Each day on the Outdoor Office Day hundreds are taking work outdoors in the (urban) nature. On this day we are meeting with colleagues in nearby city parks, reconnect with the nature, maken phone calls while walking or organise #weetings (walking meetings) with groups of colleagues and associates. Outdoor Office Day encourages people to spend a day in urban green spaces to read, write, discuss, connect and, above all, learn from each other.
connection - urban nature - future of work
Cross-border/international
Netherlands
Sweden
Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries: Romania
Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries: Finland
Member State(s), Western Balkans and other countries: Other
ht, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Breda, Timisoara, Helsingborg, Seoul or Jyväskylä.The Hague, Utrec
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
2022-06-16
As an individual
First name: Ioana Last name: Biris Gender: Female Nationality: Netherlands If relevant, please select your other nationality: Romania Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Admiraal de Ruijterweg 176 A Town: Amsterdam Postal code: 1056GZ Country: Netherlands Direct Tel:+31 6 23651016 E-mail:outdoorofficeday@naturedesks.com Website:https://www.outdoorofficeday.nl/blog/thiswasoutdoorofficeday2022
By creating the Outdoor Office Day almost 5 years ago we tried to answer a couple of questions: how do we want to work? Do we have a healthy relationship with our work, especially when it comes to white-collar workers? Today more than half of the world’s population live in cities. This trend is expected to continue: by 2050 nearly 7 of 10 people will live – and work – in cities. If we add the heightened rates of burnout, the importance of being physically active, the increasing evidence of the positive effects of nature on our well-being, we have a challenge to address. One easy way to start thinking about all this was taking work regularly outdoors, into the urban green.
The event was born in Amsterdam but it became obvious that all over Europe and beyond there were many like minded individuals, social enterprises and organisation. Outdoor Office Day was first born as a platform bringing these voices together. And why not organise on a global scale an Outdoor Office Day event on a specific day in the year, celebrating the many ways and opportunities of taking work outdoors? It can vary from a walking meeting with a colleague to a conference or a placemaking event in the public space. All participants are invited to add meaningful experiences and inspire others. In 2022 hundreds of people across Europe were seen working outdoors, discovering the nature around en experiencing the benefits of being active outdoors.
On June 15 2023 we’ll celebrate the fifth edition of the international #OutdoorOfficeDay.
And while the platform and its community is growing, we can ask ourselves: are we really able to work outdoors? Are there quiet areas in urban nature where you can meet clients or colleagues? Is your city or neighbourhood walkable and green? Is your office park or school campus area a healthy environment? If that is the case, can you and do you take work outdoors?
And if you don’t have all this, what can be done to make our cities greener and healthier?
connection
urban nature
placemaking
future of work
wellbeing
Outdoor Office Day is an open invitation. For everyone. It doesn't matter whether you work fulltime from home or are gradually returning to the office. Being self-employed or a manager at a corporate. We first sent this invite 5 years ago to a network of like minded persons and since then it grew to an international platform. It is not just an event, it's an invitation to rethink our relationship with work, embedded in the urban environment and related to our wellbeing. This mission could be accomplished only because of the many people and organisations involved, friends, colleagues or partners. It started with an idea and it ended up with organised events which attracted hundreds of people in various European cities.
The network and platform is growing. The event of the 5th edition (held this year on June 15) on LinkedIn already attracted 250 participants (https://www.linkedin.com/events/outdoorofficeday20237018155569823764480/comments/)
We reached that tipping point when you don't have to convince people to join and take work outdoors; it is happening. And even more than that: the local municipalities and governments are in contact and want to know more and to participate. The hashtag #outdooroffice or #outdoorofficeday are now common. The are questions for the website to be translated in more languages, there are invites to talk about this idea, there are messages waiting to be answered. Outdoor office Day is growing. We need to make it grow in a sustainable way.
