Creating an online space for a community to share their thoughts and ideas is a great way to make residents feel involved with council planning and projects. An ideas wall, which is essentially an online ‘sticky notes on a wall’ concept, is a specific type of online engagement platform that can be used as an ideation, collaboration, or brainstorming tool to allow users to upload comments and photos, discuss, and like/dislike other users’ posts. Our ideation and brainstorming tool allows moderation of the platform however digital solutions made specifically for engagement generally receive much more positive and helpful comments than alternative social media platforms.
This is a particularly popular solution for councils that have used this feature to create an open space for residents to input ideas in the very early stages of a planning project such as a city center revamp or a smart city strategy.
The City of Newcastle (NSW, Australia) Smart City Ideas Wall
The City of Newcastle used a Social Pinpoint Interactive Ideas Wall as a place for the community to share and discuss ideas to help shape the future direction of Newcastle as developed in the Draft Smart City Strategy 2017-2021.
Comments are invited on the draft Smart City Strategy 2017-2021. The draft Strategy is a four-year framework which outlines Council’s key priorities and actions to be delivered in its commitment to leading Newcastle’s transition to a smart and innovative city.
Cairns Regional Council (Queensland, Australia) City Centre Master Plan Consultation
The Cairns City Centre is constantly evolving as a result of population and tourism growth, commercial development. The goal of this City Centre Master Plan is to guide the city’s ongoing evolution as a vibrant, livable space for a broad range of community members and their values.
Cairns Regional Council has identified three initial focus areas for the new City Centre Master Plan including a renewed Esplanade Parklands, an Esplanade Dining Precinct and a new Gallery Precinct. With this plan, Cairns wants to be recognised as a green tropical region that values its natural assets, but with greater economic diversity.
To encourage community engagement with the City Centre Master Plan, Cairns Regional Council is using an Ideas Wall to create an open space for discussion. The ideas wall allows community members to post their comments along with photos and respond to others using discussions. The Ideas Wall will enable Council to create a plan that will meet the needs of as many community members as possible.
Because these councils didn’t have a location set in stone for their project, our ideas wall option offered them an opportunity to use an online community engagement platform that would help them create a draft plan to suit the needs of the community. The ideas wall can be used as an innovative tool for team collaboration or community engagement to create a moderated space to share ideas.
Ideas Wall Projects
Tasmanian Government -Wynyard Planning Study
City of Bunbury – CBD Masterplan
