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By viv, 17 April, 2012 8:00 am

As many of you know Coastal Wales was voted number 1 on Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel, top 10 regions for 2012.

The Lonely Planet book states: “What a wonderful thing: to walk the entire length of a country’s coastline, to trace its every nook, cranny, cliff-face, indent and estuary. How better to truly appreciate the shape – and soul – of a nation? Well, in 2012 Wales will become the only country in the world where you can do just that.

With the Wales Coast Path due to open on 5 May and our GeoVation Challenge calling for ideas to connect communities and visitors along the new path, this got me thinking:   Is there a top 10 of things to see or do along the Wales Coast Path?

Here are some suggestions:

1. See dolphins in Newquay – Cardigan Bay
2. Surf at  Llangenith – Gower
3. Play the Prisoner at Portmerion
4. Eat cockles in Penclawdd
5. Catch a show at the Millenium Centre in Cardiff Bay
6. See the starlings flock at dusk on Aberystwyth prom
7. Visit the Great Orme in Llandudno
8. Eat honey ice cream in Aberaeron
9. Walk on Whistling Sands Aberdaron
10. Bird spotting at Newport Wetlands

Or what about these?

• Seal spotting off the Llyn Penninsula
• Enjoying the tranquility and uniqueness of Porth Iago
• Take in the sunset over Worms Head
• Explore the highest sand dunes in Northern Europe in Merthyr Mawr
• Walk the barrage, then dine in Cardiff Bay
• Visit a Castle at Criccieth

(Thank you to Gwenda Owen at Ramblers Cymru and Gareth Browning of Welsh Government for these suggestions)

I’m sure you have your own top ideas to make the most of Wales Coast Path, but don’t keep them to yourself. If you can think of how people who live and work along, or visit the Wales Coast Path can use digital technology to benefit from this ‘world first’ for Wales, then enter the GeoVation Challenge – you could win a share of £125,000 in funding to make your idea happen!

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By viv, 5 April, 2012 8:00 am

We are getting some great ideas posted on our GeoVation Challenge ‘How can we connect communities and visitors along the Wales Coast Path?’

For instance, an idea for ‘Caban’ portable, off-grid accommodation system- to provide comfortable accommodation at appropriate locations along the Coastal Path without permanent development.  The ‘caban’ could operate on uneven ground with difficult access such as woodland or rocky terrain and be completely removed when needed. It could offer shelter and facility ‘hubs’ along the route on existing campsites or more remote sites and is underpinned by an environmentally ethical design  and can provide business opportunities for the community.

Or what about an Augmented Reality Guide to the Wales Coastal Path?  An idea to create a number of augmented reality films of sites throughout Wales  from different historic periods.

But these are just a couple of the ideas already submitted.  You can vote or comment on these or, if you have your own ideas that help stimulate economical business growth, encourage visitors or support communities using geographical data along the Wales Coast Path,  – then enter the GeoVation Challenge. The  best of these will be shortlisted to attend a weekend camp to develop their ideas further and finalists will be invited to a Showcase where they can pitch for a share of £125 000 funding to make their ideas happen.  You have until 2 May to enter.

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By viv, 26 March, 2012 8:00 am

It’s officially summertime! Now that the clocks have gone forward we can look forward to lighter evenings and increased opportunity to get out in our neighbourhoods. There will be more chance to take part in outdoor sports, for children to play and explore and for older people to spend more time outside their homes.

But, all of this relies on a sense of community and feeling that the neighbourhood we live in is a safe place.

For instance, a survey shows that 25% of today’s 8 to 10 year olds have never played outside without adult supervision, while 1 in 3 parents will not permit their children, as old as 15, to play away from their house or garden. So how do we provide safe environments for our children to be active?

How can we establish a sense of community where we live and tackle the issues that mean some residents have become fearful of walking their own streets at night?

It’s good to see that you’ve been thinking about this and submitting some great ideas on our ‘How can we transform neighbourhoods in Britain, together?‘ GeoVation challenge.

One idea is a Residents Green Mapper  to test innovative approaches/tools to support local people to survey and assess their green spaces across the country and enable information to feed into social landlord’s improvement and maintenance planning and build a national dataset.