Since its launch in 2019, this Dutch initiative has grown into a global movement in which companies, self-employed, various institutions and governmental organisations are actively joining. Its success proves the hypothesis that people need to experience (the benefits of) nature also during their working hours. Fresh air and being active while working outdoors in a urban green space has a positive effect on our creativity, inspiration and energy. And that increases productivity and well-being. During Outdoor Office Day everyone is experiencing what 'healthier working' can mean for yourself and your colleagues. It’s a moment to reflect on the importance of being physically active while being ‘at the office’ and how urban nature can always be part of your working day. The initiators and the friends of Outdoor Office Day have the ambition to initiate a lasting behavioural change and invite everyone to rethink their relationship with work and nature.
The direct effect could be see on the day of the event: smiling faces, trying something out of the box, connecting with colleagues of even strangers. On long term, we are among to change places and behaviour. 1) PLACES In all the examples we gave - the organised events in the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden or Finland - urban nature was there to be enjoyed. The locations were walkable, the tree canopy was present, the air quality good enough. While showcasing these evens, we are raising awareness. If a city does not have these spaces, there's time for greening and placemaking. 2) BEHAVIOUR The research about the positive effects of nature and physical activity on our health is growing. In the past years we have #outdoorofficeday followers which incorporated nature and movement on regular basis during their working days. It became routine.
At last: we started researching the wishes and the needs regarding working outdoors. What do people need to leave their desk?
A start is made https://surveys.enalyzer.com?pid=d6s8
Outdoor Office Day is an open invitation! It doesn't matter whether you work fulltime from home or are based in an office. Being self-employed or a manager at a corporate. You can be a junior or senior. You can be an entrepreneur, a coach or a government employees.
We believe that everyone is equal and outdoors - sometimes literally with our feet in the grass - we are even more equal.
If we look back to the long list of participants, the variety is immense. There are participants who independently found a place in a neighbourhood park and had a stroll with a client. There were social enterprises which opened their gardens to create co-working locations green for anyone interested. There was a conference organised in the gardens of a museum in Sweden. But also large events tailored for the employees of a tech business in Timisoara (Romania) or for government employees in The Hague (Netherlands).
We will have to refer to the other points in this document where various events are named. And to website.
As stated above, today more than half of the world’s population live in cities. This trend is expected to continue: by 2050 nearly 7 of 10 people will live – and work – in cities. If we add the heightened rates of burnout, the importance of being physically active, the increasing evidence of the positive effects of nature on our well-being, we have a challenge to address. The pandemic also highlighted the importance of the natural network close by our homes.
The feedback we received during the past four editions of the Outdoor Office Day was always positive. The event is received as something new, exciting, positive. It is well known that we make contact easier when outside facing the horizon; this happens even beter when surrounded by nature. Outdoor Office Day can be used as place making, as a networking possibility or as a learning moment. Hereby a few more examples from The Netherlands. In Amsterdam, on Outdoor Office Day, WanderWalk invited a group of sustainable frontrunners to kick off the day in Westerpark by taking a walk with an interested party. Further in the city, employees of the platform De Gezonde Stad moved their work to Oosterpark. In Domstad, Ondernemersfonds Utrecht set up three outdoor locations in the city centre as 'outdoor offices' for businesses for the second time. The consultancy Business Walk and Talk provided knowing workshops and brainstorming sessions in Rotterdam. On Outdoor Office Day, Breda Marketing transformed its meetings into #weetings: the office became a picnic table in Stadspark Valkenberg. Anyone wanting to work outside for a day could also visit iconic third-place locations such as Midwest in Amsterdam, Het Veerkwartier in Haarlem and Stadskwekerij de Kas in Rotterdam, which had opened their doors wide for the occasion.
In 2022, in the centre of The Hague, the Koekamplaan and the Haagse Bos were transformed into an 'outdoor working area' for central government employees for one day. The event was organised by Het Buitenkantoor and Nature Desks i.c.w. Staatsbosbeheer. The organisations FMHaaglanden and Rijksprogramma Hybride Werken offered various facilities and workshops. The event in The Hague attracted national media attention: a picture of a group of working people in the Haagse Bos was featured in the ‘De Wereld in Beeld’ section of the Volkskrant newspaper on 17 June.
