Active City Innovation Experimental Scenarios

Digital Active Community⠀⠀⠀

Core Objectives

Collect, curate and create digital content: Research and organize high quality digital content about outdoor and indoor recreational activities and infrastructures for physical exercise as a basis to more effectively and efficiently inform and inspire people for more movement and exercise in urban areas.
Develop an open digital data infrastructure framework: Organize the provision of all relevant information about recreational activities and opportunities for physical exercise in urban areas and make them easily accessible as open data, using open standards and interfaces to enable third party innovation and to increase outreach.
Develop a digital community platform: Provide a social content and networking platform that can be used to publish, find and share information on recreational activities and opportunities for physical exercise in urban areas, including tools that enable people to organize joint activities

Buntes Haus München — Foto: Sandra Tonch, Fakultät für Tourismus - Digital Marketing & Management - Hochschule München

Siegestor München Panorama — Foto: Sandrina T., CC BY, Fakultät für Tourismus - Digital Marketing & Management - Hochschule München

Hirschgarten Bowl — Foto: Leonie P., Fakultät für Tourismus - Digital Marketing & Management - Hochschule München

Collaborate with universities, city management organisations and stakeholders, who organise recreational activities or operate and promote infrastructures for physical exercise in urban areas to collect, curate and create digital contents featuring stories, activities and infrastructures as a basis to provide high quality digital information through different channels.
Research and evaluate open data standards, interfaces and technologies in the area of recreational activities and infrastructures for physical exercise to develop recommendations for data types, data structures, interface specifications and data hub technologies that could be utilised to provide open access to relevant data through a structured open digital data infrastructure.
Develop intuitive digital applications that enable people to easily access, contribute and share information on recreational activities and opportunities for physical exercise in urban areas and implement triggers that nudge and motivate people to move more.

Opportunities & Challenges

The digital transformation has already changed how people access, process and share information. More people than ever before can potentially be reached through digital channels at low cost. This opens up great opportunities for communication and the provision of convenient access to information and stories that inspire people for physical exercise and support them to establish healthy habits through frequent movement.
Although a lot of information on recreational activities and opportunities for physical activities in urban areas already exists, it is still a major challenge to make them easily accessible in a structured way. Data often lacks the level of detail required and expected by users of digital applications or is simply not yet available in digital format, not findable or even locked away and consequently cannot reach people.

Lessons learnt

In collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences Munich it was found that convenient access to stories, which include detailed information on recreational activities and opportunities for physical exercise presented can be a great means to inspire people to get active.
Close collaborations between city management, universities and other stakeholders with a shared mission to actively change and improve the status quo with regard to the availability of information on recreational activities and opportunities for physical exercise can quickly lead to profound results. As demonstrated by the results of the collaboration between Outdooractive and the University of Applied Sciences Munich, great inspirational digital content to promote physical exercise can be easily created using digital tools that already exist and it can immediately add value, for example by inspiring international students and other people to explore the skate parks or the city districts of Munich by foot or bike.

Recommendations to the world

Convenience wins. The more convenient it is for people to start recreational activities and to take up opportunities for physical exercise, the more likely movement will actually happen. While attractive physical infrastructures in urban environments constitute the foundation for movement, it is equally important to provide convenient access to digital information about recreational activities and opportunities for physical exercise and to reach out to people to inspire them for movement. This can only be achieved with a joint effort. A shared vision for an open digital data infrastructure for recreational activities and opportunities for physical exercise can be a sound basis to spark innovation and to create a sustainable impact for more movement and healthier populations in urban areas.

Need more information?

If you are interested in this topic in general or the project in particular, please feel free to contact us or to inform yourself about our Digital Active Community.

