Linnanniemi international idea competition was held in spring 2020 in order to find comprehensive overall ideas for the historically and culturally important area. The changes to the area would be made possible by the implementation of the joint terminal for ship passenger traffic and relocation of the current passen-ger train tracks. As a result, wide land areas between Turku Castle and the water area that are currently being used for traffic and cargo loading would be freed up for urban development. To serve these purposes, a traffic and mobility master plan for the Turku port area was prepared within HUPMOBILE project.

Linnanniemi pop-up exhibition was held in the center of Turku in late autumn 2020 to showcase the ten successful competition entries of the idea competition, the tentative traffic and mobility master plan for Turku port area as well as the museum centre's contemporary documentation project. In addition to the exhibition, a variety of side events were organized to give residents an opportunity to get more acquainted with the unique area of Linnanniemi. What kind of feedback did we receive and what did we learn from these different ways to involve citizens?

The pop-up exhibition received mainly positive feedback. Many visitors were happy to have the oppor-tunity to see the competition entries physically instead of just online. The exhibition space in the city cen-ter served its purpose well and the duration of the exhibition, just over two weeks, was adequate. In the second week of the exhibition, the number of daily visitors clearly began to decline.

People were encouraged to comment on the entries both in the pop-up exhibition and online through Voice your opinion service. People clearly preferred leaving their comments on sticky notes in the exhibi-tion instead of commenting online. Gathering notes alongside the competition entries for anyone to read turned out to be a great way to encourage dialogue between visitors. There was also an opportunity in the exhibition to give feedback and discuss the competition proposals with the exhibition staff, which was a strong message that there was also a need for the physical exhibition and customer service. Some visi-tors did not want to write down their opinions, but they still wanted to be heard. By physically meeting the visitors in the exhibition space, it was also possible to advise them to get acquainted with the idea compe-tition entries via Voice your opinion service.

Museum centre's contemporary documentation project was based on stories that people who have been living or working in the Linnanniemi area had shared. Unfortunately, it was a bit overshadowed by the idea competition entries even though many of those who became acquainted with the contemporary documentation praised it as interesting. It was considered to compliment the idea competition exhibition nicely and give face to the Linnanniemi area. Exhibition visitors were also encouraged to leave their own memories regarding the Linnanniemi area but eventually only few visitors ended up doing so. However, many visitors shared their memories verbally with the staff. The number of memories shared in the virtual Prikka service also remained small.

Guided walking tours around Linnanniemi offered possibilities for people to get more familiar with the Linnanniemi area. Five out of six tours were organized in Finnish and one in Swedish. The tours were arranged during weekends and they were free of charge. Participants did not only get acquainted with the history and the current state of the area but also learned about what kind of plans there are for the future.

Linnanniemi neighbourhood hunt was organized in cooperation with Know Your Hoods. By searching for QR-coded checkpoints and answering questions related to Linnanniemi, participants took part in a raffle of ten different prizes. The raffle prizes such as gift cards were kindly donated by the companies operating in the Linnanniemi area.

 

Guided walking tours and the neighborhood hunt enabled participants to explore the area on site, either with a professional guide or on their own. Both activities were well received, and especially through neighborhood hunt, participants shared a lot of their thoughts, memories and expectations regarding the Linnanniemi area. These insights were valuable material for contemporary documentation.

Webinars, where experts and city officials discussed Linnanniemi from various perspectives were ar-ranged not only to inform but also to create dialogue and exchange of ideas between the citizens and city officials. According to the number of participants, it seemed like the promotion did not reach people very well. Also, the timing of the webinars (16–17.30) may not have been ideal for working people. Even though only a handful of people attended, the conversations during the webinars were insightful. 

The prevailing coronavirus situation required that special attention was paid to the safety of participants both in the exhibition and during the side events. Contrary to the original plan, physical events were ar-ranged as webinars, the number of participants in the guided tours was limited to 15 people and the work-shops planned to take place in the exhibition space were not implemented.

Overall, the pop-up exhibition and the side events were successful and proved that this kind of mixed methods approach works well when involving the residents.

Article written by: Jenna Kaarela, City of Turku

Images by: CYF- Choose Your Future and City of Turku