1. Reflect back on the objective of the tool you built: did you exceed it, or fall short? If so, why?

The main objective of the citizen initiative was to plant 100,000 trees in Flanders by activating people to plant trees in their own gardens, give a tree as a present and/or support an organisation that is focused on tree planting and the environment. This initiative also informed citizens about the importance of trees and the need to plant trees in order to help our environment. Ultimately this citizen initiative would’ve gone to become an international initiative, but it never made it to the international level.

The tool, an online platform that is interactive and allows the citizen initiative to take place was successful. At the start of the initiative, the citizen initiative and the platform garnered a lot of traffic and interest from both citizens and the national (Flanders) media. The initiative fell short due to the fact that it was difficult to keep the platform alive in the long term without the resources and sponsors needed to have constant oversight on the platform.

2. What are the tools’ metrics for success and what does metric say – how well did the tool do?

The civic initiative did not measure the tool’s success. However at the start of the initiative there was a spike in visitors and registrations which later phased out as time passed.

3. Were your assumptions that the tool you built would: increase participation/engagement or tackle an issue/raise awareness correct? Do you think you chose the right approach – and what would you do differently?

The assumption was that the tool would increase engagement, participation as well as raise awareness about the importance of planting trees. The tool did increase engagement and participation, regardless of whether the initiative reached the 100,000 trees planted or not. The tool also raised awareness of the importance of planting trees and why it is necessary to do so.

4. Do you think you chose the right approach – and what would you do differently? 

There are several things that could’ve been done differently in regard to the citizen initiative: 1. creating a long-term plan and 2. creating a consistent communications campaign. The main challenge for this citizen initiative is the lack of content and resources after the initial launch of the initiative. This is a challenge for all citizen initiatives. If the project does not have the resources and sponsors to continue, it fizzles out.

5. What are you hearing from users? What do they enjoy in tool? What do they find challenging?

The tool is user-friendly, the interface is adaptable and customizable. The tool also allows for integration with other online tools such as money-raising tools. The underlying software of the tool consistently collects feedback from all the projects that use this tool/software. All of this feedback is then analysed by the company and implemented into the software

6. Did your tool deliver what you were hoping for? Are they useful for your key user audience? Are they being adopted?

The tool itself did deliver. The success factors of the online platform are its user-friendliness, its adaptability and its customizability. The platform allows the citizen initiative to completely customise their online platform for the project.

The citizen initiative itself did not deliver as was hoped. The process failed due to other elements such as the pandemic, the lack of funding and resources needed to maintain the citizen initiative.

7. What worked well through the implementation process? What areas have room for improvement?

Worked well: Regular check-in and training, Bpart has a database with what works well for the different projects that use the platform.

Improved upon: Redefined on-boarding process which builds up the knowledge transfer and provides structure on setting up platform and feedback.