Nextdoor, global platform against neighbourhood isolation and unwanted loneliness

admin on 23 February 2021

Neighbours accompanying each other through Nextdoor

Virtual platform connecting neighbours and fighting against unwanted loneliness. Today it is used by neighbours of 265, 000 neighbourhoods in 11 countries, and during the Covid-19 pandemic it has been of great service to millions of people. It also has versions in Catalan and Spanish.

Nextdoor starts from the observation that today most citizens of large urban areas do not know their neighbours beyond casual encounters on the staircase or the street. Nextdoor is an online platform that wants to change this by creating more united and communitarian neighbourhoods using technology to eliminate possible barriers. It consists of a virtual forum where neighbours can post consultations, recommendations for local services, requests for help or interest information about the neighbourhood. All users must verify their belonging to a particular neighbourhood, so that communications are within the framework of this neighbourhood and are secure.

Nextdoor has been of great service during the Covid-19 pandemic thanks to initiatives such as #CuentaConmigo, which fights unwanted loneliness through video calls between neighbours, so that they can meet each other and share a time of their day-to-day lives. In addition, during the pandemic, they also launched a solidarity map so that neighbours could share their needs and help each other. It is a way to connect with other people and create a more united community; a unity that can then move to life outside the screen.

Characteristics of innovation

Bank of innovations, Cross-cutting intervention, Information and planning, Lab, Link with the community, New service, Personalization of the service, Right of choice of the user, User empowerment

Location

11 countries, 265.000 neighbourhoods

Partners/Funders

Benchmark, Shasta Ventures, Greylock Partners, Kleiner Perkins, Riverwood Capital, Bond, Axel Springer, Comcast Ventures and others.

Genesis

The Nextdoor platform was launched in 2011 in San Francisco (USA) to give answer to the need to connect neighbours and recover communities that over the years had been lost. The goal was that the created interactions would not be left in the online world, but would then be transferred to the real world.

Level of implementation

Nextdoor is present in 11 countries: United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Canada. It has a presence in more than 265, 000 neighbourhoods around the world and more than 50 million recommendations made by neighbours.

Further information

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Wheelmap.org, world map of accessibility for wheelchair users

admin on 5 February 2021

Volunteer adding information into the map. By Andi Weiland I Wheelmap.org

Virtual free access map that indicates the accessibility of public sites around the world for persons with reduced mobility or wheelchair users, parents with a stroller, etc. It works similarly to Wikipedia: everyone can contribute with their knowledge of public places to update, expand, and improve the information contained in the map, in a very simple way. The map can be used from both your computer and mobile phone or tablet, using the Apps for iPhone and Android. It works all around the world and has already been translated into 32 languages, including Catalan and Spanish.

The accessibility rating system for each space is very easy to understand because it follows the idea of the traffic light: green if the site is fully accessible to wheelchairs; orange if it is partially accessible; and red if it is not. Sites that still have to be marked have a grey colour label. At the same time, this colour rating follows two important criteria: the first is accessibility in general, meaning whether or not there are stairs at the entry or inside the place to mark. And the second is the accessibility of toilets for wheelchair users. This will provide essential information to these people and shows the level of universal accessibility of the villages and towns of the whole planet.