Concept for the Colouring Book

The Rügen-Stralsund region is one of the most frequented tourist destinations in Germany. Most of the guests are attracted to the beaches of the island of Rügen. The challenge is to create awareness for the World Heritage sites in this competitive environment.

The partners Hanseatic City of Stralsund, National Park Jasmund, National Park Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft and Biosphere Reserve Southeast Rügen are working together to create this awareness.

As a result of a workshop and the subsequent creative process, the idea for the production and distribution of a children's coloring block finally emerged.

For each of the four partners a motif was drawn, compiled and produced in printed form as a children's colouring block with a print run of 7,500 blocks.

The printed coloring blocks were then distributed to the 4 participating partners and their tourist networks to be displayed to the public.

In the course of the project prolongation 4 other motives were created for the international project partners. Although the 8 motifs will not be printed, they will be offered as PDF files for download and can of course also be offered as "print on demand".

The Problem/Challenge

The Rügen-Stralsund region is one of the most frequented tourist destinations in Germany. Millions of guests spend their vacations here every year. Most of them are attracted to the beaches of the island of Rügen to swim in the Baltic Sea. Of course many vacationers also visit the attractions of the region during their stay.

Over many decades, the destination has become a highly diversified tourist destination. In addition to a wide range of accommodations, there are now numerous attractions and activities that guests can visit and/or practice.

The World Heritage Sites "Hanseatic City of Stralsund" and "beech forests at Nationalpark Jasmund" are part of this destination. They compete strongly with all other attractions.

The challenge is to create awareness for the World Heritage sites in this competitive environment.

Development Process

The process started with a workshop of the partners Hanseatic City of Stralsund, National Park Jasmund, National Park Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft and Biosphere Reserve Southeast Rügen. The central element of this workshop was a brainstorming on the above mentioned problem.

All participants deal with the communication of tourism products in their daily work environment. On the one hand, this helps to work on the problem in a very focused way, but on the other hand it also has the danger that the participants remain too much in their usual thinking patterns.

As a result of the discussion on the problem the following basic points could be worked out:

Lack of awareness for World Heritage.
Excessive tourist advertising in the destination.
Families are the main target group, but
families are looking for relaxation, not education.

The following requirements for the product to be developed were derived from this:

make families aware of the World Heritage
in a way that is suitable for children
distinguished from other forms of advertising
and achieving a high reach.

In the subsequent creative process, the idea for the production and distribution of a children's coloring block finally emerged.

After the decision was made to produce a children's coloring block, the tender for the graphic implementation of the idea was launched. This was the most difficult process, as the ideas of 4 partners had to be brought into agreement. In the end, a graphic designer was found and commissioned, who delivered an excellent result.

The drawings were then brought together in a print shop to form a coloring block and printed in editions of 7,500 blocks of 40 sheets each. The printed coloring blocks were then distributed to the 4 participating partners and their tourist networks to be displayed to the public.

Stakeholders

Partner institutions:

Hanseatic City of Stralsund
National Park Jasmund
National Park Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft
Biosphere Reserve Southeast Rügen

Network partners, (e.g. restaurants, hotels, tourist attractions, places with tourist traffic):
20 partners were supplied in the area of responsibility of the Stralsund tourist office

Due to the pandemic situation caused by the Covid virus, only a small number of tourism service providers could be supplied with the product. We will tackle this again once the situation has eased. However, the interest on the part of elementary school and educational institutions for children was all the greater.

The Product

The children's coloring block is a playful, educational and above all entertaining way to raise awareness of the World Heritage Site and the outstanding tourist attractions in our region.

Children should deal with the respective motif of the World Heritage site and generate interest in visiting it by actively asking their parents.

A motif was drawn for each World Heritage site and/or outstanding natural site. Each motif has been created according to the guidelines regarding the handling of the heritage of each site. For example, in the case of the motif for the World Heritage Beech Forests in the Jasmund National Park, care was taken to ensure that the main character of the motif does not leave the paths, leads the dog on a leash and does not encourage inconsiderate behaviour towards nature worthy of protection.

Of course each motif shows the brand essence of each site. To stay with the above example, the motif shows the life cycle of the beech from the shoot to the big, strong tree, until the end of the tree's life.

Each tear-off block of the motifs consists of 40 sheets. The 4 motifs are repeated within the tear-off block 10 times in a regular sequence, so that each motif is equally visible.

A total of 7,500 blocks were printed. This means that 300,000 children can color in the motifs of the World Heritage Sites.

Sustainability

The product is intended to increase the number of visits to World Heritage sites and outstanding natural heritage sites in our region.

It is expected that the visitors of these tourist attractions will become more aware of the cultural and natural values. Especially in the natural heritage sites, visitors will be sensitized to a careful handling of plants and animals.

The conservation of natural areas, not only in protected areas, is an educational goal and mission. With the visit of these sites and the associated income from entrance fees, the local and regional economy is supported. Well-paid jobs with year-round employment are thus promoted. This job creation or job security in turn creates the basis for people to stay in the region and not have to leave it for work in distant areas. Family associations and local communities are thus strengthened and society becomes more resistant to harmful impacts.

Piloting

Since the production of drawings is the main part of the realization of this idea and the printing of a few blocks cannot be realized at reasonable costs, no real test of the product could be done. However, the idea was discussed with numerous stakeholders in the run-up to production. During the discussions the product idea was presented and asked to give feedback on it.

Evaluation

The reactions to the product idea presented were extremely positive. For the reasons mentioned above, the decision was made to implement the product idea and to produce the children's coloring block on the basis of the feedback. The regional partners, agreed on the implementation of the idea.

Costs

Costs were mainly incurred for the production of the drawings and the printing of the drawings in the form of colouring blocks.

Costs:

Graphic and design: 3 120.00 €
Print and delivery: 5 677.59 €
Pencils: 377.17 €
Packaging: 415.89 €
Total = 9 642.63 €

Lessons Learned

The implementation of the project idea proceeded as planned in all respects, and from today's point of view there is no point that we could or would have wanted to change.

However, the Corona Pandemic has made the distribution of colouring blocks very difficult and in some cases even impossible. The product has therefore not yet been able to develop its full effect.

Relevance to Other Sites

The product idea can be easily transferred to other sites. The product can easily be produced in all languages.

The Colouring Book and the Global Goals

The Colouring Book has contributed to the Global Goals target 11.4 Protect the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage.