New European Bauhaus Prizes 2023

Project category

Identify the award category for which this project is being submitted
Reconnecting with nature

Email user
romina.rodela@sh.se

Basic information
Project title
OSS

Full Project Title
Our Sound Space

Please provide a short, catchy description of your project to be used in communication towards the public.
Our Sound Space (OSS) is an interactive sound installation at Fleminsberg Campus (Huddinge) that invites you to tune in and via your smartphone shape the sonic environment of that public space. You can select different soundscapes and chill out to the refreshing and regenerative effects of the soundscapes of your choice, selecting different combinations of soundscapes from natural environments (melting iceberg, forest, riverside etc.) to man-made sounds (heart bit, children playing, ect).

What was the geographical scope of your project?
Local

Where was your project implemented?
Member State(s) and Western Balkans
Sweden

If relevant, insert names of region(s)/municipality(ies) involved
No official involvement of region(s) or municipality(ies).

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

Does your project 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 project benefited from EU programmes and/or funds?
No

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

Is your project fully completed
Yes

Please indicate a date (mm/yy)
2022-12-05

On whose behalf are you submitting the application?
As an individual in partnership with other persons
Please provide the contact details for the project promoter (the individual or representative of the organisation authorised to represent the project).
- First name: Maurizio
  Last name: Goina
  Gender: Male
  Nationality: Italy
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Vintrosagatan 50
  Town: Bandhagen
  Postal code: 12474
  Country: Sweden
  Direct Tel: +46 73 927 31 74
  E-mail: maurizio.goina@gmail.com
  Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maurizio-goina-61b03343/
- First name: Romina
  Last name: Rodela
  Gender: Female
  Nationality: Slovenia
  Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Alfred Nobels Allé 7, 141 89 Huddinge (Sweden)
  Town: Huddinge | STOCKHOLM
  Postal code: 141 89
  Country: Sweden
  Direct Tel: +46 8 608 43 54
  E-mail: romina.rodela@sh.se
  Website: https://www.sh.se/english/sodertorn-university/contact/researchers/romina-rodela
Social Media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.)
- URL: https://medium.com/youth-plan/our-sound-space-en-interaktiv-och-deltagande-ljudinstallation-an-interactive-and-participatory-2eb2dd8d2bc8
  Social media handle and associated hashtag(s): https://twitter.com/YouthPlan/status/1601171810472857601
- URL: https://campusflemingsberg.se/en/2022/12/21/our-sound-space-soundscapes-in-cities/
In case my project 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 project in the channels of the European Commission.
Yes

How did you hear about the New European Bauhaus Prizes?
We are following developments in this area of work professionally so have been aware of the NEB since its inception.

Description of the project
Please provide a summary of your project.
The role that sounds in our living environment have for mental and physical health is documented and it is known that excessive sound i.e. noise, negatively affects the health, comfort, or well-being of people. Regulations are in place for planners and city makers to follow to minimize the negative implications of noise. But we also know that sound that is not noise e.g. sounds of nature has important regenerative and healing effects for people. Yet, there is less guidance, resources, and tools for planners and placemakers when they aim (or need) to work with the regenerative potential of soundscapes in living environments. Soundscapes are hard to integrate in public hearings /participatory planning due to practical and technical challenges associated with that.
Our project team works with meaningful participation and are interested in method and tools with improved potential for engaging less represented groups (i.e. children, youth, and residents with special needs) in planning and city-making. We developed a tool we named OUR SOUND SPACE – OSS that uses mobile technology and allows the recreation of soundscapes in a way that is accessible, easy to understand, and fun. OSS has special potential for being used with socio-demographic groups who may be seen as harder to reach out and engage in more structured processes (usually populated by experts & older demographic groups) due to their age, literacy levels or other physical characteristics. OSS brings forward an opportunity to engage in discussions about living environments starting with the basics impression we obtain from our senses (i.e. hearing) and then work with how and why soundscapes characterize our living environments and the way these influence our quality of life.

