Creative Spin Tallinn

The concept

Intro: The constantly changing situation in the factors that we built our project upon has been a big challenge to comprehend. It has even forced us to re­evaluate the main problems we have been trying to solve and taken us deeper into the dynamics of urban planning and community development. It's clear that we are moving towards a more dynamic society in all levels, which also indicates that the dynamics of the process of planning these kind of areas has to be reconsidered. The changes we've made in the structure, are for testing a way that culture could support the static nature of city­ and state based planning. The examples of applying this kind of thinking of course exist all around the world, but it still seems to be way too slowly adaptable into the decision­making processes. Studies show a clear trend that more and more people feel as if participating in the decision making and planning processes is elementary and the logic of being a passive consumer of the spillovers of decisions is fading. In conclusion ­ the improvement of communication between the doers and the decision makers is needed. The city has not been very successful initiator for inclusiveness. We are trying to help it by implying new techniques and researching the spillovers. The creative factor in the approach of this problem­solving is crucial for discovering unexpected results. As we know new ways to solve old issues usually tend to be counter­intuitive. Community, creative resources, innovation and creative spillovers: We could say that the Kalamaja region the most innovative region of Tallinn and the community living and working in the region are the ones sparking that innovation every day. The Kalamaja region has somehow grown to be the focal for several specialists, activists, creative industries, startups and non­profit organisations. Our focus, The Cultural Kilometer area in Kalamaja has served a purpose of initiating discussions amongst the community on planning their home environment. It has grown to be a statement of their shared opinions on open discussions and a need for new perspectives. This is something that does not come from an empty place, it indicates the real needs. Discussion activeness around the topics of the Culture Kilometer inside the community has escalated fast over the past 8 years(it's been an issue since the time Estonia gained independence in 1991), now reaching the mainstream media every week. We need to invest in the bottom­up community development and empower existing self­sustainable structures that the community has already started. You can not plan the culture or program the community. They evolve and plan themselves. And it's happening way more rapidly than the centralised structure can adapt.

Concerning CCIs ­ without community development you can not have sustainable CCI development. Meaning, the centralized power does not develop CCI, they can only support and empower the community that is CCI. This way the creative spillovers will take effect. Local success story and tourism: Telliskivi Loomelinnak (Telliskivi Creative City) is a territory of soviet­origin factories situated next to the Old Town of Tallinn in Kalamaja region. The development started when the landowners gave artists and CCIs good conditions for initiating different projects in Telliskivi Loomelinnak and has grown to be the biggest creative industries centre since. Telliskivi Creative City and The Culture Kilometer are only a kilometer away from each other and similar processes have been initiated in The Culture Kilometer, but the land belongs to the city there and the city doesn't appear to be recognising the potential. The indicators show that the potential value for tourists and locals in the area seem to be even higher than in Telliskivi. Festivals, exhibitions, performances, community gatherings and parties are only growing in places such as Kanala Community Garden(selling the piece of land for commercial purposes to private owners is on hot discussion), Contemporary Art Museum Estonia(EKKM)(selling parts of their outdoor area as well), Patarei Sea Fortress­Museum, Kalarand(public beach that the landowners wanted to build into a yacht port, but the city didn't approve after strong offense by the community and specialists), Noblessner and others. The development into a strong brand for Tallinn from the Cultural Kilometer area is also supported by being connected to the port from one end(not noticeable for tourists at the moment, but this section is in the near futures development plan) and having Seaplane Harbour Museum(which appeared to be more successful than expected, now one the most visited museums in Estonia) on the other end. More about Telliskivi Loomelinnak: http://telliskivi.eu/en/about­us/introduction/ Monocle magazine's short video about Kalamaja: http://monocle.com/film/edits/property­prospectus­kalamaja/ History: 2011 Tallinn was the Capital of Culture and a lot of temporary culture projects were started. Much focus from different organisations was put on the seaside of the city, especially in the area from Tallinn Harbor to Kopli region. One of the biggest impact was made by a project called the Culture Kilometre which is a light traffic road designed for the locals and tourists to have a better access to the sights in the area. It also offers more sporting possibilities in the centre of the town. The Kilometre runs through the problematic seaside area connecting Tallinn Harbor to Kopli region. Situation now: The seaside area has been a hot topic. It is a very desirable piece of land in the heart of Tallinn with access to the seaside. An opinion that is shared by all is that the abandoned parts

of the area should be developed somehow. The methods for development are something that not everybody agrees on. Should the area be filled with commercial and residential buildings by the developers that have bought the land from Tallinn City or should it be developed in a more innovative way ­ a spacious open public space that people of all ages can enjoy and discover? We are going to look for answers through practice and research. For that we first map out the opinions and ambitions of different sectors and locals, the practical and theoretical experiences from other sources and research the whole process to measure it. Assess the current situation and compare it to the impact we are making. This knowledge will be helpful for better planning in the future. The methods used for planning of public spaces now will define the identity and change the community in the near future. Challenges: As of August 2014 the Culture Kilometer does not exist anymore as before ­ it is being converted into a car road and access to the seaside is mostly blocked. The development process in Kalarand has currently put on hold, because of various experts and the community standing against the short­sided development plan but it is affecting the area too drastically to go further with the urban intervention part of our planned placemaking this season. The local CCI's are already addressing these challenges by being active in the area and making their opinions heard(signing petitions, writing articles, organising events etc), but the trust issues between the sectors are growing deeper. The challenge is to get some hard data on the benefits of reconsidering this areas development plans, to show how it could work as an investment for the future, and then try to find a more golden way. Not taking the easiest way of selling everything in the unique for residential and commercial purposes, but testing a more difficult way of including the opinions of the community. We believe that Creative Spin will improve interactions between the different sectors by explaining and showing the connection between soft values and hard values through the process of inclusion. About placemaking/creative placemaking:

