departure City Hype ideas competition

Last year, departure, the creative agency of the City if Vienna launched a series of ideas competitions to bring forward creative ideas for urban innovation in Vienna and beyond. The 2013 issue of the ideas competition - Cycling Affairs - received more that 200 submissions.

With this year’s ideas competition departure launches a project that provides participants with the opportunity to reflect on what the brief calls a "solidarity city" - City Hype  - invites creative professionals and city enthusiasts to formulate their ideas for coexistence on an equal footing, to provide the city with a multifaceted, modern identity and to actively participate in shaping its future. 

The ideas competition is open for individuals, start-ups or collectives from various disciplines located in Vienna or internationally. The submission of multiple entries is possible. Please find the registration form here. 

To steer inspiration for first ideas of potential participants the team of departure came up with core areas and specific questions as relevant to the overall theme of the competition. These questions can be taken as points of departure for working on the ideas competition:

THE SOLIDARITY CITY
Which measures focus on justice and solidarity as basic prerequisites for the social interactions of the city dwellers?

THE NETWORKED CITY
How do technologies react to the requirements of a network society, to its high degree of innovative dynamism and advancing digitalization?

THE FLEXIBLE CITY
How can the requirements imposed by the revolution of the working environment be turned into practice and which new models for work, leisure time and life planning are imaginable?

THE OPEN CITY
Where is room for actively participating in the creation of communicative locations and how can we succeed in making the city a modern ‘place of action’ for all its inhabitants?

THE INTELLIGENT CITY
Which sustainable solutions can be developed for the future of a ‘smart city’ in terms of infrastructure, distribution and organization?

THE DETERMINED CITY
What are the tools and strategies required to meet both the needs of individuals and the challenges of the 21st century in a creative way and which lead to personal initiative for the benefit of the civil society? 

The competition's expert jury will be analysing the submitted projects according to the following criteria: 

• Creative quality

• Sustainability

• Potential for change

• Potential for activation

• Added value for the civil society

There are three jury prizes for the competition:  

1. prize: EUR 7,000
2. prize: EUR 5,000
3. prize: EUR 2,500

As well as one "Public’s choice award" which will be awarded by a public vote and which will win € 3,000.

The timeline for the competition is as following:

• Launch of ideas competition: April 15, 2014
• Deadline for submissions: June 18, 2014
• Public voting (for "Public Choice Award"): June 27 – July 20, 2014
• Jury meeting (For defining three jury prizes.): August 2014
• Award ceremony: September 2014

Read more about the ideas competition here and fond an English description here.