Hidden Heritage Secret Streams
Interactive Mobile Applicaton
Don Catchment Rivers Trust ran a community project that aimed to restore Chesterfield’s rivers. The project sought to re-wild a section of the River Rother, allowing it to behave more naturally and function better, whilst boosting the potential for returning wildlife to flourish.
With this project, DCRT aimed to restore the river that was destroyed by heavy industry and help communities rediscover the charm of the Rother.
Kakou were commissioned to develop a mobile app for the project, document new nature walks including creating audio trails, and provide community workshops for the project.
The App
We designed a progressive web application which enables the app to be viewed on all platforms (web-browser, iOS and Android) without the need for separate native mobile applications.
Walking Trails
Six new walking trails were suggested by the local community.
We had the pleasure of walking, mapping and photographing the trails.
Accompanying audio was recorded by volunteers of Don Catchment Rivers Trust.
Feeling Connected: Let’s Get Creative
Led by Direct Business and Education Partnership, with funding from Derbyshire Voluntary Action’s ‘Feeling Connected’ programme, we worked with a group of neurodiverse youngsters over 15 weeks to introduce them to several creative technology vocations to help them transition from leaving school to continuing their further education.
Due to lockdowns and social distancing restrictions implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, their normal transition sessions were unable to take place.
The students were provided with a regular opportunity to meet and work alongside their peers and develop their confidence to interact with others, develop critical skills around team working and identify the skills and qualities that they all have to offer, whilst delivering on a meaningful project.
The students developed part of the Hidden Heritage Secret Streams app, creating an audio trail, producing photography and video, and coding an arcade game called “Swim Upstream”.
Chesterfield College also provided the students with taster sessions of their Creative Technology courses.
The app was adopted by Chesterfield Borough Council as part of their 2021 Walking Festival.