Another popular ideas is The Place Station which would introduce owners of land and buildings across the UK to social and community entrepreneurs with ideas for transforming their local area. People will be able to search, add and propose new uses for land and buildings.

There are lots of other great ideas that you can comment on and rate, and there’s still time to enter your own, but hurry, the challenge closes on Wednesday 28 March at 12 noon.  Don’t leave it to late to be in with a chance to win a share of £115, 000 (top prize £40, 000) to make your idea happen!

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By viv, 22 March, 2012 8:00 am

As the final touches are being made to the new Wales Coast Path, which will open on 5 May, the GeoVation Challenge is asking ‘How can we connect communities and visitors along the Wales Coast Path?’ We want you to enter your innovative ideas that help stimulate economical business growth, encourage visitors or support communities using geographical data. The  best of these will be shortlisted to attend a weekend camp to develop their ideas further and finalists will be invited to a Showcase where they can pitch for a share of £125 000 funding to make their ideas happen.  You have until 2 May to enter.

Watch the video for a preview of the 870 mile route and to find out more.

World’s first ‘Total’ Coastal Path set to open in Wales from BroadcastExchange on Vimeo.

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By viv, 21 March, 2012 8:00 am

With the launch of our new Wales Coast Path GeoVation Challenge I’ve come across this other amazing Challenge taking place on the Wales Coast Path – which I really wanted to tell you about!

On 24 March Arry Beresford-Webb will set off on a very very long run! Dragon Run 1027 is a 1027 mile, multi day ultra trail marathon, around the entire perimeter of Wales!  Arry will run the entire distance, which amounts to the equivalent of 39.2 marathons, back to back, within a maximum timescale of 42 days.  Originally planned with her business partner Arry will now complete the challenge alone (well apart from Puff the Dragon!) and will be the first person ever to run this entire route, following the new Wales Coast Path followed by the Offa’s Dyke path

The route will start in Cardiff Bay and Arry will head west on the Wales Coast Path in a clockwise direction. On completion of the coast path she will return to Prestatyn, where she will join the Offa’s Dyke path in a southerly direction until it joins with the Wales Coast path for our final stretch – to return to Cardiff Bay on 5 May – the day the Wales Coast Path officially opens It will be an amazing test of physical and mental endurance going beyond the normal capabilities of the human body and mind.
The overall aim of the run is to raise £25,000 for Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff and the Gozo CCU Foundation, which cared for both of Arry’s parents prior to their passing away.

We’ll follow Arry’s progress and keep you updated to how she’s doing here on the blog. I’m hoping to join her for a small part of the run too!

You can also keep up to date on Twitter @dragonrun1027

If you would like to find out more then please visit the website and you can find out more about sponsoring Arry and donating to the charities here

If you have any ideas that could help connect communities and visitors along the Wales Coast Path – enter our GeoVation Challenge and you could win funding to make it happen!

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By viv, 20 March, 2012 8:00 am

The countdown to the closing date for the ‘How can we transform neighbourhoods in Britain together? ‘challenge is on – only 8 days to go!

In the guest post below Brian Wilson,  a freelance consultant who, as Brian Wilson Associates, has worked with the National Association of Local Councils and with Ordnance Survey,  discusses the opportunity for local councils to come up with ideas to transform their neighbourhoods and win funding to make it happen!

The future is local! Well however far you subscribe to that view, it is certainly true that local (parish and town) councils now have some significant opportunities to make their mark, either through actions they undertake themselves or by supporting other groups based in their communities.

Many of the issues listed as within scope for the latest round of the  GeoVation Challenge – that on transforming neighbourhoods – will be familiar to those working in the local councils’ sector.  How to make services more accessible for all age groups?  How to deliver local services with reducing public sector funding?  What more can be achieved by organisations collaborating on service delivery?

Local councils are increasingly being looked at to take on the delivery of services such as maintaining green space, sports fields, play areas and roadside verges or to manage facilities such as local museums, branch libraries, tourist information points and public conveniences.  In the current climate such requests typically come with limited funding.

Yet many local communities are proving resourceful and innovative, either in the way they take on such services or in finding entirely new solutions that address local needs.  Supporting older residents to remain in their homes and within the community; engaging young people in local projects; bringing life back into their areas with community-run shops and services.

