Safe Running Routes Barcelona is the winning proposal from the innovative ideas competition “Circuits esportius en femení”, launched in July this year by the Barcelona Institute of Sports and the BIT Habitat Foundation, within the framework of Barcelona Innova Lab Sports, which forms part of the Barcelona Sports Hub.
The winning idea proposes implementing safe routes for walking or running, with the help of technology, improvements to public space and community involvement.
“Urban innovation allows us to rethink the form and function of public space by making its improvement an exercise and collective responsibility”.
This initiative seeks to open up a dialogue around how the city’s sports circuits need to be adapted to the needs of women, so we can collectively and with generosity construct solutions that favour more equitable sporting activity, and move towards gender equality in our city, affirmed the first deputy mayor Laia Bonet with regard to the project.
The winning proposal, Safe Running Routes Barcelona, was presented by the company The MotherTrees Innovation Ecosystem SL, which is dedicated to developing and implementing open and collaborative innovation strategies. The Safe Running Routes Barcelona project is based on use of the Innovation Solution Puzzle methodology from The Mothertrees.
The councillor for Sports, David Escudé, highlighted the role played by innovation and new tech is improving sports practice in our city, and said that “women’s participation in races and sporting events in the city is at a very high level, and this is down to the work and firm and decisive commitment made by the city to encourage the inclusion of women, also in the world of sport. In line with this commitment, today we present an innovative proposal that will enable women to feel safer and more comfortable using the city’s sports circuits”.
The winning proposal
The concept of Safe Running Routes Barcelona is centred on improving women’s perception of safety when practising sports outdoors so as to encourage their participation.
Specifically, the solution includes the implementation of safe routes, equipped with advanced technology and featuring emergency devices and inclusive signage. It also offers a mobile application to guide users and provide them with real-time information on safety and conditions on the different routes. In addition, the project fosters shared social responsibility and community participation. Its multidisciplinary and collaborative approach, together with its scalability potential will ensure its sustainability and a positive long-term impact.
As well as developing the sports circuits and signage, the project includes the development of educational and awareness-raising campaigns on the importance of women’s participation in sport. It also proposes organising events and activities aimed at women from different demographic groups to ensure the intersectionality of the project.
This December, the winning company will begin planning, preparing and researching a prototype to be implemented on sports circuits right across the city. The pilot trial will run for eight months during which the following anticipated outcomes will be monitored: increase in women’s participation in sporting activities in the city’s sports circuits, improvement in the perception of safety, inclusion and shared social responsibility, among others.
It is also hoped that the solution will help to improve women’s health, revitalise public space and foster social cohesion.
Barcelona Innova Lab Sports
This initiative forms part of the municipal strategy to become an urban laboratory, providing a context for experimentation and fostering trials, in a real-world environment, of innovative technologies, products, services and methodologies.