Sometimes it is challenging to effectively reach and involve local citizens in research projects.The local SUNRISE team in Zugló (Budapest) has explored several possibilities. In particular, they looked for popular events with a large number of visitors where they could present the SUNRISE project to a large number of citizens even if the event had not a specific focus on urban mobility. In the end they opted for the so-called Poetry Picnic, an annual event which is part of the Hungarian Poetry Day.
The SUNRISE project joined the event by involving all visitors with a playful quiz. Zugló action neighbourhood collected different quotations from poems related to travel, mobility and transport. The visitors were invited to fill in the quiz and to guess who was the author. And the audience loved it!
We asked the SUNRISE team in Zugló few questions about this event.
Can you tell us why the participation to the poetry festival was so important for the project?
The main reason it was because we had the possibility to set up an open conversation with citizens and visitors. The playful quiz was attractive for everyone who was interested in topics such as mobility, development, co-planning, co-creation and urban design. After each game, it was easier for us to talk to them about recent and future project’s activities and to help them sharing their ideas with us. The event proved to be an ideal place to collect contact details so that we are able now to keep more people them informed about the project’s activities. We had the opportunity to invite everyone in person to our next workshop which is by far more efficient than sending an e-mail or announce it on our website.
Can you share some tips with your SUNRISE project partners?
- You should prepare only one type of quiz for the audience but it might be better to edit different quizzes for different ages: classical poems for the elderlies and rhymes for families with children.
- You should try to be creative and to look up for words: “chariot”, “pilgrim” or “iron horse” can bring as good results as “car”, “diesel” or “bike”.
- You should also be aware of the time and capacity of your target group: 5-12 questions will be enough.
- Think to offer some prizes to get higher motivation! It could be something small: a pen, a badge, a sticker. Every player wins! The aim is not to test the lexical knowledge but to raise the knowledge about the project and to leave good memories.
- Include copyrights and intellectual properties of the authors. You might have permissions for publication.
- There are several ways to adapt this methodology to several key urban topics: climate change, air pollution, waste management and so forth.
If wish to know more, get in touch with our SUNRISE team in Zugló, Budapest by clicking here.
