WeDundee.com was led by the Dundee Partnership, designed by Fleet Collective and delivered by Creative Dundee. It was only made possible by the 3000+ incredible supporters of the city. The aims of the We Dundee project were: • Create a platform for people to be actively involved in shaping Dundee’s UK City of Culture bid. • Remind people of what an incredible place Dundee is. • Develop a model for co-curation of future cultural activities.

1. !
We Dundee:!
Crowding together the city’s story!
!

2. WeDundee.com was led by the Dundee Partnership, designed by Fleet
Collective and delivered by Creative Dundee. It was only made possible
by the 3000+ incredible supporters of the city. !
!
The aims of the We Dundee project were:!
!
• Create a platform for people to be actively involved in shaping
Dundee’s UK City of Culture bid.!
!
• Remind people of what an incredible place Dundee is.!
!
• Develop a model for co-curation of future cultural activities.

3. Meet the team…

4. What surprises you about the city?!
!
www.karenlyttle.co.uk
We initially asked anyone and everyone one simple question:

5. We very quickly met and exceeded our target number of people involved:

6. We received thousands of thoughtful, entertaining, passionate and moving
responses. Common themes emerged:

7. We then asked what people would love to see happen in 2017:

8. “ My exhibition! Places in the city where anyone can have an opportunity to exhibit their art work for free. First time
exhibitors only! Especially to encourage art from ordinary people of all ages and abilities - exhibitions not just
restricted to established or professional artists. Vacant shops (and other spaces) could be used as pop up galleries
for short run exhibitions ”
“ A contemporary mural programme that puts art in the heart of the city - creating landmarks by shining light on
forgotten areas ”
“ A giant sea organ which is built into the bank of the Tay that plays music by the waves/air crashing into it. I've seen
and heard one in Croatia and it would be good to have one in Dundee, maybe outside of the centre for the noise
and to give a good reason to walk along to it! ”
“ A network of advertised and signposted OFF ROAD cycle and walking routes between
all places that host cultural events ”
“ ...a centrepiece created by the ‘inland sea’ formed by the river, enclosed by the two bridges and the Dundee
and Fife shores. This is a dramatic natural amphitheatre, a ‘Dundee SuperBowl’ which could be filled by light
displays, fireworks, river pageants, University Boat race etc. None of the other shortlisted cities can offer
this…. "
“ The old arcade under the Caird Hall opened up for quirky shops and farmers markets. The Tay
Bridge lit at night (like Inverness/Glasgow) The last few shops taken out of Discovery Quay and the
area becoming a destination full of upmarket bars / cafes / restaurants surrounding the floodlit
Unicorn. ”
The 1,039 ideas received were ambitious, realistic and achievable (we only
received a handful of negative responses):
“ A celebration of the creativity of the city over the last century. Everything from textiles to
computer games to the Beano! 'Made in Dundee ”

9. Supporters: !
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Ideas for 2017: !
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Page views: !
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Unique visits: !
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Visit duration: !
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Countries: !
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Cities: !
Some stats from wedundee.com over the seven month campaign:
Top 5 visiting countries:!
UK, US, Canada, Australia, Spain !
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Visits from all continents including
the Arctic!
2,776!
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1,039!
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79,790!
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21,620!
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4 mins!
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115!
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1,319 !
Ideas shared
over 3k times:!

10. The media, businesses and local support was incredible:

11. We aggregated, curated and shared stories to keep everyone up to date:

12. Dundee Dreaming by W.N.Herbert
Let culture inscribe on its banners
we hold these desires to be Deep Sea Dundonian:
that a giant organ be built into the banks of the Tay
to play shanties when the waves crash into it
that life-size whale sculptures should appear on the sandbanks
as the tide goes out
that folk in huge inflatable footballs should race across the river
that the Fifie be brought back like the mammoth from extinction
that the City Arcade be reopened beneath the Caird Hall
that a racing circuit for formula one grand prix
should run through the city centre streets and up the Kingsway
that sculptures of Oor Wullie's bucket be placed all over the toon
for fowk to sit doon
that Clarky's Bakery should open 25 hours a day
that the Royal Arch be rebuilt
the Overgate restored
that a cable car should go from the city centre up the Law
that the Law Hill be given over to unicorns for grazing in perpetuity
that the Law should be reinstated as a volcano
that the railway tunnel through the Law Hill should contain
one million lightbulbs for James Bowman Lindsay
that the spire on the top of the old Chamber of Commerce be completed
that the cobbles in Strawberry Bank be replaced by actual strawberries
that the holy stumps of the fallen rail bridge be illuminated
that something should be done about the wheelie bins on Peddie Street
that all the city's lights be turned off so the people may lie on their backs
strumming luminous ukuleles and watching the heavens
that the rings of Saturn rise and halo the Mills Observatory
Powered by
www.wedundee.com
30th September 2013
We Dundee took on cultural life of its own - this by poet W.N. Herbert:

13. The digital platform created a real life network of supporters:

14. We created downloadable pencil flags so people could show their support:
1 Simply print out this page and cut out
the rectangles.
2
FOLD
Fold down the two outer yellow lines, to
make it easier to cut along the 4 marks.
3 Cut along each mark. Then fold your flag
in half, down the middle yellow line.
Slot your pen or pencil through the
holes. Here’s one we made earlier!
Now that you have your flag, it would be
great if you could take its photo - at home,
at work, in an exotic location, with the kids,
the cat or the dog! Then share your photo
by either:!
!
• Adding to our Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/WeDundee!
• Adding to Twitter, including the
names @wedundee and @dcms!
• Emailing it to us:
contact@wedundee.com!
!
Dundee’s cultural partners will provide
some free tickets for shows and events for
the most fun, entertaining or exotic
locations you can fly the flag!!
!
Thanks for showing your good wishes and
support for Dundee as we bid to become
UK City of Culture 2017!!
www.wedundee.com!
!
5
4
FOLDFOLD
FOLD
#
FOLDFOLD
#

15. … and hundreds did from around the world! !

16. “ Thank you, it has been amazing seeing and hearing people being positive about our city. I
have real hope that we are now on a path leading to an even better Dundee. Keep pushing to
convert peoples opinions about us as a city and build on what has opened my eyes for one to
all the amazing things already going on now, and our exciting heritage. Big thanks ”
“ Thanks for your email and so sorry we didn't win. It was a great campaign and I
enjoyed being part of it. Sending a big cuddle to the team who must be so
disappointed. All the best. ”
“ I was very disappointed this morning but I agree that you have great impetus and I am sure
you will be able to take forward all your plans. Might take a little longer. I wish you every
success. You presented an excellent case. ”
“ I am very impressed with how professionally the team has gone about the whole bid bid and
especially the way you have reached out to the members of the public supporting the bid. You
should all be very proud. ”
“ Just know that you all did a fantastic job with the bid and it is a real shame that we didn't
win it but what you have started/created in the process really brought a lot of people
together to promote our great city so that in itself is worth a lot. You all did a fantastic job
getting Dundee this far so be very very proud of that - we certainly all are of all the hard
work put in by your team and it is greatly appreciated by everyone…. ”
Although we didn’t win a title, We Dundee created something that would last
much longer than a year:!
!
(a few snippets from the hundreds of email we received from We Dundee supporters)

17. This avatar popped up on Facebook the day after the announcement and we
were excited to see people still behind We Dundee:
TBC…