pilots filter Archive

KU Leuven – Breaking Boundaries with Situated Surveys

Cross-Border Pilot with Porto and Prague

How to involve residents in urban decision-making and take their insights into account? With the fast development of European cities, which are becoming denser and more diverse, it is essential to engage citizens in how the city should grow. The Situated Surveys of KU Leuven gave us an answer by bringing a part of the urban planning process to the residents’ everyday-life. In Amsterdam, Prague and Porto, the project’s Citizen Dialog Kit survey devices allowed citizens to share their thoughts through a simple, immediate, and inclusive bottom-up urban planning approach. The easy-to-use devices are distributed in public places and gather real-time feedback from the participants. This solution addresses contextual and social challenges, improving the quality of city decision-making.

T-APPS B.V. – Skendy: an assistant for your documents

Cross-border Pilot with Amsterdam

T-APPS B.V. – Skendy: an assistant for your documents

The CommuniCity project Skendy piloted an initiative designed to improve support mechanisms for expats and refugees through an advanced mobile app. This pilot entailed over 40 hours of co-creation sessions with expats, refugees, and various stakeholders such as IAMSTERDAM, students, and local communities in Amsterdam and Prague. The objective was to identify and address the unique challenges faced by these groups through practical, user-focused solutions.

During the piloting process, an event in Prague played a pivotal role in testing and refining these solutions based on participant feedback. The initiative’s core developments included the design and implementation of a new user interface and the integration of an AI-powered chatbot. This chatbot, intended as the central feature of the app, provides personalized assistance and access to a comprehensive knowledge base tailored for both Amsterdam and Prague.

Additionally, the pilot phase included the creation of a demo version of the app specifically for refugees. This demo, developed in collaboration with refugee representatives, aimed to ensure the platform effectively meets their specific needs, although it remains in the testing stages. The pilot yielded promising results: engaging target communities, developing a user-friendly digital interface, and implementing a functional AI assistant that enhances the app’s utility. It also led to the acquisition of new talent to facilitate faster growth and increased support capabilities.

The next steps following the pilot include leveraging the insights gained to refine the app further. These efforts highlight the project’s dedication to continuous enhancement and community involvement in developing services that directly cater to the needs of expats and other end-users.

Surplus Welzijn – A new (virtual) reality for Youth work

Challenge: Wildcard – Propose tech solutions contributing to a breakthrough in intergenerational problems.

Surplus Welzijn – “A new (virtual) reality for Youth work: beyond gaming for fun in applying VR in youth work”.

Aiming to propose a tech solution that would diminish intergenerational problems, Surplus Welzijn has developed a solution where Virtual Reality (VR) is integrated into youth work. By engaging young people as co-creators, the pilot designed two gamified tools – “Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes” and “Wander” – able to strengthen communication skills and foster the participants’ personal development and empowerment. The first aims to help young people set and track personal development goals, while enhancing teamwork and problem-solving skills. The latest game consisted of a social mapping tool that allowed participants to create 360-degree virtual tours of places significant to their lives, facilitating discussions about identity, community, and personal experiences.

Hosting 13 co-creation meetings with VR specialists and 33 interactive sessions with young people ensured the VR tools’ practical application in youth work settings, which enhanced their effectiveness. Additionally, the young people who participated in the co-creation expressed their desire to continue working with it.

Brainstorm en concept – Virtual Reality Training

Challenge: Wildcard – Propose tech solutions contributing to a breakthrough in intergenerational problems.

Brainstorm en concept – Virtual Reality Training Intergenerational Problems

On behalf of the City of Breda, brainstorm en concept has developed a new VR-interactive application with social impact, as it will contribute to the improvement of intergenerational issues. The aim of this interactive training is to bring different age groups together and create more understanding and empathy for each other. Three different locations in and around Breda have served as locations for 360-degree films, in which young participants have played the scripts co-written with the elderly. This way, a young person can now look through the eyes of an older person to experience their issues in daily life and sympathize with them. It is possible to implement the application on other Meta Quests by us to make it available for other organisations and hopefully bring a stronger positive impact in other cities.

AR-GO lab Oy – ILI metaverse

Challenge: How to strengthen the health of youth through attractive and playful technology?

AR-GO lab Oy – ILI metaverse – gamified metaverse to support young people’s mental health and empower them to make the right life choices.

Making healthy life choices might often be difficult for young people. AR-GO lab Oy responded to the challenge of the City of Breda to promote broad positive mental health of youth by developing a safe, reliable, and interactive metaverse virtual space, which offers information, support, and advice for young people in challenging life situations.

The ILI metaverse comprises different rooms with youth-targeted content, animations illustrating real-life situations, and an AI-powered assistant for discussing burning questions. ILI will also challenge users to explore their own city and visit different locations to learn new things, find new hobbies, and live a more active and curious life. Most importantly, ILI’s visuals, scenes, and functionality are developed in close co-creation with both youth work professionals and young people from the Netherlands and Finland.

