Background

Saue, a town in northwestern Estonia, is situated in a very favourable location near the capital, Tallinn. It attracts many people who like the balance between small town life and the city atmosphere. While Saue is close to nature, it still offers the entertainment, jobs, and other big city amenities that one can find in Tallinn.

The Future City Game in Saue embraced the whole town. It was co-organised in partnership with Saue City Council and our partner organisation, Saue Open Youth Club, and brought together public officials, students, young and senior professionals, enabling an exchange of ideas and opinions on the city’s future.

Objectives

Many of the players had no experience of working across sectors, and in addition to the funny and creative ideas generated, the game also encouraged working and networking across a range of skills and disciplines.

The participants highlighted three major problems Saue currently faces: traffic (proximity to major roads), neglect of natural resources, and lack of creative community spaces. After two days of brainstorming and research, the participants generated a number of interesting ideas on how to make Saue a more attractive town that will appeal to old and young residents.

At the end of the game, mayor Orm Valtson said he had gained much better insight into the resident’s wishes and expectations. He was also impressed by the creativity of the ideas generated, and praised the students’ interest in the city’s development.

Winning idea

Info-station

The winning idea transforms an old neglected railway station into an Info-station offering a number of services. The Info-station would become an information point with a bike park (that would serve as a sledge park in winter), bike and roller-skate hire, a souvenir shop, and a café. It would also give local artists, photographers and craftsmen a chance to exhibit their work. And even though the old wooden house is in very poor condition, the renovation would not require a large amount of money. Although the fate of the station has been on the agenda for several years, no appropriate solutions had been found, so the mayor was surprised at how quickly and creatively the team had come up with excellent ideas.

Winning ideas from the other teams

Old Oak Wood

Since there is a lack of community spaces in Saue, this team decided to find solutions for an area that was once used as a leisure area - the old oak wood. It has been neglected in the last decade and became a wasteland. After consultations with city planners and residents, the team came up with a number of ideas to improve the quality of life and increase the offer of leisure activities. The old oak wood, with a new basketball and volleyball grounds, benches, a picnic area, a playground and toilets, would attract residents of all ages. By cleaning the wartime trenches, providing proper signage, and information stands, the area would also acquire a new more respectable appearance.

An Apple Tree for Every Newborn Baby

How can Saue be made greener? The team came up with an idea to plant an apple-tree for every newborn resident and name it after the baby. To support the idea, the team invited the town planner, who presented areas where apple tree lanes or even orchards could be planted. And with so many apples, there must be an apple fair offering various local apple products: wine and soft drinks, tea, jam, pies, etc.

Info-chimney

The green team came up with the idea of making use of the old power station chimney and transforming it into a modern electronic information stand to announce the birth of every newborn resident.

Acorn - the symbol of Saue

The basis for the development of the idea was the need for a symbol that people would recognise and immediately connect with Saue. It would be used at the major entry points to the town instead of the commercial adverts that currently mark the town borders. The first ideas that team members and residents proposed concerned the old oak wood and the manor house. The Saue coat of arms has oak leaves, but there is another well-known symbol used as a symbol at public gatherings – the acorn. The team decided that the acorn fits into current symbolic representations and came up with a number of funny and innovative suggestions for its use.