Lesson Overview

Better Reykjavik is a platform that connects people with the city administration and a crowdsourcing medium where the citizens can suggest policy ideas. Its history can be traced back to the 2008 financial collapse. As people want their voices to be heard under the economic and political turmoil, the predecessor platform was founded to help people’s voices to be heard. The platform is then developed into Better Reykjavak and, for instance, used to co-create education policy in 2030 and a collaborative project between citizens and city administration called “My Neighborhood”, collecting policy ideas from people and letting them vote for the project of their best choice. 

Halldórsson shared that its success comes from political commitment and the power of trial and testing. It is noteworthy that the team also physically visits primary schools and high schools to also encourage children to submit their ideas!