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.
Opponents of street transformation often claim, that there are to little parking possibilities. But is that true? Evidence in Ljubljana showed that the city has rather a problem with how parking space is unevenly occupied.
"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!
"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.
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.
The Public Engagement Onion is a visual framework originally developed by the Wellcome Trust that maps the different levels and forms of public engagement — from broad, one-directional communication to deep, two-way collaboration.
Like the layers of an onion, the model moves from the outside in: the outer layers represent activities such as broadcasting information or raising awareness, where the engagement is relatively wide-reaching but shallow. Moving toward the center, activities become more interactive and participatory, culminating in shared decision-making and co-creation at the core.
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.
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.
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.
The Place Mobil is a cargo bike that takes up two parking spaces when unfolded. However, as it is officially classified as a bicycle, it can be parked anywhere in public spaces (including parking lots) free of charge and legally.
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.
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.
more tools for Action…