Oulu has one of the highest percentages of young people among all European cities. As a city in the far north of Finland it also has fewer opportunities to offer compared to more central locations. These features add up to an unemployment rate among 15-29 year-olds as high as 20%. Conscious of the need to get young people more involved in city life, the municipality wanted to find a way to engage and motivate them through a more varied urban culture that would give them new experiences, interests and connections.

Like many cities, Oulu was also grappling with the fact that traditional democratic approaches were failing to foster the cohesion and creativity communities need to thrive. As a result, it decided to take a cooperative path to becoming a more inclusive and resilient city - and to localise good practices from around the world. The result is a process named the CHAOS Method which is designed to strengthen dialogue, search for solutions and test and evaluate prototypes.

The first stage of the CHAOS Method introduces dialogue between the city, citizens and NGOs in a number of ways. Social media and websites are used to share information and enable interaction. A city centre drop-in encourages citizens to talk about the city’s needs and take part in 10-minute workshops on urban development. The CHAOS Think Tank and CHAOS Master Class Series enable interested individuals and organisations to explore inclusivity issues and themes relevant to Oulu. From here, teams of three to five individuals or organisations keen to develop their ideas into proposals attend a CHAOS Clinic (workshop).

The Chaos Challenge is a competition for these co-created solution-focused proposals. Managed by a team of three municipal employees, the contest seeks projects promoting social inclusion through the engagement of young people and marginalised communities. Initially, proposals shortlisted by a jury of young people and city specialists are put to a public vote via the local newspaper. The teams behind the most popular ideas are invited to take part in a two-day CHAOS Workshop where they get support to turn their proposals into feasible project plans. The jury then chooses three winners.

The 2018 CHAOS Challenge posed the question, ‘How can we make Oulu a nicer place for 15-29 year olds?’ Eight proposals were put to the public vote and 3000 citizens selected their three winners:

1. CHAOS Stage enables a vibrant mix of performances and events to be put on, for free, by young people on a special stage set up in a city centre park.
2. The My City project gives young people the chance to organise creative writing and media activities and strengthen their capabilities.
3. eSports CHAOS, brings young people and e-sports professionals together through coaching sessions and boot camps to help youngsters improve their gaming, social and teamworking skills.

The CHAOS project started in 2015 and receives annual funding of approximately €300,000 from the European Social Fund.

CHAOS Project Contracts, which simplify the traditional bureaucratic procurement process, award €20,000 as a service purchase to pilot the three winning solutions. The city works closely with pilot projects, advising and monitoring their progress. Recognising that conventional evaluation techniques would not elicit the project impact insights the city wanted, the CHAOS Method uses nine indicators to assess the benefits for participants and society. These include changes in the level of trust, problem solving, self-esteem, social skills and commitment to society.

The CHAOS team has responded quickly when it’s seen the need to adapt the CHAOS Challenge model. When it became clear, for example, that one contest a year left people with good ideas frustrated at having to wait, it allowed smaller ideas to be put forward at any time. Selected small projects, which receive €5,000, range from neighbourhood sports activities to a summer street art event. In the last two years, 42 CHAOS projects have been commissioned and enthusiastically embraced by citizens as an easy, effective way to design their own city.

According to the CHAOS team there are two standout reasons for the project’s success. First, it doesn’t ask for ideas. From experience the team knew people feel obliged to throw out an idea when asked but that few will be of the required quality. Instead, the CHAOS Method nurtures purposeful ideas into being by listening to people and understanding their needs. The second success factor flows from the first. When project ideas are derived from a wide range of individuals’ passions or organisations’ missions they will always be diverse and inherently attractive to like-minded people.

Social media marketing by the CHAOS team might be useful but it is the projects themselves that inspire young people to get involved.

With the CHAOS Method, Oulu has found a powerful tool for change through the introduction of a new way to contribute to city life and the rapid prototyping of ideas. Many of the pilot projects generated by the CHAOS Challenge are still running as city services. In the future, it is intended that such community driven activities will be the core of the city’s educational and cultural services.

Cities in action - Oulu's Chaos Challenge solutions, EUROCITIES, November 2018