Since 2015 Open Knowledge International has been part of the consortium of RouteToPA, a European innovation project aimed at improving citizen engagement by enabling meaningful interaction between open data users, open data publishers and open data. This month, the project is running the Pin it in the Parks competition together with Smart Dublin to encourage, inform and engage citizens and residents on services and issues in their local areas.
This blog has been reposted from the RouteToPA website
Ever wondered if there are tennis courts or exercise machines in the parks near you? What about playgrounds or skate parks or even historical monuments? A four weeks competition, Pin it in the Parks, encourages citizens to share information on the facilities available in parks near them in the city of Dublin. By using the RouteToPA android app, the user will have the ability to take photos of facilities they encounter and provide its exact location, hence making this information available to everyone.
Here is what we know about some of Dublin’s park facilities, through information collected by SmartDublin & RouteToPA project:
Why is this competition important?
Local authorities are coming together all over Ireland to work together to improve access to information and to make data more accessible and easy to use. Participating in this competition will strengthen the role played by citizens and residents firstly to push towards more open data about issues that touch on their daily lives and secondly to raise awareness about the current state of the parks.
Citizens and residents that are aware of their needs and their surrounding form a stronger pressure group. The competition encourages teamwork, as participants are strongly encouraged to apply in teams which will increase their chances of getting more points.
The information collected throughout this competition will push citizens to start discussions around their needs and the current states of the parks amongst other topics. RouteToPA, through its SPOD platform, allows participants to start and participate in the conversation around the data collected. Obtaining credible data is the first step towards finding solutions to the challenges a society might face.
Finally, keep an eye on the Pin it in the Parks website where the competition updates and final results will be made available.
The ROUTE-TO-PA project – Raising Open and User-friendly Transparency-Enabling Technologies fOr Public Administrations – aims at improving the engagement of citizens by making them able to socially interact over open data, by forming or joining existing online communities that share common interest and discuss common issues.