We encouraged independent events organised locally but other partners (which we featured on our platforms). In Sweden during the Helsingborg H22 City Expo, the gardens of the Fredriksdal Museum were transformed into one big outdoor office and an Outdoor Office Day conference with many interesting voices from the field was organised. Our friends from the Finnish platform Meijän polku became Outdoor Office Day's biggest ambassador in Finland. In the South Korean capital Seoul, Hoppers placemakers kicked off the "Park Hopping" campaign at the Seoul Innovation Park on 16 June 2022. Our partner Ergo Work organised in the Romanian border city of Timișoara (European Capital of Culture 2023), two large-scale Outdoor Office Day events as part of the Meaning and Fusion of Work programme. Public lectures and student projects were held at Mälardalen University in Västerås and Eskilstuna.
For a complete overview: https://www.outdoorofficeday.nl/2022en
More disciplines are involved while designing this platform: psychology, city making and urban ecology.
The power and attractiveness of #OutdoorOfficeDay comes from its holistic approach. Healthy individuals, connectedness and a healthy biodiverse environment cannot exist without each other.
One of the largest events organised in 2022 was the one in The Hague and is the perfect example of different organisations working together. Two of our partners - the governmental innovator platform City Deal Ruimte voor Lopen (Space for Walkability) and the Alles is Gezondheid (All about health) platform actively supported the Dutch #OutdoorOfficeDay on June 16th. This fourth edition was the occasion to highlight the possibilities and benefits of walking outdoors while working. The key question was how walking in the public space - especially in the urban green spaces - can be used to enhance the well-being of city dwellers? In the centre of The Hague, the Koekamplaan and the Haagse Bos were transformed into an 'outdoor working area' for central government employees for one day. The event was organised by Het Buitenkantoor and Nature Desks i.c.w. Staatsbosbeheer (the Dutch National Forestry). The organisations FMHaaglanden and Rijksprogramma Hybride Werken offered various facilities and workshops. The event in The Hague attracted national media attention: a picture of a group of working people in the Haagse Bos was featured in the ‘De Wereld in Beeld’ section of the Volkskrant newspaper on 17 June.
We can measure the impact only by the growing number of participants, locations and cities involved each year. And by the growing number of online interactions. And but he growing questions to present this network/ idea/ platform.
We kindly invite you to check our website and socials.
Having a day to celebrate is not that innovative; it is something deeply human and we do it for ages.
But having a day dedicated to the relation between work, wellbeing, urban nature and connection is new! And it is different. And it feels not that serious while the themes are quite acute: we do need to have healthier workers in greener cities.
The Outdoor Office Day is an open invitation. The participants are free to be creative and are encouraged to think outside the box, in possibilities. It can become an organised mini-festival or a placemaking activity, but it can also be a stroll with a colleague in the near by park, writing your report in a garden or make a phone call while walking. Together we catalyse change.
The methodology is a very basic one: human contact.
We built up a small pan-europeans network which has had impact. The fifth edition of the Outdoor Office Day will take place on June 15th and it is already larger than the year before. And it can become even larger and stronger with a bit of help from powerful organisations as the New European Bauhaus initiative.
It takes one person, one organisation, one local government or business to make things happen. The whole platform is transparent and inviting. We are also showcasing stories with the front runners. Depending on anyones desires and possibilities, thousand of people can be outdoors on June 15th.
Connecting in ways we didn't do before, making pledges to green a street or a roof, being active or analysing how we want to spend our working life.
70% living and working in urban environment by 2050 is huge global challenge. Not only in terms of housing and work, but in terms of wellbeing and guarding a healthy balance with the nature. If we all would locally invest in a green urban growth now, we might have good life in 2070.