With local councils able to access Ordnance Survey digital mapping data for free – through the Public Sector Mapping Agreement – and with well over a 1,000 already having applied successfully to do so, it would be terrific to see some submissions from the sector.

Perhaps some could propose an imaginative way to use digital mapping for neighbourhood planning.  Or might IT-savvy members of Youth Parish Councils be encouraged to come forward with local ideas that use digital maps?  Involving local communities in participatory budgeting exercises feels like another area where digital maps should play a part.  Ditto, using local council websites to promote local enterprises and help residents or visitors use local services.  Over to you!

Brian Wilson.

Brian can be contacted on brian@brianwilsonassociates.co.uk)

If you have ideas – enter the GeoVation Challenge – but hurry, closing date is 28 March 2012.

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By viv, 16 March, 2012 8:00 am

In the guest post below, Katie Lumley of Liftshare’s myPTP, one of our previous GeoVation Challenge winners, explains the benefits of the GeoVation Challenge process which is not just about the funding.

“We wholeheartedly recommend and encourage entrepreneurs with innovative ideas to enter the 2012 GeoVation challenge ‘How can we transform neighbourhoods in Britain together?’.

In 2011 liftshare were amongst 6 lucky winners awarded the opportunity to improve transport in Britain.

Since then we have been working hard to develop myPTP, an innovative web-based solution to personal travel planning, which brings all data for transport together; walk, cycle, car-share, and public transport. The development helps individuals input simple journey information and in return receive a summary of all the transport options available, including local community transport, as well as incentives to change their travel behaviours. We are currently in the user-testing phase of development and have already received positive and helpful feedback on how we can further refine and improve the tool.

The requirements of the GeoVation challenge programme forced us, first and foremost, to fully develop and think through our pitch idea before taking it to camp. We were then able to incorporate feedback from transportation expertise, members of the public, and the experienced judging panel, further building and growing our idea before we began development work. This has ensured we hold a structured approach to development and stay completely focused on the project goal; helping individuals in Britain improve the way they travel.

The ongoing mentoring and research support from University partners through the Ideas in Transit project has further helped us progress our idea, as well as provide credible and comprehensive feedback research from user-testing to allow us to continue improvements.

Making our idea a reality and achieving the above would have been near impossible without the funding and  support offered from the GeoVation challenge.”

It’s not too late to enter your ideas, but hurry, the Challenge closes 28 March 2012.

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By viv, 15 March, 2012 8:00 am

As the first ever ‘total’ coastal path nears completion and gets ready for the official opening in May, the GeoVation Challenge has crossed the Seven Bridge to encourage the public, businesses, charities, groups, schools and universities to submit innovative ideas of how Wales can make the most of it.

Working with Ramblers Cymru, the Welsh Government, Technology Strategy Board, Visit Wales and the Inventorium, the latest GeoVation Challenge, ‘How can we connect communities and visitors along the Wales Coast Path’, aims to look at how people who live and work along, or visit the 870 mile (1,400 km) coastal path can utilise innovative digital technology to  benefit from this ‘world first’ opportunity. The competition is being run under Welsh Government Digital Tourism programme and the Technology Strategy Board’s SBRI programme.

See yesterday’s guest post from Andy Middleton, Chair of the Judging panel for this Challenge,  about the pleasures of coastal exploring and the opportunities to develop resources that it creates.

Some of the areas which the challenge is looking to tackle include:

• How can we stimulate local business growth off the back of genuine problems that need solving?
• How can more be done for local communities to support and use the path?
• How can we engage and empower children and young people to use, take more interest in, and become proud of the Wales Coast Path?
• How do we provide accessible information to help people to plan their walks based on their needs, abilities and expectations?
• How can we provide a joined-up public transport system across the Wales Coast Path?

But there are lots of other problems that have been identified. See the Pow Wow output below (there will be a Welsh version of this available very soon) to get you thinking and if you have ideas enter the Challenge - you could win a share of the £125 000 funding to get started!

Challenge closes: 12 noon on 2 May 2012.

