Cyklodash takes Flemingsberg Science Award

Cyklodash is a game idea that could encourage more people to explore cities by bike. The game is designed to make more people want to start cycling to work. That’s the hope of the team behind the concept that recently won the Flemingsberg Science Award.

The team behind Cyklodash came up with the idea while attending a course at Openlab in Stockholm.
“Winning the Flemingsberg Science Award was extremely encouraging and has made it possible for us to continue to develop our ideas together,” says Ndidiamaka “Didi” Duru, one of the seven-strong team.

Some 50 projects were submitted to the Flemingsberg Science Award that was organized in co-operation with business plan competition Venture Cup.

“This project was especially exciting thanks to the team having participants drawn from so many different institutions. That’s why it’s perfectly aligned with our work to further strengthen co-operation between different institutions in Flemingsberg. Co-operation is the only way to meet the societal challenges of tomorrow. What is also unique about the team is that they work in the space between environment, ecology och health,” says Björn Varnestig.

In addition to prize money of SEK 5,000, the team received three months’ free access to Flemingsberg Science’s innovation hub, and access to advice from Drivhuset.

Encouraging commuting by bike
The Openlab course that brought the team together attracts students from the entire region. Students are divided into teams and are tasked with solving real issues facing companies and organizations. The team behind Cyklodash were asked by Stockholm Council to encourage increased use of bikes for commuting in Stockholm.

“Our goal was to get more people to start cycling to work and to encourage employers to provide greater support to employees who opted to cycle,” says Elise Perrault.

This resulted in six different initiatives that can be realized within the framework of Stockholm Council’s “Cykelvänligast” project.

One of these was the idea for the Cyklodash smartphone game that encourages new and veteran cyclists to explore the city to win points and rewards. It also allows people from different companies and organizations to compete against each other. The game takes its inspiration from games such as Pokemon Go and step competitions.

“The game can help more people to find the motivation they need to start cycling. By showing different aspects of cycling to work, it can spark interest in using your bike on your daily commute,” säger Elise Perrault.

Even though the idea for the game was what won them the Flemingsberg Science Award, the team have now chosen to take a step back. They realized that the opportunities for cycling to work in Flemingsberg differed from those in central Stockholm.

“Distances and journey times are considerably longer here, so we’re reviewing aspects of our project to give us better insights into what people experience as challenging in a place like this,” says Didi Duru.

Unique background
The team behind the idea are both multi-disciplinary and international. The seven participants are from as many different countries and their skill sets cover everything from town planning, political science, health sciences, IT security and architecture to aerospace engineering.

“Bringing together people from different backgrounds is a key aspect of the Openlab course. It’s all about working together to achieve something that nobody’s ever thought of before,” says Duru.

Now the goal is to work further together with surrounding municipalities to jointly improve opportunities for cycling to work. This is where Flemingsberg Science plays a key role in providing access to relevant contacts in the surrounding area.

“Other organizations have expressed an immediate interest. Hopes are high that cycling to work will increase in the area and this is something Cyklodash’s ideas can help to achieve,” says Varnestig.

The team behind Cyklodash is made up of: Ndidiamaka Duru (KI), Mariia Otkalenko-Povalinska (KTH, SU), Elise Perrault (SH), Veera Mertsalmi (SH), Stian Berg (KTH), Marton Borsos (KTH) and Dhruv Haldar (KTH).