Background

Viljandi is an ancient city in south Estonia known for its beautiful nature and rich cultural life. It is located on a hill above a lake, which is popular with residents, holidaymakers, fishermen and sports enthusiasts. Summer in Viljandi culminates with the annual folk music festival, which attracts folk music fans from all over the world. In winter, people can enjoy a snow park and test their skills at snow tubing.

Objectives

The Viljandi Future City Game encompassed the whole city, and players came up with ideas that could be implemented anywhere in it. Many players had no experience of working across sectors, so the game also encouraged working and networking across a range of skills and disciplines.

The game was co-organised by Viljandi Municipality, Viljandi Open Youth Centre and the Estonia Youth Council. The mayor of Viljandi was impressed by the creativity of the ideas generated during the game and students’ interest in the city’s development. He invited the young players to present the final five ideas to the City Council, which was done a couple of weeks after the game.

Winning idea

Old Town Area Revitalization

“Viljandi old town area and its wooden architecture constitute the identity of the town,” said Ando Kiviberg, a well-known arts promoter, organiser of the international Viljandi Folk Festival and founder of the Viljandi Traditional Music Centre. Every June, the spirit of the Hanseatic merchants  who settled here in the 14th century invades the old town: people trade at a fair, dress as in the Hanseatic merchant era, organise exhibitions and parties. However, the old town is not so lively during the rest of the year, so the winning team focused on the revitalisation of this area. The old town would be car-free, offering various activities and services all year round, including craft shops, idyllic cafes, Hanseatic festivities, etc. To achieve the best possible results, cooperation between the entrepreneurs and the municipality should be stronger than at the moment. Therefore, the team adopted a suggestion from the residents they interviewed that a special foundation should be created to achieve this aim.

Winning ideas from the other teams

Castle Hill Theme Park

The essential feature of Viljandi is a deep lake in the valley, an asset to the town, and Castle Hill with the ruins of a fortress. The latter has been a popular recreational area for centuries, and in the last few decades has become the main venue of the Viljandi Folk Festival. This team’s idea combines educational and fun activities to provide the Castle Hill area with fresh content to attract people of all ages. Bearing in mind the history of the place, the team suggested building a special sports ground where old fighting techniques could be taught and practiced. To preserve the recreational spirit of the area, the area would contain a playground for small children, a picnic area, and a zoo and offer recreational activities for elderly people.

Viljandi – an Eco Town

The idea of turning Viljandi into an ecological town won many supporters among the players, observers and residents. The idea is a complex one, dealing with the green areas in Viljandi, finding ways to extensively use bio- or other alternative energy solutions, searching for transport solutions, etc. The team even provided plans for eco-houses; and a story from Vancouver, where a rubbish dump was turned into a green park, inspired them to suggest the same plan for Viljandi.

Viljandi Gymnasium

Under the current educational reform, many schools are being closed, so the red team decided to reform the current educational structure in Viljandi and in the surrounding counties. The idea merges the three existing secondary schools into one Gymnasium, a new type of school without traditional classes. The priority in these schools would be the personal development of each individual. In addition to traditional academic subjects, they would also offer vocational subjects (an idea new to the classical Estonian school system).

One Big County

The orange team’s idea was perhaps the most radical. The team decided to implement a national administrative reform, which has been under discussions for years, and merge six counties into one administrative unit. They consulted four rural municipality mayors who, in principle, supported the idea.