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.
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.
The flowers are a planning tool that invites participants to look beyond their current travel routines by imagining instead how they would like to get around. This perspective grounds accessibility planning in people's needs and desires, helping make cities more livable, sustainable, and fair.
The picture stems from Ljubljana, where the urban design studio prostorož set up benches in public space. They attached a QR-Code, where people could vote if they wanted this bench to stay. In a short period of time about 400 people voted, that they would like the bench to stay because they frequently use it. On this basis prostorož talked to the people in charge of that area. The survey was enough evidence for them to let the benches stay! What a success!
In case this inspires you to take action: Make sure that the QR-code is made out of solid material, that endures the time you want the survey to last. The tool material link will lead you to a website where different survey tools are offered, a lot of them without additional costs.
"We can’t reduce the speed limit on this road because the busses would lose time!“ This or similar arguments may come up in discussions about street transformations. In those situations, it can help to bring evidence into the discussion. For example by measuring the speed of busses. Think in advance how to make your data collection as valid as possible within your ressources. To produce solid evidence about the speed of public transport we suggest the following steps:
- Make a plan how you will collect your data: What do you want to measure (one busline in both directions between bus stop X and Y), when (on peak/off peak, which days) and how often (how many times per day)
- Install an App that collects GPX-Tracks (data that links speed with location)
- Ride the busses according to your data collection plan
- Find someone who knows how to use QGIS (open source program for making maps) and install the plug-in for GPX Segment importer (https://plugins.qgis.org/plugins/GpxSegmentImporter/#plugin-about)
- If everything works out the result should be maps like the ones you see here.
- Think about how you want to communicate the data: In a confidential setting or rather to a bigger audience?
more tools for Evidence…
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.
Sociocracy is a governance and decision-making method designed to enable self-organization in groups and organizations without traditional top-down authority. Rather than relying on majority votes or hierarchical decisions, sociocracy is based on the consent principle: a decision is valid as soon as no member of the circle has a serious, well-founded objection — meaning arguments count, not the number of votes.
The framework of "Story-Based Strategy" helps you figure out your campaign’s narrative strategy. It’s composed of tools or worksheets that you can use to analyze the opposition’s story, the current popular narrative about your issue, and develop a way of pitching or talking about your issue that will win over the folks you need to win!
A campaign is a planned, time-limited series of targeted measures. This campaign structure helps you to break down your vision into achievable steps.
more tools for Vision…
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.
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.
Gamification is the application of game-design mechanics — such as points, rewards, competitions, challenges, and progress tracking — to non-game contexts in order to motivate behaviour change. In the context of urban sustainability and mobility, it turns everyday choices like taking public transport, cycling, or saving energy into visible, rewarding actions that feel meaningful and fun rather than obligatory.
Lack of funding or stuck in slow processes? Maybe a local collaboration can boost your vision to the next level! That happened to the Galileigasse in Vienna. Thanks to a collaboration between the district Alsergund, the Technical University Vienna and the LA21 the schoolstreet was completely transformed. A team of city planning and architecture students, their teachers and one carpenter planned and built the tactical urbanism elements within one semester. The district covered the cost for the material. The project cost a fracture of what it would have cost if a team of professional carpenters had done it.
more tools for Action…