About
Our Pilot Programs encourage locals to get together, have a laugh, take some photos, exchange a few ideas, and share their skills and resources.
Once they’ve got a strategy in place, we help them to secure backing from local businesses, city councils and local groups and brands to help realise the changes they want to see, such as better road infrastructure, reduced pollution, improved housing and increased physical activity
How does it work?
We get key stakeholders in place - e.g. A infrasructure service provider, business/brand, local university, city authorities who jointly identify the key challenge that needs resolution. They commission the pilot. We publicise it locally with press. Then all it takes is one person to call for change as indentified in the pilot. People come together to join that person for a social gathering (say, a walk or a group bicycle ride), and the conversation and group activity gets going. Once issues are gathered, tehy are prirotised either online or offline
We work with service operations on the business side to get the identified and priortised issues actioned and mapped with their daily service flow. We also work with local councillors who can act as backers for specific issues within their ward.
Community CoLabs operates a number of classes that equip with the locals to:SOCIALISE: go for an activity e.g - a group walk together, and uncover a local issue.
IDENTIFY: snap a photo and create a Field Report about an existing issue. .
SHARE: upload your field report to raise awareness.
IDEATE: create a seed-funding video around your idea/solution for the issue.
PITCH: go after local businesses to get funded.
Benefits
For starters, it’s fun. Imagine a pub crawl with a purpose. It’s a great excuse to get out of the house and make your city better at the same time.
Then there’s the added benefit that it’s not just the citizens making a difference – it’s the local businesses and city organisations as well. Everyone is involved, which means the change programs aren’t simply tacked on – they’re baked into the very fabric of the city, resulting in real transformation.
Pilot cities & neighbourhoods: Plymouth, UKPilots: Changify Smarter Streets,
Clients: Amey-Ferrovial