From Unlock15
Welcome to the UNLOCK15-Toolbox - we are collecting tools to empower „agents of change“ from civil society as well as city officials to unlock existing lock-ins. We hope you will find some relevant tools to drive change towards mobility transition in your context!
From experience, three types of tools are need for real change: tools to create and communicate evidence, tools to envision possible futures and scenarios and participatory tools for on-site action.
Evidence
This type of tools help you to collect evidence, which supports the change you are aiming for. Some tools also allow crowd-based approaches to involve citizens in a broad manner. Evidence helps to convince decision makers to back-up change.
Staging evidence for safer school streets
Excel sheets come to your mind when thinking of evidence? Think twice! The initiative "Wir machen Wien" showed powerfully how to not only collect valuable evidence, but also how to stage it in a dramatic way. They counted bikes, pedestrians and cars in a street in front of a school. The data showed a vast majority of the users (422) use the street by foot or bike. Nevertheless, the street is designed for cars, that represent a minority of the users (47). They designed wooden signs that clearly showed this discrepancy to passers-by, which sparked conversations. They also staged a photo, that you can see attached. They used the photo in a press release, which made local newspapers cover the story.
Mapping and analysing facades
"We need parking space otherwise our shops will die!" This is an argument often brought forward by opponents of street transformation. The urban design studio prostorož confronted this claim with evidence. They analysed the facades of the street by the following categories: Lively facade, active facade, monument, empty facade, unremarkable facade. They could show that a lot of the ground floor was at that point in time not occupied.
prostorož combined this analysis with analysing parking place occupancy and human behaviour to build an even stronger argument: A street full of cars is not helping shops at the moment. By combining all these analysis they managed to convince the decision makers to give that street a human friendly makeover!
Centralized participation platform
"Mitgestalten.wien" is an example for a centralized participation plattform. We used it to run a survey for Unlock15 in Vienna about the future development of a street. "decidim.org" and "govocal.com" are plattforms that can help you set up a centralised participation plattform.
Vision
In this category you find tools that help you to create a vision of what you are aiming for. A strong vision is key for driving change because it helps you to grow as a movement and to shift public opinions. This category also includes tools that help you envision how you want to work together as a group.
Power Mapping
Power Mapping is a visual method for strategically analyzing actors, relationships, and dynamics of influence. It helps identify the right target individuals or institutions — those who actually have the authority to make or shape decisions — and reveals through which pathways and allies one can gain access to them or build pressure on them.
Creating a team culture
Capture the shared purpose, values and behaviours of a team with this template from mobilisation Lab. This helps to build an environment in which everybody feels safe and motivated.
Align on Your Impact Goals
Get crystal clear on the change you want to achieve, in the near-term and long-term. Impact is a very loosely used term universally, and can be used to describe an influence or effect on virtually anything. Taking time to explore and align on your impact goals will ensure that your team and stakeholders are all working towards the same vision of success.
Action
Small steps towards the realisation of local change can help to make the vision tangible and also easier to be discussed. Tools for action help to make the impact of change tangible and involve local communities.
Crosswalk action
During their campaign for a safer city, the initiative "Platz für Wien" temporarily rolled out crosswalks. Places were chosen where crosswalks would make a big difference for the safness of pedestrians.
Making specific demands that are backed up by evidence
The "Platz für Wien" Initiative had a lasting impact on Vienna because they specified their demands and backed them up with scientific findings (e.g., demand for 50 km of bicycle lanes by 2030). They even has scientists speaking up for them, which made their demands even more valid.
Art Spin bike tour
The aim of the tour is to challenge traditional contexts of exhibiting art by producing new creative content in unconventional locations, while at the same time promoting urban cycling and sustainable communities. See also RAD performance in Vienna as an example.