Together, we make Ghent even better
Established in 2021, Comon is a collective of scientists, technologists, and creatives from the City of Ghent, imec, Ghent University, and Library De Krook. The goal? To make Ghent an even better city. With solutions supported by technology. How? By collecting challenges, brainstorming solutions, and testing them. Together with all citizens of Ghent. Thanks to Comon, several useful tools already got developed that make city life even better.
Comon is pronounced as "Come on!" because we want to encourage Ghent citizens to participate and join us in making the city even better.
Comon works in thematic cycles, developing a customized project for each theme. The current and second Comon selected challenge is "How can we make moving through the city more enjoyable?" while the earlier, first Comon journey focused on the future of health: "How can we make healthcare more understandable for everyone?"
Some of the building blocks that form the approach on which Comon journeys are built:
- Clear focus: challenges that are relevant to a broad group of citizens
- Step-by-step approach: explore, ideate, develop and test prototypes, evaluate
- Tangible solutions and experimental mindset: not just thinking but also doing (try, fail and iterate)
- Citizen participation and collaboration: there's an inventor in everyone, therefore encounters are fostered between researchers, enterpreneurs, policymakers and citizens
- Physical location: Library De Krook as a large, central location for activities attracting a wide audience