Green Corridors Inanda Wilderness Park⠀⠀⠀

Core Objectives

To promote developmental and lifespan needs for rural townships through occupation-based wilderness programmes
To encourage and promote environmental education within the township to reconnect individuals back to nature and to promote sustainable solutions
To encourage long lasting social cohesion and economic transformation, aligned with eThekwini’s aim to be most liveable city in Africa by 2030, through encouraging early childhood development

Ensuring proper record keeping through attendance registers and session evaluations to critically reflect effectiveness of programmes and adaptations if necessary. This ensures that we meet developmental needs of the community
Monthly student hand overs and critical reflections regarding different programmes and projects implemented at the Inanda Wilderness Park
Continuous meetings with the university partners (UKZN) to ensure current programme and project planning based on needs of park and clients

Opportunities & Challenges

Opportunities to promote health and wellness in open spaces. This assists with effective carry over of activities in home environment.
Working in a disadvantaged community where population has low income, cant access health services or attend appointments
Opportunities of working in low cost township has encouraged us to problem solve and creatively think of low cost sustainable solutions to combat intergenerational baggage of apartheid.
Budget constraints – limited funding to implement broader vision of wilderness parks

Lessons learnt

Capacity building is so important in community settings to ensure effective carry over, for example in school settings
Community engagement is crucial in community projects, especially in township settings. All stakeholders need to be involved to ensure project success

Recommendations to the world

Holistic interventions are key – always consider both physical, cognitive, emotional and social functions of an individual when implementing programmes.
Always consider how to adapt each activity for people with disabilities to encourage universal access.

Need more information?

If you are interested in this topic in general or the project in particular, please feel free to contact us or to inform yourself about the Green Corridors Inanda Wilderness Park.

City Challenge: "Kreuz und Quer" (K&Q)⠀⠀⠀

The “Kreuz & Quer” campaign is intended to reach children and young people in particular and encourage them to move around more in their own living environment and thus explore their surroundings. With the help of sophisticated technologies and the principle of gamification, we want to achieve these goals.

Core Objectives

Getting children, adolescents and also adults to be more active in their local community: K&Q is a competition-based running game in residential areas where teams (e.g. school classes) try to collect as many points as possible. The collection of points is done by the children holding their chip cards with RFID-chips at boxes distributed in the neighborhood. They are credited with certain points and an algorithm can calculate and sum up the distance they are likely to cover
Gain insights into how structural aspects in urban space can contribute to more movement or how they prevent it by looking at heat-maps (application in urban planning)
Scientific starting points are to be gained via the underlying psychological mechanisms and motivational aspects

existing (game) system of an external company is used
recruitment and organization are carried out by the City of Munich
evaluation of the results: Several tested, valid and reliable instruments (questionnaires), movement data and scores (recorded by chip cards, boxes, and digital backend), further information from the participants such as age, school, feeling of safety on the way to school, preferred form of transport to school

Opportunities & Challenges

large potential target group: City of Munich as the organizer has access to the registration data and contact information of schools schools and can therefore reach potentially (almost) all children of the respective district. The adult relatives of the children are also allowed to participate in the intervention. Participants are reached in their natural living environment, not in a constructed setting.
various age groups
theoretical applicability to countless cities
financing of equipment needs to be ensured

Lessons learnt

the correct technological support must be verified: does the technology work as expected or does this possibly lead to problems in the evaluation of the data or restrictions in the fun of playing? (repeated checking of the equipment is necessary)
cooperation with supposedly heavy-handed local or national institutions can be very fruitful and beneficial

Recommendations to the world

With a competition-based game involving a large number of people, it is possible to encourage them to engage in low-threshold physical activity directly in their local environment. This can also help residents to get to know their own neighborhood better and to draw conclusions for health-oriented urban planning from their movement patterns.

Need more information?

If you are interested in this topic in general or the project in particular, please feel free to contact us or to inform yourself about Kreuz & Quer.

Public Dancing⠀⠀⠀

Core Objectives

Citizens and tourists of the city are to be motivated to dance and move together in public places through interactive music installations.
Children, young people and elderly people should be connected through movement and dance
With the use of socio-technical systems, people should dance together, against each other or internationally/cross-culturally.
People from different cultures/countries will be brought together by non-verbal movement units through the use of socio-technical systems.

