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  • Culture Token

    Protect the climate and enjoy culture

Culture Token

A digital pilot and research project for playful rewards for climate-friendly behaviour.

The containment of the corona virus restricts both mobility and cultural activities. Therefore, the test phase of the culture token is suspended and the app “Culture token” is taken out of operation.

  • Following an intense preparation phase by the team of CIO (Chief Information Officer) of the City of Vienna and Municipal Department 01 – Information Technology, Vienna‘s Executive City Councillor for Cultural Affairs Veronica Kaup-Hasler officially launched the development of the world‘s first “culture token” in spring 2019.
  • This pilot project uses digital technology to reward environmentally friendly behaviour with free admission to cultural events.
  • In exchange for actively reducing CO2 emissions by walking, cycling or using public transport, they receive a virtual token that they can exchange for tickets to renowned cultural institutions.
  • The Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien) and the University Koblenz-Landau are involved to provide scientific support and evaluate the pilot project.
  • Report: ”Kultur-Token Sustainable Business Model:Visualizing, Tokenizing, andRewarding Mobility Behavior in Vienna, Austria” – Research Institute for Cryptoeconomics, October 2020
  • The app Kultur-Token is also concepted as a digital art project and is artistically designed. To reflect this, the City of Vienna worked with the institution “KÖR Kunst im öffentlichen Raum” (Public Art Vienna, www.koer.or.at) to appoint renowned street artist “Frau Isa” (www.frau-isa.com) as art director.
  • The project is funded from the digitalisation and innovation budget of the City of Vienna.
  • Project schedule: The test has been taking place in a closed test community (1,000 people) since February 26, 2020 and is currently paused. After restarting the test users can gain digital tokens by reducing CO2 emissions and exchange them for tickets to cultural events over six months, initially…
  • Nine other cultural institutions have already announced their interest in participating in this pioneering project.

FAQ:

  • What test user data does the culture token pilot project collect and process?- Users need to provide their name and email address to sign up for the pilot app. By installing the app, test users give permission for the involved research institutions (WU Vienna, University Koblenz-Landau)) to receive their data for use in a scientific evaluation study. At the end of the pilot project, all accounts will be deleted.
  • Why use “token” in German? – The German name “Kultur-Token” uses the international technical term “token”, which is used for digital exchanges of services. Just as the term “Internet” has been adopted into German as a loanword, the project team decided to use the international term here. A token generally has no intrinsic value, but always serves a purpose, which is also how the digital culture token works.
  • How does the app measure distances for CO2 emissions? – The app uses motion tracking to measure the distances users travel in active travel modes and calculates their personal CO2 balance (CO2 saved by walking, cycling or using public transport compared to travelling the same distance by car).
  • How many culture tokens can users collect? – Users can collect a maximum of five culture tokens. Then they have to use one before they can get any more.

Who is involved in the project?

 City of Vienna

in cooperation with

This post is also available in: German