Eventuate: A Youth-Led Event Co-Curation Framework

Redesigning the Downtown Ottawa experience to drive youth engagement and revitalize the city’s economy.

Role: Ideation, Research, Strategy, Design

Duration: 8 months

Client: City of Ottawa

Users: Young Adults (Ages 18-30)

Background

  • Slow Recovery

    Slow economic recovery of downtown Ottawa after the pandemic (Pringle, 2022).

    Ranked 45th out of 62 North American cities and 6th out of 10 Canadian cities (Chapple et al., 2023).

    Number of visits is only half of pre-pandemic levels (Chapple et al., 2023).

  • Hybrid Working Model

    Declining visits since workers no longer visit downtown as frequently as before (Pringle, 2022; Chapple et al., 2023).

  • Lifeless City Image

    Labeled as Canada's 'most boring city' by CBC News (2023).

    Reputation of “the city that fun forgot” has driven young adults out of Ottawa to other cities like Montreal and Toronto for events and activities (Egan, 2022).

Research Question

What are young adults' motivations and barriers to participating in downtown Ottawa events and activities?

What events and activities do young adults prefer to participate in?

What limits young adults from participating in events and activities in downtown Ottawa?

Methodology

Literature Review

60+

Survey Participants

139

Participant Interviews

11

Subject Matter Experts

3

Survey Findings

Our respondents were primarily students from Algonquin College.

Interview Findings

  • Lack of Variety

    “I wish there were more things to do, more entertainment, like music venues, places to go for live music not just bars, but like proper music venues and halls to go see people. There's really none of that”

  • Alternative Locations

    “There is no stadium or any place to host a sporting event downtown, so I prefer Lansdowne. It has the market area right next to TD Place, it's very nice to go there.”

  • Same Old Events

    “I know the staple events like Winterlude and then once in a blue moon I find out about a really like small one. I grew up going to these events.”

  • Not Nightlife-Friendly

    “The parks during winter get dark at 4:30 or 5 and it makes me scared, they need to add more lights to make it more approachable.”

  • Inability to Discover

    “I don’t know where to find the information of events and activities on social media. If the City of Ottawa is posting events, unless you follow them, you might not see what they're posting.”

  • Safety Concerns

    “I had friends of friends, two young women who were brutally attacked by a drug addict downtown trying to get money from them.”

Insights

The downtown experience is lacking a sense of novelty.

Young adults primarily visit downtown for monotonous activities, such as dining and shopping. There is also very little change or variation in downtown events, with most of them running in the same fashion for the past ten years. People are only aware of the same recurring events each year.

There is nothing unique about the downtown experience.

Young adults choose and prefer alternative locations like Lansdowne for similar activities. They even travel to neighboring cities like Toronto or Montreal for entertainment. Downtown lacks an identity of its own, hence, the experience overall is unmemorable and characterless.

Downtown events and business offerings are not diverse and inclusive for young adults.

Businesses are centered mainly around food and drinks, accounting for a majority (38%) of downtown businesses, reflecting the limited offerings available. The young generation seeks activities and events involving music, art, and sports for communal enjoyment, which downtown fails to provide. Moreover, downtown is unaffordable for them and their peers.

The downtown business ecosystem and infrastructure do not support nightlife economy.

Limited options of things to do and places to hangout at after 9pm since lots of businesses are closed and events are over. The reduced crowd presence also negatively affects perceived safety. Insufficient lighting in downtown areas make people feel unsafe to stay late at night.

There is a misalignment of online promotion strategies and young adults’ way of discovering downtown events and activities.

Young adults often discover information passively via sponsored posts on Instagram and posters. They also lack time for active searching or do not know where to search. However, the way events are promoted online are non-engaging and is unable to reach the young audience.

I want to see and participate in activities that caters to my taste and interests.

I want to experience something new when I go downtown.

Experience Principles

I want an experience that is not easily replicable in places outside downtown.

I want to be able to enjoy activities and events in downtown late at night.

I want to find out about downtown events and activities with minimum effort.

Systems Map

Identifying actors, their relationship with one another, and pain points within the existing system that forms the downtown experience as a whole.

How might we tailor downtown events and activities to suit the needs of young adults, and drive engagement?

Solutions Map

Eventuate, a youth-led event co-curation framework we developed as a solution to the problem. It aims to foster collaboration among young adults and stakeholders who are makers of the downtown experience.

This framework involves an event idea crowdsourcing campaign, recruitment of youth ambassadors, an event incubator and a digital event co-curation platform.

This framework aims to generate downtown events led by young people in a way that is sustainable and scalable in long term.

  • Active young community leaders represent the voices of the young generation. They would take part in the co-design workshop with different stakeholders, becoming co-curators of downtown events, utilizing the resources available on Eventuate to network with businesses and organizations and make events that cater to young people.

  • It aims to run workshops that facilitate the event co-curation process. It presents crowdsourced ideas from the campaign to youth ambassadors and different downtown stakeholders i.e., business owners, organization representatives. The workshop brings co-curators together to discuss potential plans for downtown events.

  • A platform for connection, information, and discovery. It supports the co-curation process by streamlining the event organization process. Youth ambassadors can find businesses or organizations to collaborate with on Eventuate, as well as resources like permits and procedures needed for hosting an event. Eventuate also features an event catalogue for other young adults to explore upcoming downtown events.

Scalability

  • SHORT-TERM: ByWard Market Area

    Coverage: Implement the Eventuate framework as a pilot scheme in the ByWard Market area

    Events: Generate one youth-led event from the event incubator specifically for the ByWard Market area

    Facilitating Agency: ByWard Market District Authority as the facilitating agency

    Digital Platform: Integrate Eventuate platform features into the existing ByWard Market District Authority website

  • MID-TERM: IntraWard Expansion

    Coverage: Expand by implementing the Eventuate framework in other wards

    Events: Generate multiple youth-led events from the event incubators of participating wards

    Facilitating Agency: Different Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) as facilitating agencies

    Digital Platform: Build a standalone Eventuate platform

  • LONG-TERM: Citywide Implementation

    Coverage: Apply the Eventuate framework to the entire city

    Events: Generate an array of diverse youth-led events from all event incubators to be taken place across the city

    Facilitating Agency: Manage event incubators under a designated department within the City of Ottawa

    Digital Platform: Maintain the Eventuate platform in the same department

Prototype

This is a prototype of the Eventuate digital platform, integrated into the existing ByWard Market District Authority website as part of the short-term solution.

Event Catalogue 

A designated channel for easy discovery and convenient access to events and happenings.

Host an Event 

A resource hub that streamlines the event planning process, from permit filing to venue booking.

Find a Collaborator

A collaborator directory that facilitates youths and other stakeholders to connect and partner up for event co-curation.
Next

Oasis: A Spiritual Compass