Brickstarter
Essentially a crowdsouring platform, along the lines of Kickstarter and Indiegogo, Brickstarter is focused on the built environment and public spaces. Allowing a community to champion ideas that otherwise might not happen, this platform crowdsources opinion by letting a community ‘vote’ for an idea by offering to support it financially, before it actually takes place.
Addressing the polarised way in which decisions are made about our urban environment, this platform aims to shift the balance of society, and individuals within it, from one that is passive and expectant to one that is contributing and creating. Where ideas that are socially driven and sustainable, can be supported and financed by a collective of paying individuals – realising developments outside of the local planning department.
Forging better links and understanding of the process, Brickstarter intends to breakthrough and shine a light on the often impenetrable processes of planning and development – all the while, democratising the process.
Led by Sitra, the Finnish Institute for Innovation, this research phase is carried out in an open and accessible blog, sharing all aspects of the decision-making process.
Devised as a provocation this platform and all its content now exists within the creative commons and is no longer being developed by Sitra. By not retaining full ownership and exclusivity, Sitra, want the platform to be adopted and adapted by those excited by it and those who see the instrintive value in its proposition.