XS2Content (XS2AUDIO BV) – Video Avatar Influencers

Challenge: Breda: How can resilient role models help families to develop healthy relationships?

XS2Content (XS2AUDIO BV) – Video Avatar Influencers

According to figures from the Trimbos Institute, last year 10.2% of 12- to 14-year-olds used an e-cigarette. In the first two years of secondary school, young people often come into contact with ‘vapes’. GGD West-Brabant aims to positively influence young people to prevent them from starting to vape.

The European CommuniCity project aims to use new techniques to improve interaction and communication within communities, focusing on enhancing social cohesion and facilitating engagement and collaboration. The Hilversum-based tech startup XS2Content has been selected for this project to find a technological solution for the municipality of Breda to positively influence young people not to start vaping. XS2Content has developed a plan to use animated ‘Video Avatar Influencers’ in co-creation with health institutions and the target group itself to positively influence children not to start vaping. The avatars, tone of voice, and content will be co-created together with the involved parties. They will be loosely based on popular influencers (YouTube/Insta/TikTok) amongst the target group to increase impact and appeal. Naturally, this will also take into account the diversity of cultural backgrounds within the target group and how these specific subgroups want to be addressed. The videos will be produced in portrait format so that they can be used on popular social media platforms such as TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram, amongst others. Texts can also be adjusted, optimized, or updated afterwards on the XS2Content platform.

Duckwise ApS – Simplifying bank account setup

Challenge: How can technology ease the process of setting up a bank account for foreigners?

Duckwise ApS – A collaborative approach to simplifying bank account setup for the international workforce in Aarhus Municipality

Bank bureaucracy can sometimes be a problem for foreigners in Denmark. The long and inefficient process poses challenges for all involved parties, particularly for immigrant workers. Overcoming this challenge, Duckwise ApS co-created a user-centred and intuitive approach to simplify bank account setup and administrative processes, helping immigrants to start a new life in Aarhus Municipality.

The development of this solution incorporated a cooperative process from the beginning, as some co-creation activities include interviewing the target groups, allowing them to share their experiences, and creating a prototype based on the feedback received. Hopefully, the replication of the project in other cities can improve the quality of international residents, Citizen Services, banks, and companies across Europe.

KU Leuven – Breaking Boundaries with Situated Surveys

Cross-Border Pilot with Prague

Challenge: How to engage the citizens in participatory planning?
Cross-Border Pilot with Porto and Amsterdam

KU Leuven – Breaking Boundaries with Situated Surveys

How to involve residents in urban decision-making and take their insights into account? With the fast development of European cities, which are becoming denser and more diverse, it is essential to engage citizens in how the city should grow. The Situated Surveys of KU Leuven gave us an answer by bringing a part of the urban planning process to the residents’ everyday-life. In Prague, Porto, and Amsterdam, the project’s Citizen Dialog Kit survey devices allow citizens to share their thoughts on a simple, immediate, and inclusive bottom-up urban planning approach. The easy-to-use devices are distributed in public places and gather real-time feedback from the participants. This solution addresses contextual and social challenges, improving the quality and sustainability of city decision-making and overall fostering a more satisfied and inclusive European community.

GTC (Gyumri Technology Center) – EduConnect

Challenge: How to reduce school absenteeism through an inclusive educational solution?

GTC (Gyumri Technology Center) – “EduConnect: Personalized Learning for Every Student”

EduConnect is a revolutionary educational initiative aimed at transforming school attendance and engagement in the City of Porto. Fuelled by cutting-edge AI and machine learning technologies, EduConnect offers a suite of personalised learning apps tailored to each student’s unique learning style, pace, and strengths.

By harnessing the power of interactive modules, gamification, and progress tracking, the proposal redefines the learning experience, making it both informative and enjoyable. Accessibility features ensure inclusivity for all students, including those with disabilities, fostering a truly diverse and inclusive learning environment.

The impact of EduConnect is profound, with students experiencing heightened motivation, improved academic performance, and the flexibility to learn at their own pace.

Associação Fraunhofer Portugal Research – Porto Sense

Challenge: How to improve the thermal comfort and overall health in residential buildings?

Associação Fraunhofer Portugal Research – Porto Sense

Household environment profoundly impacts human health. PortoSense aims to improve thermal comfort and the overall health quality within residential spaces. The proposal intends to develop a user-friendly tool that offers residents in-depth knowledge of homes’ environmental conditions and crucial data about their living spaces in an accessible manner, and to combine a human-centred design and co-design sessions to prototype a digital recommendation system to passively enhance living conditions.

The proposal includes a collaboration with residents in urban rehabilitation areas, conducting focus groups to identify needs, evaluate sensing systems, and empower users with best practices. Summing up, PortoSense is developing a digital solution that not only monitors living conditions but empowers users with clear data for effective action. In an sustainability-driven age, this pilot aims for life improvements without the complexities of major renovations.