New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Concept category

Identify the award category for which this concept is being submitted
Prioritising the places and people that need it the most

Email user
hannaheliel.allmann@gmail.com

Basic information

Concept title
Travelling app

Full Concept Title
Travelling app to find unique and free experiences in Tallinn, Estonia

Please provide a short, catchy description of your concept to be used in communication towards the public
Have you ever felt like a complete tourist at a foreign country? Or wished you could get more out of your travels if you just had a bigger budget? Tallinn Granted is an app that helps people find unique and genuine experiences for affordable prices. Tallinn Granted brings out the local hidden gems that visitors can enjoy for a very small fee, or better yet - completely free. Anyone has a chance to be a part of Tallinn.

What was the geographical scope of your concept?
National

Where was your concept implemented?
Member State(s) and Western Balkans
Estonia

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
Tallinn

Does your concept address mainly urban or rural issues?
Mainly urban

Does your concept refer to a physical transformation of the built environment or other types of transformations (hard or soft investments)?
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)

Has your concept benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
No

Has your concept won an EU prize with a monetary value awarded?
No

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As an individual

Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
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In case my concept is selected as a finalist of the NEB Prizes 2023, I agree to share the name (individual and/or organisation’s), email address, website and social media accounts indicated above with other NEB Prizes finalists. I also agree to publish the name (individual and/or organisation’s), website and social media accounts indicated above next to the public description of my concept in the channels of the European Commission
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
School

Description of the concept
Please provide a summary of your concept.
In the beginning of this project I was presented with a question "How could we help tourists visiting Tallinn to find activities here and encourage them to stay longer?". In the months following that I conducted extensive research and interviewed Tallinn's tourists from across Europe. Based on the gathered information, I chose to dedicate my solution to people travelling with a tight budget.
My digital solution "Tallinn Granted" will help people visiting Tallinn, Estonia to get a better feel for the local culture and have a memorable trip - all that without having to pay extra. Tallinn Granted is a mobile app that connects people to local activities, events, "hidden gems" and small businesses that are all accessible for them and are not typically found via regular internet search. To help gain a deeper connection with Tallinn and the local community, among other activities Tallinn Granted will give visitors a chance to volunteer for example at animal shelters and soup kitchens.
This solution aims to make travelling more accessible by eliminating typical tourist attractions with increasingly high fees. Travellers with less financial resources will be given an opportunity to experience authentic Tallinn with simple planning. All that while still allowing local community to also benefit from visitors.

Please indicate the main themes of your concept with 5 key words.
travelling

Please indicate the main themes of your concept with key words
accessibility

Please indicate the main themes of your concept with key words
local community

Please indicate the main themes of your concept with key words
digital solution

Please indicate the main themes of your concept with key words
inclusivity

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept in terms of sustainability and how these have been met. Please highlight how the concept can be exemplary in this context.
With my solution I decided to not create something new, but to make a tool to bring attention to the already existing options. Tallinn Granted, as a solution that guides people to locations to visit and activities to do, has a carefully picked selection of suggestions. We have stayed away from mainstream tourist attractions and promoting wasteful practices. Tallinn Granted connects people to less popular and not as well known businesses to bring traffic to places that can benefit from more traffic the most. Tallinn Granted also gives an unique opportunity for visitors to contribute to the local community, by volunteering at various charities. From helping to walk the dogs from animal shelters to packaging the food for homeless people. This solution has a lot of emphasis on not putting any more strain on the local community and rather letting tourists get memorable experiences from helping out where they can.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience for people (through design, positive emotions and cultural benefits) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the concept can be exemplary in this context.
The Tallinn Granted mobile app concept makes it easy and stress free to plan your travels, with tailored suggestions based on your needs and wants. The user interface design is simple and visually pleasing. It highlights the information that , through the previously conducted research, has proven to be the most important and commonly searched while planning a trip.
One of the biggest key problems in this project was that the suggested activities and places to visit that can be found via the most common way - internet search - are majority of the times typical tourist attractions and don't give the visitor a sense of the country and make them feel like every other tourist. The goal of Tallinn Granted is to help people find more unique experiences and hidden gems at their destination, letting visitors feel like they are a part of Tallinn. The sense of belonging is created by steering visitors away from the crowds and giving them a chance to see, feel and taste the real Tallinn. And as the best memories are created by doing something yourself and feeling a sense of purpose, Tallinn Granted presents a completely unique chance to contribute to the local community by helping out those in need. There is nothing stronger than a feeling that you have left a piece of yourself to Tallinn and your actions have helped to make a difference for the better.