1. Placemaking is a multi­faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. Placemaking capitalizes on a local community's assets, inspiration, and potential, with the intention of creating public spaces that promote people's health, happiness, and well being. ­ Wikipedia

2. Creative Placemaking is an evolving field of practice that intentionally leverages the power of the arts, culture and creativity to serve a community’s interest while driving a broader agenda for change, growth and transformation in a way that also builds character and quality of place. ­ www.artscapediy.org

3. “Every place is empty if we do not give it its content. To me, Creative Placemaking is a process of searching for this content, while respecting the cultural and social realities of a particular place, and having the courage to

explore unusual and unexpected solutions.” ­ David Kaspar, Open up! Creative Placemaking Festival, Pilsen 2015

4. “Creative placemaking is about transforming cities from within by capturing the creative potential of people who live, work and play in them.” ­ Igor Marko, Open up! Creative Placemaking Festival, Pilsen 2015

5. “An opportunity for cooperation between citizens, architects, artists and municipal bodies to create a great place for living, contribute to its sustainability, and avoid measures that are self­centered and benefit no one.” ­ Marek Sivak, Open up! Creative Placemaking Festival, Pilsen 2015

We want to apply different placemaking techniques and research the whole process with repetitive cycles to have a better understanding of the environmental changes that are happening and how are they affecting the community. Action plan and goals: The aim is to spin off a long­term change in the area and improve the structure for planning of open spaces in Tallinn. Creative Spin will function as the first phase for the future projects. We will research the focus area´s identity, the needs of the users, possible solutions for development and put together an action plan for the follow up project. Also the research process will start, so we will know the effect of the various environmental changes on the behavior and well­being of the users. Follow­up projects can be expected as creative spillover relying on our final report of Creative Spin, supported by the research methods we have developed and the discussions we are empowering. We will start writing a follow­up project of our own in April. The follow­up project: The follow­up project will be based on the results of the Creative Spin research. The following information gives some insights for possible actions. This will get more attention in the following months since we want to focus on the current phase of research and initiation. Insights: The area and its sights will be marked with signs through the creative process of placemaking in collaboration with partners from the area to give the area a more common identity. The identity and other content will be marketed with the help of our partners to increase traffic in the area. Our purpose is to draw attention to the unique content and identity ­ the history and content (places) that offer a different kind of cultural experience (for example Patarei Prison/sea fortress, Tallinn Creative Hub, Noblessner etc). Project includes:

Urban interventions (pop­up playgrounds, installations, open calls ideas etc) Physical signs: maps and descriptions, guidings and other information

Homepage: digital information; interactive application if possible Internet marketing: Trip Advisor, Yelp, Facebook, Foursquare etc Media: Articles, stories, videos, photos Dissemination events: organising, presenting and taking part (events that partners

organize) Map includes:

Open Space & Parks : Kalarand beach, Kalamaja park Landmarks, Entertainment & Museums: Tallinn Creative Hub, Contemporary Art

Museum Estonia; Patarei Sea Prison­Fortress; Seaplane Harbour; Kanala Community Garden; Port Noblessner; Energy Discovery Centre etc

Foods, Drinks and Accomodation WIFI spots

Team Ailan Daniel Mark: project manager, Tallinn Creative Hub Marie Kanarik: ULSG coordinator Kadri Koppel: placemaking coordinator, Estonian Urban Lab Teele Pehk: community specialist, Estonian Urban Lab Kaie Kuldkepp: landscape architect, Estonian Urban Lab Grete Arro: research coordinator, Researcher at Institute of Psychology, Tallinn University Silver Sternfeldt: researcher, master student at Tallinn University Ülo Vihma: team management specialist, coach Toomas Paaver: urban planning specialist, architect

Structure Marie Kanarik and Ailan Daniel Mark:

Project management, coordinating Project concept and initiation Communication

Kadri Koppel, Teele Pehk, Kaie Kuldkepp Ailan Daniel Mark and the Content team:

Project definition and planning Project plan execution

Grete Arro, Silver Sternfeldt and the Research team:

Project definition Project assessment Executing the research

More information on our research: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzTzYWOO5B7ZSl9GY09ORTNqNjJEc3lFYmpaeEdfdE9fdDd3/view?usp=sharing

Process Project concept and initiation: July ­ September 2014 Project definition and planning: August ­ December 2014 Project plan execution: January ­ April 2014/2015 Events:

5.12.2014: URBACT local support group information day 6.12.2014: Miniconference on the topic of the future of the cities ­ Stalker Festival

Education Programme, Movie "Ekopolis China" (Anna­Karin Grönroos, 2013, Finland) premier in Estonia

28.02.2015: Opening of Tallinn Creative Hub for the public ULSG meetings 4.2015: Creative SpIN Final Event Estonia

Partners

Kultuurikatel/Tallinn Creative Hub Linnalabor/Urban Lab Tallinn University Estonian Academy of Arts Baltic Film and Media School Tallinn City Office Tallinn City Tourist Office & Convention Bureau Tallinn Harbor Kanala Community Garden Makerlab Contemporary Art Museum Estonia Patarei Sea Fortress­Prison Seaplane Harbour Museum Port Noblessner Energy Discovery Centre Local NGO's Local community