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By viv, 14 March, 2012 8:00 am

Great news! We are launching our second GeoVation Challenge of the year ‘How can we connect communities and visitors along the Wales Coast Path?’ The challenge, is calling for creative thinkers, developers and entrepreneurs everywhere to submit their ideas for a chance to win a share of a £125,000 funding prize. In this guest post from Andy Middleton, co-founder and director of TYF, and Chair of the Judging Panel for this latest Challenge, he tells us about the pleasures of coastal exploring and why he looking forward to seeing and judging your ideas.

As a pre-teen coastal explorer on the south west coast of Wales, I discovered new and exciting places for scrambling, rock pooling and beach combing when the Pembrokeshire Coast Path first opened in 1970. New beaches, coves and headlands became accessible at the same time that my own independence grew in geographic reach, confidence and parental comfort. The coastline around St Davids is etched on my life like a vein of bright quartz shining bright in spring sun. From a degree in geography to a background, beckoning time as a travelled the world to a full-on love affair, the jagged coastline of Wales is in the DNA of everything I do, and without the free and open access that the coast path brought with it four decades ago, I sometimes wonder how different a life may have been.

It was only on travelling to the coasts of Europe and Australasia that realisation came of how much I’d taken for granted the right to walk freely on the edge of the land with camping kit, walking stick or surfboard under my arm. From Spain I recollect memories of mild panic of not being able to reach the beckoning blue sea for mile upon mile. New Zealand’s lack of access was more frustrating, with barriers to beach access after what felt like every turn; no exploring off the beaten track here, the signs told us.

Half a generation later and my whole living depended on the coast, perfected in the sport of coasteering that I started through TYF Adventure in St Davids, completely depending on a coast path for access to the start and finish points of our extreme playtime. Whatever the weather or time of year, we know that we can access the coast and make the most or worst of the conditions, according to our appetite for adventure.

Hearing in the mid 2000s of the then Welsh Assembly Government’s Minister for Environment, Jane Davidson’s commitment to opening of a path around the whole coast of Wales was one of those all too precious times when one can look back and say ‘that’s what the power of politics is good for’. At last, the pleasures of coastal access that had been a privilege in a few parts of Wales were to become a pleasure for all, giving a uniquely balanced view of a country that shows the beating pulse of its manufacturing and energy industries at the opposite end of an arc that runs to scenes of breathtaking beauty, fields of pink flowers and cartwheeling seabirds in blue skies

With the All Wales Path opening in May 2012, one of the most important to do list jobs for all communities that touch the coast is to work out how to best combine their unique cultural, culinary and historical offers into experiences that delight thousands of visitors, with narratives, tales and legends to stick in the memory long after coastal walks or visits have been completed. The Wales Coast Path GeoVation Challenge’s mission to connect visitors and communities around the maritime edge of Wales provides a unique opportunity to develop new resources that connect business services, health, access and wellbeing those who visit as well as those who live near this special resource. As Chair of the Coast Path GeoVation Challenge selection panel, it will be my pleasure to shortlist the dozens of great ideas that are put forward into a shortlist that will join the GeoVation Camp. Take your own first step, by putting the kettle on, gathering a handful of special friends around the table and sending in your best ideas for the Wales Coast Path GeoVation project; the exploration starts here.

The challenge runs until 2 May 2012. Enter here

See map of Wales Coast Path (PDF)

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By dee, 12 March, 2012 8:00 am

It’s good to see the increasing number of ideas put forward for the latest GeoVation challenge -  to help transform neighbourhoods in Britain together.

I am still trying to find a killer solution to put forward myself and have been looking at what our  OS OpenSpace community have created for inspiration. Here’s a few applications I found, already aligned to some of the themes of the challenge.

Investing in the future of our youth – how do we educate people about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle?

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OS OpenSpace is a fundamental part of the Walk4Life. Using the mapping tools, you can plot the route of your walks, track the mileage. This can be done online or via the new free Walk4Life app, which aims to encourage people to become aware of how small walks can add up, and so to provide the motivation to walk just that bit more each day.

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Sense of community

Way Out West is a new improvement group representing residents, traders and local  companies, which aims to regenerate parts of West Street, Bedminster. OS OpenSpace is being used to show points of interest in the area, to help support proposed improvements.

Waltham Chase Village website to help local people keep up to date with local matters, find out what activities are going on in the village, locate tradesmen or any type of activity that happens within the village.

Food for thought, now to find my solution and only 17 days to do it!