Measures, Methods & Approaches

Establishment of a local urban movement lab (LUMB) consisting of a circle of people related to dance, movement and event planning
Cooperation with the city of Siegen and the senior citizens’ association AlterAktiv e.V.
Implementation of qualitative semi-structured interview studies with the LUMB and other experts in the field of dance and performance
Use of Participatory Design methods for the development of socio-technical systems

Opportunities & Challenges

Promotion of movement through intercultural, intergenerational and integrative dances
Fun with movement and dance in public space to promote health
Fighting the loneliness of young and elderly people
Strengthening the city centre through social hotspots
Transforming abandoned or empty spaces into social places through socio-technical systems
the development of participatory socio-technical systems
Bringing people from other cities and countries together through (digital) dancing

Lessons learnt

The understanding of “public” and “dance” is not clearly defined
People do not think about health and technology when they think about public dance
The organization of public dances depends on various factors

Need more information?

If you are interested in this topic in general or the project in particular, please feel free to contact us.

Outdoor Judo⠀⠀⠀

Core Objectives

By developing and providing a soft outdoor judo mat, opportunities for judo, yoga, fitness or other outdoor activities are created.
Elderly people should be able to do sports together in a self-organized fashion without being dependent on gym availability.
Judo as a national cultural treasure should become accessible to elderly people, in the combination of a suitable mat and specific innovative training and play regimes.

Measures, Methods & Approaches

Together, industry partners and judo experts from Japan and Germany develop an optimal outdoor judo / exercise mat by choosing the right materials, manufacturing methods and permanent feedback loops. The mats are being continuously tested by judo experts of all proficiencies in Japan and Germany and subsequently optimized. In parallel, new judo practices suitable for elderly are being developed in Japan.

Opportunities & Challenges

The first challenge is to develop a mat that meets the requirements of traditional tatami, has more damping and less weight and can be used outside at the same time. The second challenge is to develop suitable judo practices for elderly that are motivational, fun, safe and embody traditional Japanese judo culture.

Lessons learnt

The importance of experimentation and the use of prototypes, especially in distant settings. If we can build on common experiences communication becomes much easier. This effect is amplified if a diverse team with different expertise is testing the prototypes, offering synergies in experience and interpretation.

Recommendations to the world

Intercultural synergies work. Neither Japanese nor German partners alone have been able to achieve the actual results, maybe would not even have defined the topic as we did together. This is especially true if it includes experimentation: Having the same prototypes and experiences even video conferences become more fruitful, as there are real shared objects and shared experimentation as the basis of productive discussion.

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If you are interested in this topic in general or the project in particular, please feel free to contact us.

Design of a park

Core Objectives

Sport – Creating an improved sports infrastructure, building on existing world-class facilities and providing access for all levels of ability
Community – Providing local people with improvements in health, wellbeing and the environment, promoting social integraton, accessibility and inclusion
Environment – Creating a high quality environment for the neighbouring communities, enhancing the amount and quality of green space, promoting suitable travel and conserving local biodiversity
Economy – Creating improvements in the education, skills, training and knowledge of the local labour force

Measures, Methods & Approaches

Consultations and surveys have been carried out to establish the need for an Active Space.
Through a consultation and design process with five equipment providers, followed by a criteria based selection process, preferred suppliers have been identified to progress planning of the Active Space if funding is secured.
Activation of the Active Space will be carried out in collaboration with a number of partners to ensure maximum usage, impact and benefit of the equipment.

Opportunities & Challenges

Part of the vision of Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park is to contribute to increase the health and wellbeing of the local community and to provide access to suitable facilities for all levels of ability, promoting accessibility and inclusion.
The provision of the Active Space will complement the existing facilities at the Park, encouraging people from one of the least physically active areas of Sheffield to include physical activity in everyday life.
Future developments on Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park will lead to an increased number of workplaces also being able to benefit from use of the Active Space.

Lessons learnt

Results from the survey:

70% said that they would take part in coached activities on the equipment and 28% said that they would maybe take part.
Order of importance of type of equipment:
1. Resistance/strength
2. Cardiovascular
3. Flexibility/balance

Recommendations to the world

Making parks more attractive for physical activity within the local population can positively impact the health and wellbeing of the local community and can make a huge difference to future health and wealth outcomes.

Need more information?

If you are interested in this topic in general or the project in particular, please feel free to contact us or to inform yourself about the Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park.