives, etc. to make the content accessible to the audience.
- Published articles in popular media as well as scientific articles : Share latest articles and initiate conversations. the Millets v/s Wheat/Rice thread, for example.
- Questions: Grove envisions to be a Q&A platform where people and organisations can get answers to their questions from people with experience, eventually creating a valuable Q&A repository. Identify the relevant category and ask questions, or help answer them. Have the subsequent updates/ answers as a thread so they are visible in chronological order. i.e Reply to your original topic with updates. Do not start a new topic for every update.
- Products and services: Organisations and individuals offering services and products across different areas can add immense value in our fight against climate change. Add these to our Products and Services category to help spread the word.
- Green opportunities : Jobs, internships, volunteering opportunities go under this category. Please keep it periodically updated as your requirement is evolving/ fulfilled.
How do I start my first Grove thread?
Register yourself on Grove through a simple process and start with introductions! Register with your email ID and create an account, wait for an activation link from our team, pick a username and build your profile.
To get started with posting, say Hi, and let our community know what you do. Here are a few points to help you get started -
i) Headline: After you start a new topic, do add a catchy headline to indicate what the post is about. This is critical for the forum members to open a post to read and make use of it.
ii) Category: Make it easier for the audience to find you by picking the appropriate category.
iii) Words and Visuals: Create your Grove post. Provide accurate data, set context, and add a sentence or two on the relevance of the information you are posting. Screenshots, graphs, photos and videos are good to have in a post since these aid comprehension and serve as hooks to bring back reader attention, especially in long posts.
iv) Collaborations: Do use Grove as a platform to share information/news, post questions or ask and seek collaborations. These can be distinct threads.
v) Feedback: Do write to us ([email protected] and [email protected]) and let us know if you are facing specific obstacles in posting.
Make the most of Grove
i. Be a seasoned contributor!
It’s simple really - the more you post and engage with the community, the more the trust builds, and the more perks you get on the platform. Are you ‘basic’, ‘member’ or ‘regular’, only time (and effort will tell!).
ii. We’re building a culture of using a forum around climate conversations. Please keep in mind -
- Engage with the community
- Always keep the conversations kind
- Forums are built on trust : Verify the information being shared
- Reach out to the team in case of any queries or feedback.
iii. A glossary of common forum terms for the uninitiated:
- Admin.: Short for “administrator”, someone who manages the forum
- Archived: A old, unused topic that has been put in the #deprecated category
- Badge: An achievement you earn by doing something.
- Bump: Short for ‘bring up my post’, used to bring attention to a post to which there has been no reply with the intention to get it back to the top.
- Tag: Tag someone (@username) so they get a notification on their profile.
- Topic: Your topic is the main subject of discussion.
- Thread: Each post under a topic is a thread.
We hope this helps you get started and that we’ll continue to see you as a part of these conversations. Please feel free to drop us a message if you have any other questions.
Cheers!
Tanmayi