Please give information about the key objectives of your concept in terms of inclusion (ranging from accessibility and affordability for all to inclusive governing systems, design for all principles or new societal models) and how these have been met. Please highlight how the concept can be exemplary in this context.
The biggest inspiration for this entire solution was to make travelling more accessible for people with a tighter budget. As one of the biggest expenses during travelling are the fees and ticket prices for different sights and activities at the destination, I set out to eliminate these costs. Tallinn Granted helps people find completely free things to do once they arrive at Tallinn, Estonia. By eliminating the cost of activities we are also enabling visitors to stay here longer and with that have a more packed and memorable trip.
Also the types of activities and locations we suggest take people away from the typical tourist points and try to make them feel as much of a local as possible. So anybody visiting Tallinn can have an adventure packed and memorable trip while feeling welcome and at home in Tallinn.
As for the Tallinn Granted mobile app concept, we have implemented a personalization tool that will filter out suggestions that do not meet the visitors needs (wheelchair, small kids, pets, big groups etc). Each description of a location or activity will have easily noticeable indications to inclusivity and accessibility information. The entire mobile app itself has also a standard and intuitive structure with as minimal functions as possible to make it easily usable for different types of people.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the concept and civil society have been / will be involved in the concept and what has been / will be the impact of this involvement on the concept.
The inspiration and root problems to be solved for this solution came directly from the citizens that are the target user group for Tallinn Granted. Multiple interviews were conducted in Estonia and Finland, with interviewees being tourists from Lithuania, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Greece and several other European countries. With input from the target audience the main problems were defined - the difficulty to find unique and authentic activities in Tallinn and the high prices and big budget needed for travelling. Both which have been the keywords for our solution.
In addition the local community in Tallinn would benefit from this solution by giving smaller businesses and event hosts a platform to advertise themselves. For example local charities would be able to find volunteers easier than ever. So in addition to the input for this project having come directly from citizens, it has also been a priority to make sure that the entire society would be able to gain something from it.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and development of the concept. Please highlight what the added value of their engagement was
The source task for this project came from Tallinn, Estonia's official tourism portal VisitTallinn. They approached us with the question "How to help Tallinn's tourists have a more memorable trip and encourage them to stay here longer?". This question sparked the research and planning that led to the Tallinn Granted concept.
Another party worth mentioning were the Estonian Academy of Arts Product Design students who contributed to the user research. Their research and interviews played a big part in finding the key problems helping to map out user behaviours.

Please explain which disciplines and / or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and development of your concept. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was
This project was led by a Digital Product design student specializing in UI/UX design. So throughout the project the look and working principles of the digital solution were kept in mind. That also played a big part in the final usability of the concept, with user experience being greatly considered.
With the input also coming from user research students and specialists, this concept had a clear vision and well defined problems from the start. The user interviews and questionnaires shed a light to the most pressing problems involved in travelling - the mainstream tourist traps and high costs.
Collaborating with Estonia's official tourism portal gave us access to data involving Tallinn's tourism trends over the past seasons. It also helped us define the biggest age groups, demographics and other trends regarding the profile of Tallinn's tourists, which helped to guide us while choosing the research subjects.

Please explain the innovative character of your concept when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the concept.
Previous research revealed that most post of the planning of the activities happens spontaneously while already on the trip. And that while on the trip, of all the devices people use their mobile phone the most for researching the local area. None of the currently existing tourist information platforms are designed mobile-first and have tons of information that are way better combed through on a bigger screen. The Tallinn Granted concept is specifically made for quick and easy usage from mobile while on the go. With special features like showing your distance from certain places or whether the place is open or closed at the given time.
Also all of the currently existing tourist platforms are catered towards bigger tourist attractions and mainstream sights, while the info about the less known hidden gems is very hard to find for a foreigner (for example through Facebook groups, word of mouth etc). Our concept leaves out all the mainstream tourist attractions and concentrates solely on smaller local businesses and personal suggestions and reviews.
In Estonia there are currently absolutely no volunteering options marketed towards tourists. We would like to change that as contributing to a local community is one of the best ways to make unforgettable memories.
Also for people travelling with a tighter budget, the only way to find affordable things to do is to look for them manually via Google search. The problem with that is people's lack of knowledge of the best search words and therefore inability to find what they are looking for. We have made it easier with bringing all the free stuff together to one place - the Tallinn Granted mobile app.

