THERE’S MORE TO EDINBURGH … OUTDOORS
A new website and free app for iPhone and Android that will encourage people to get out and about in Edinburgh’s parks and outdoor spaces is being launched by The City of Edinburgh Council. Edinburgh Outdoors is a new online resource where people can find out information about the city’s 141 parks and discover new green areas in the city. How old is that tree? Where is the nearest play area? When was this monument built and why? The app is an easy way to explore Edinburgh’s parks on the move.
People are also encouraged to take their own photos of the city’s parks and upload them via the app or on the Edinburgh Outdoors website to share their experiences that will be useful for other people.
Tomorrow, staff from across the Council will be tweeting and uploading photos to the website with comments about what they are doing while they go about their normal work in the city’s parks and greenspaces. Follow @EdinOutdoors for the latest. You can also follow the goings on by accessing Edinburgh Outdoors on Facebook too.
Using the hashtag #edinparks, people can join the conversation on Twitter and get out and about in parks to add what they are doing both on Friday and over the weekend.
We met the Council’s web manager to hear all about it:-
Councillor Lesley Hinds, the city’s Environment Convener, said:- “Edinburgh is widely recognised as having some of the most fantastic parks and green spaces. This innovative project will make use of the Council’s vast wealth of data and give park users access to it – allowing them to find out more about what Edinburgh’s outdoors has to offer.
“We’re hoping people will not only share their pictures of the city’s parks but also share their enjoyment of being out and about in Edinburgh.”
The project has been created by The City of Edinburgh Council with funding from Nesta’s ‘Make it Local Scotland’ competitive programme. Nesta is a UK charity which funds innovation. The charity is also funding Local Edge which is a partnership between The Broughton Spurtle and Greener Leith develop a loyalty card system working with local shops and service providers. The group received £44,750 to develop the app in Broughton and Leith. We reported this to you this last year.
Jackie McKenzie, Head of Nesta’s Innovation Programmes in Scotland, said:-“The fantastic work being done by the City of Edinburgh Council shows how open data can be used to develop new services for citizens and, by encouraging them to add their own content, to make that service even better. Local authorities have shown the amazing results that can be achieved through the excellent partnership they have developed with digital companies. Edinburgh Outdoors is a great opportunity for residents and visitors to explore the beautiful parks and green spaces in the city and to share their own knowledge of these places.
“Nesta hopes that other councils across Scotland and beyond will take advantage of the fact that all of the information and code for these initiatives is open source helping others to develop DIGITAL services for future years.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