Please indicate the main themes of your project with 5 key words.
Soundscapes

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
Participatory planning

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
Sonic environments

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
Less represented groups

Please indicate the main themes of your project with key words
Mental and physical health

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability and how these have been met. Please highlight how the project can be exemplary in this context.
The Our Sound Space tool contributes to social sustainability by creating better opportunities for the inclusion of less-represented groups in spatial planning. It offers new opportunities for expression and communication of needs, values and impressions in living environments that is more attuned with younger age groups or groups with special needs (e.g. visually impaired) when compared to a more classical workshop setting /public hearing. It also contributes to environmental sustainability as it allows to work with sounds of nature and thus help planners work more efficiently on questions about valuation and preferences of local residents on how much nature, what type of nature, and where to site it.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project 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 project can be exemplary in this context.
The Our Sound Space tool operates via smart phones where an interface was designed with attention to the aesthetics of the interface (ie. choice of colors, shapes, functionalities). We also have worked on the quality of user experience as the tools can be operated by one individual at the time as well as more than one allowing for collaborative interaction within groups and the corresponding outcomes in ther of soundscape the group is generating.
From December 2022 till June 2023 we have set up OSS as a public installation in a public place in Huddinge municipality. There in that public space we have sited four loudspeakers and passerby people can freely engage with OSS via a local Wi-Fi Network and experiment with different soundscapes which are played into that public place. The installation is set up so that multiple users can engage with it allowing for an airing of multiple soundscapes at the same time and subsequent opportunity to person-to-person interaction for the purpose of creating a desired ambient sound. This is a similar process

Please give information about the key objectives of your project 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 project can be exemplary in this context.
OSS seeks to se in place better opportunities for the inclusion of less-represented groups in spatial planning. It offers new opportunities for expression and communication of needs, values and impressions in living environments that is more attuned with younger age groups or groups with special needs (e.g. visually impaired) when compared to a more classical workshop setting /public hearing.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the project and civil society have been involved in the project and what has been the impact of this involvement on the project
The tool has been developed based on insight generated at activities, inclusive of teaching work, with different stakeholders in the region.
At present, OSS is operating as a public installation in Huddinge municipality and is accessible to all.

Please explain how different stakeholders at various levels (local, regional, national, European) were engaged in the design and implementation of the project. Please highlight what the added value of their engagement was.
The tool has been developed based on insight generated at multiple events and activities, inclusive of teaching work, with different stakeholders in the region. Here we list reports summarizing the work we did in the years before, which was meant to work on soundscapes and less represented groups in city making:

1) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357311121_The_sound_of_places_sv_Platsens_ljud
2)https://www.researchgate.net/publication/362926203_Sensing_the_City_from_a_Young_Person_Viewpoint_Seeing_and_Hearing_in_our_Living_Environments

Please explain which disciplines and/ or knowledge fields were reflected in the design and implementation of your project. Please explain how representatives of these different fields interacted with each other, and what the added value of this process was.
Our group includes researchers and academics from sound music computing and the human-computer interaction field, expertise in soundscapes and sound, and expertise in planning and governance. This was a collaboration between Södertorn Univ and KTH and other societal actors whose needs we took into account in the work done during the development, design and piloting of the tool
-

Please give information on the results, outcomes and impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for. This includes also benefits from the project for direct and indirect beneficiaries
The final result of a two-year work is the OSS tool itself. This will be made Open Access for use to place makers and planners after we complete the testing of the current version.

Please provide documents showing the results, outcomes and impacts of your project
Web link
Web link
- https://medium.com/youth-plan/our-sound-space-en-interaktiv-och-deltagande-ljudinstallation-an-interactive-and-participatory-2eb2dd8d2bc8
Please highlight the innovative character of the project, when compared to mainstream actions in the field of the project
Novel in the way it allows engagement of less represent groups.
Novel in the way it allows to bring soundscapes into participatory processes and placemaking.
Nvovel in the way can bring soundscapes at low cost into public places and allow citizen interaction and modulation of these.

Please describe the methodology or approach used in your project.
We used a participatory approach which centred on close collaboration with different societal actors with whom we met on different occasions and conducted collaborative work. This work is summarised in the documentation and then made available in EN and Sv under OA in the links provided in the boxes above.

Please describe which elements of your project could be replicated or transferred to other places, groups of beneficiaries and context. This may involve for example aspects of the methodology, technology, processes, products, learnings etc.
OSS is a mobile application which can be accessed via the internet with any smartphone and internet connection. Sound can be generated via speakers on mobile or external speakers if there is a need to project the sound in a larger and bigger environment.
It is 100% replicable in any location when these technical conditions are met.

Please explain what kind of global challenges the project addresses by providing local solutions
More sustainable living environments which are able to meet the needs of different socio-demographic groups is the global challenge that this tool seeks to contribute. The inclusion of less represented voices is the local solution to this challenge as it does differ from place to place who these are and what their needs are. We need to develop a better understanding and work on questions in how and why our cities develop and how that affects those most vulnerable
Please attach at least 6 high resolution images (or other types of visual representations, if images are not possible) 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 project 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 project 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 projects, 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 project, 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