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.

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!

Collecting data about parking occupancy

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. The urban design studio prostorož suggested the following steps to collect data about parking space occupancy.

1. define the area of observation (street / block / neighbourhood)
2. prepare the site plan of all the parking spots you will observe / have access to, regardless of ownership
3. set a hypothesis (e.g. parking is occupied by employees, not generating income for local shops)
4. create an observation plan: check occupancy one Wednesday and Saturday; and granular occupancy of observed parking lots every 2 hours, starting from 5 AM to 12:00 PM
5. graphically present data and interpret results

Centralized participation plattform

"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…

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.

Building durable groups with low hierachies

Defining goals, structures, roles and means of decision making are all crucial parts of founding and maintaining collectives, cooperatives, and other groups. Many aspects of organisation however remain ad hoc, informal and opaque, creating the possibility of power imbalances, misunderstandings and exclusion. The link will lead you to website with key questions that any group should consider and define during its formation.

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.

Public Engagement Onion

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.

more tools for Vision…

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.

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.

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.

more tools for Action…