We.City is a mobile application that has its aim to help communities to group up, to realize local initiatives and to find expert help. The idea for it was largely developed within the UEL Tampere team, but now it is being developed independently by the group of volunteers and enthusiasts from different fields. This online application is for those who would like to see positive changes around them, but do not have the time, energy or knowledge to implement them on their own. It is an online platform for networking around common urban problems, to find solutions, resources and contractors for them collectively. The app holds a promise to broaden the field of live education and to increase involvement of the universities in the urban processes, at the same time providing communication channels for the communities to set the agendas for the research and action within academic institutions.
The project is based on the 11 principles of the international movement Project for Public Places, which was founded in 1975 to improve cities around the world through the efforts of ordinary people and local communities. For us the most important ones are: “The community is the expert”, “You can’t do it alone”, “Money is not the issue”. Our main hypothesis — if an initiative is really relevant, a community will find means to implement it in the best way — provided that there are convenient tools for collaboration and expert seeking.