By Yulia LeonovaInternational Fun Theory competition aims to improve urban living — including in Minsk
The essence of the competition is simple: people are invited to think up ideas which are not only useful, but amusing. The ‘fun theory’ originates with the Swedes, who launched the contest in 2009, resulting in the Swedish capital’s metro gaining musical steps and its parks and squares unique recycling bins which light up, giving virtual points, on being used. The ‘cheerful’ containers have raised the quantity of collected bottles 50-fold.
This year, in advance of the Ice Hockey World Championship, MinskFun invites teams of two or more people to think up an interesting idea, for implementation with minimum help. The winner will receive a grant of $1,500, explains organiser Sergey Sakharov. He notes, “We all love something fun — especially when it is used for good. This simple experiment is helping many countries achieve impressive results.”
The jury of the competition is headed by the Chairman of the Committee for Architecture and Town Planning, of the Minsk City Executive Committee, Nikolay Vlasyukha. The top five innovations will be placed for public voting and the winner announced on 18th April, with two weeks given for project implementation.
