Raumsonde
RAUMSONDE is a support tool for planning cultural events in public spaces of Berlin.
RAUMSONDE is a support tool for planning events and preparing permit applications for events in open and free spaces in Berlin’s dynamic urban landscape! The RAUMSONDE helps cultural organizers to look for and find suitable outdoor venues and supports applying for necessary permits for their event.
RAUMSONDE BERLIN is a project by SPACE of URGENCY and the Kollektiv Spieltrieb e.V. from Berlin. It is financially supported by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Europe since July 2021 as part of the “Promotion of Digital Development in the Cultural Sector”. The Raumsonde is a support tool for the planning of cultural events and the creation of permit applications for events in public spaces. It supports cultural event organizers in finding suitable venues, necessary space-related resources and in applying for permits that may be necessary for the implementation of the event. The idea for the tool arose from the observation of a persistent problem that exists in many places in Berlin and elsewhere: cultural actors want to hold cultural events in public spaces, but increasingly find it extremely difficult to navigate and find their way around the administrative procedures for obtaining the necessary permits. These circumstances often lead to cultural events taking place without the necessary permits, having to be canceled or postponed, and to local administrations being further burdened with the processing of inaccurate or incomplete applications.
Through extensive research during the development of RAUMSONDE, we found that the spatial and administrative components of application procedures for events in public spaces can be brought together in a geodata-based web map application. In this way, considerable optimization of the procedures can be achieved both for the cultural organizers and for the specialist departments in the responsible district administrations.
Building on these initial results, the project team has designed, developed, and tested a basic version of the tool in cooperation with cultural organizers and the district administrations of Pankow, Reinickendorf, Lichtenberg and Neukölln in Berlin.
The final result is a platform based on GIS data, in which different spatial information layers are integrated and relevant location characteristics are displayed in order to significantly
facilitate the search for a suitable venue. In addition to the location search, the mapping tool includes an application wizard that brings together all the necessary information for the events. Precise application documents are then generated from this information. They include the necessary completed application forms with the respective specific attachments as well as the corresponding site plans, which can also be drawn directly within the platform.
The long-term goal of the project is to further develop the tool in such a way that cultural organizers have a tool at their disposal that not only makes it easier for them to engage in dialogue with the municipal authorities and to organize cultural events in public spaces, but can also be used for approval procedures on private land. In addition, it is planned to gradually improve the technical functions and to transfer the tool beyond Berlin to other cities.