Please which elements of your concept could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and contexts. This may involve, for example, aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings, etc.
The concept of Tallinn Granted could be replicated in any other city or region in the world. We are already making plans to expand this concept to "Europe Granted", where it would be possible to find information about free and unique experiences in multiple cities and countries. It would be possible to see suggestions of activities around you in any of the cities we would expand to. The interface would also let users to easily switch between different trips they are planning and see their saved places for each of the different travel destinations separately.
Depending on which countries and cities this concept would be transferred to, we would be able to promote destinations which would benefit the most from more visitors and therefore help communities which need it the most.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the concept addresses by providing local solutions
The Tallinn Granted concept would help to alleviate the gap in living standards by enabling the less privileged to have equivalent opportunities regarding activities to take part in and places to visit while travelling. It would help people to enjoy longer vacations or enable them to take one in the first place. Our philosophy is that being able to experience different cultures and have special experiences should not be limited to people of more wealth.
Then also by promoting volunteering we would help the local communities by providing them with motivated staff and helping the residents to create connections with people outside their regular circle of acquaintances.
Tallinn Granted would be a chance to open up the world to more people and help them along their travelling journey, while also making foreign visitors feel like more than just tourists and rather a valuable part of society.

Please attach the development plan of your concept. This plan should detail the plans you have for the further development and implementation of your concept, with a particular attention to the steps envisaged in the year following the application. The plan should also include envisaged results and benefits from the concept for direct and indirect beneficiaries. The results and benefits should be specified in relation to the objectives of the concept, and to what is expected in the context of the respective category

Developement plan - Tallinn Granted.pdf
Please attach at least one high resolution image or visual representation of your concept to your application.
If you would like to upload additional documentation, please upload or write below
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By submitting your application you confirm that you are the copyright owner of the images provided and that they can be used by the European Commission for the purposes of promoting the New European Bauhaus on all platforms (websites, print, social media and other).
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that you are not in in one or more of the exclusion situations foreseen under Article 136 of the Financial Regulation.
Yes

By submitting this application, I declare that I am not related to the entities subject to EU restricted measures under Article 29 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and subject to Article 215 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU)1, and entities covered by Commission Guidelines No 2013/C 205/05), which are not eligible to participate in any capacity.
Yes

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that you assume sole liability in the event of a claim relating to the activities carried out in the framework of the contest, that the proposed concept has not been proposed for the New European Bauhaus Prizes in any other category or strand and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.
Yes

By submitting your application, you guarantee that you are the author or have the rights to proceed with the application and to authorise the use of the concept, initiative, and that you have obtained any necessary consents, licenses or assignments from third parties and included copyright notices when necessary.
Yes

By submitting your application, you understand that all the applications that meet the eligibility requirements will be shared for the purposes of the selection processes, and notably published on the secured platform prizes.new-european-bauhaus.eu and for the purposes of the promotion of these on the New European Bauhaus website and/or other European Commission communication channels. In this sense, the applications would be widely available. Applicants should ensure that they present their concepts, concepts, in such a way that they could be shared without giving rise to intellectual property related concerns. If your submission is selected as one of the finalists, it will additionally be shared for the purpose of the public vote that will take place. The European Union is granted a licence to use and share your application with the general public and the official external experts for the purposes of the selection process, including the voting. The European Union has the right to use the images and visual materials and the description provided in the application for communication purposes related to the contest and beyond. Rights granted comprise the right to store, reproduce, display, publish and communicate or distribute copies in electronic or digital format, including, but not only, through the internet. Unless you have disclosed your name, the European Commission has no obligation to share your name when using or disseminating your contribution to the public. The European Union cannot be held responsible in case any submitted concept, concept is found to infringe third party’s rights. The European Union shall be neither responsible for the use that third parties may do of the applications or related content.
Yes

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you read and understand that the ‘Guide to Applicants’ of the NEB Prizes 2023, available online in the website of the NEB Prizes 2023, is an integral part of this application form and that it must therefore be observed when completing and submitting your application.
Yes