wherenext.live

Project

268268

Status

Submitted

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NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS AWARDS : existing completed examples

Project title

wherenext.live

Full project title

Description

You may be commuting or exercising; sharing virtual lunch with co-workers or meeting up with friends. It might be a cozy evening at home or a brisk morning walk with your dog. It doesn’t matter. Explore the world, its culture and local communities. We’ll bring you live-streaming experiences from Local Experts around the world. Join and share with our community of travellers. A sustainable, curious and innovative way to Explore, Learn and Share. #wherenext  

Where was your project implemented in the EU?

When was your project implemented?

Has your project benefited from EU programmes or funds?

Which programme(s) or fund(s)? Provide the name of the programme(s)/fund(s), the strand/action line as relevant and the year.

Please provide a summary of your project

We believe in life experiences. They make us grow, they entertain us. They make us discover, continuously. So here’s our motto: where next? Travel is a passion for many of us and we’re not always able to get to places we’d love to explore. Travel is serendipitous. A fleeting moment that only occurs on winter solstice, a perchance encounter, an unexpected question that only an insider would know to ask. And here’s where we come into play. You may be commuting or exercising; sharing virtual lunch with co-workers or meeting up with friends. It might be a cozy evening at home or a brisk morning walk with your dog. It doesn’t matter.  We’ll bring you live-streaming experiences from Local Experts around the world.  Directly to your earbuds and fingertips. So… rediscover Rome through the eyes of a painter. Learn the art of reading Turkish coffee grounds from a local in Istanbul; and how to tie the perfect Bedouin headscarf in Petra. Harvest truffles with a local hunter in the hills of central Italy or experience Klezmer, Kaballah’s spiritual music, live from Israel. Bake lava bread using geothermal energy in Iceland and distill Țuică in Moldova. Chase shooting stars with an astronomer high up in the Chilean Andes. Experience the sounds of wild animals at dawn in the Ngoro Ngoro crater, tour Paris in a vintage Citroen 2CV car or explore Sydney’s speakeasies in company of a Local Expert.  Just say: #wherenext.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability and how these have been met

Tourism is responsible for 8% of Carbon emission. Worldwide, flights produced 915 million tonnes of CO2 in 2019 (source: ATAG). People who love to travel, discover new cultures, it’s art and history can reduce their travelling by virtual travelling. Our objective is to reduce by a substantial % the CO2 emissions produced by our travellers. At the time being we’ve produced approximately 60 virtual travel experiences with an average of 10 participants per experience. This is 600 potential passengers not taking a plane. These potential passengers can explore from their pc or mobile phone. In the long run we believe we can make a difference, mostly on the Baby boomers target.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these have been met

Explore. Learn. Share. This is our company motto. We’re striving to provide quality experiences with the best Local Experts for worldwide destinations.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of inclusion and how these have been met

We are providing accessibility for anyone that is physically unable to travel due to various reasons such as pandemic, mobility, illnesses, financial. We work to offer an opportunity to travel to anyone and enjoy cultural, artistic, historical and naturalistic knowledge. Socialising through the community we’re building will be key. They can already chat during live experience and one of our goals is to offer community interaction features, like sharing travel experiences, finding like minded people, being able to socialize creating connections within the community.

Please give information on the results/impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for

We reached in just 2 months a community of 300 people worldwide, executed 60 experiences from around the world (Indonesia to Brazil). We’ve employed 10 Local Experts, who were currently unemployed due to ongoing pandemic. Our internal team has grown to 8 people and we’re working to employ 60 Local Experts in the next 7 months.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the project and civil society have been involved in the project and what has been the impact of this involvement on the project

Our project has allowed so far over 300 users to benefit from travelling around the world from the comfort of their home in a time where travel was not possible. The benefits for mental health that arise from socialization, and from being able to experience new cultures, interacting with people from other countries and having a moment to “disconnect” from the stress of their lives are numerous and well documented. Our project allows for these moments, but also has a social impact in terms of job creation in a sector that has been heavily affected by the pandemic and ensuing crisis.

Please highlight the innovative character of the project

wherenext.live is promoting a new face for tourism and new way to experience new cultures. Technologically we have developed a PWA (Progessive Web Application) that allows users to watch and interact during the streaming (live chat and rewarding with tips), Local Experts to stream live their content and Moderators to monitor and support during the ongoing streaming. Socially, we are allowing travellers to have new experiences, potentially at no cost, reducing carbon emissions, all the while with a socially inclusive and democratic project. Accessibility is overcome with this project, as mobility is not an issue to be a part of wherenext.live experiences.    

Please explain how the project led to results or learnings which could be transferred to other interested parties

Building a community of online Local Experts has its huge advantages in a prospective way. Local Experts involved learn to interact with an online user base while promoting their territory and culture. Potentially they will move on to streaming also through other channels and we’re happy about it. This is a new way of travelling that must be diffused. 365 days a year users will be able to discover the world with just a few clicks, thanks to digitally savvy Local Experts. The Local Experts are trained and supported by our staff for this new type of sharing technology and approach to travelling. In terms of culture and traditions, our project also promotes knowledge sharing, as we implement experiences for Local Experts to share local gastronomy, traditions and local way of life.

Is an evaluation report or any relevant independent evaluation source available?

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that the proposed project has not been proposed for the Awards more than once under the same category and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.