This was Outdoor Office Day 2022
On June 16th 2022 hundreds of people worked outdoors during the fourth international edition of Outdoor Office Day. On this summer day, we’ve met with colleagues in nearby city parks, made phone calls while walking outside or organised #weetings (walking meetings) with groups of colleagues and associates. Outdoor Office Day encourages people to spend a day in urban green spaces to read, write, discuss, connect and, above all, learn from each other. And to learn from this experience.
Since its launch in 2019, this Dutch initiative has grown into a global movement in which companies, self-employed, various institutions and governmental organisations are actively joining. Its success proves the hypothesis that people need to experience (the benefits of) nature also during their working hours. Fresh air and being active while working outdoors in a urban green space has a positive effect on our creativity, inspiration and energy. And that increases productivity and well-being. During Outdoor Office Day everyone is experiencing what 'healthier working' can mean for yourself and your colleagues. It’s a moment to reflect on the importance of being physically active while being ‘at the office’ and how urban nature can always be part of your working day. The initiators and the friends of Outdoor Office Day have the ambition to initiate a lasting behavioural change and invite everyone to rethink their relationship with work and nature.
In the Netherlands, the partners of the City Deal Ruimte voor Lopen (Space for Walkability) and the ‘Alles is Gezondheid’ platform actively supported the Dutch #OutdoorOfficeDay on June 16th. This fourth edition of Outdoor Office Day was the occasion to highlight the possibilities and benefits of walking outdoors while working. The key question was how walking in the public space - especially in the urban green spaces - can be used to enhance the well-being of city dwellers? In the centre of The Hague, the Koekamplaan and the Haagse Bos were transformed into an 'outdoor working area' for central government employees for one day. The event was organised by Het Buitenkantoor and Nature Desks i.c.w. Staatsbosbeheer. The organisations FMHaaglanden and Rijksprogramma Hybride Werken offered various facilities and workshops. The event in The Hague attracted national media attention: a picture of a group of working people in the Haagse Bos was featured in the ‘De Wereld in Beeld’ section of the Volkskrant newspaper on 17 June.
In Amsterdam, on Outdoor Office Day, WanderWalk invited a group of sustainable frontrunners to kick off the day in Westerpark by taking a walk with an interested party. Further in the city, employees of the platform De Gezonde Stad moved their work to Oosterpark. In Domstad, Ondernemersfonds Utrecht set up three outdoor locations in the city centre as 'outdoor offices' for businesses for the second time. The consultancy Business Walk and Talk provided knowing workshops and brainstorming sessions in Rotterdam. On Outdoor Office Day, Breda Marketing transformed its meetings into #weetings: the office became a picnic table in Stadspark Valkenberg. Anyone wanting to work outside for a day could also visit iconic third-place locations such as Midwest in Amsterdam, Het Veerkwartier in Haarlem and Stadskwekerij de Kas in Rotterdam, which had opened their doors wide for the occasion.
On social media, countless participants - individuals, venues, schools or companies - celebrated the day by mentioning the hashtag #OutdoorOfficeDay. A small sample of the many initiatives. In Sweden during the Helsingborg H22 City Expo, the gardens of the Fredriksdal Museum were transformed into one big outdoor office and an Outdoor Office Day conference with many interesting voices from the field was organised.
“The city of Helsingborg has already signed up for a pilot subscription for the benefit of its municipal employees. I see this as a huge recognition of the project and an indication that we are heading in the right direction. To me outdoor office work is the future!” - Catharina Nilsson
Magazine Lopen.
Our friends from the Finnish platform Meijän polku became Outdoor Office Day's biggest ambassador in Finland. In the South Korean capital Seoul, Hoppers placemakers kicked off the "Park Hopping" campaign at the Seoul Innovation Park on 16 June 2022. Our partner Ergo Work organised in the Romanian border city of Timișoara (European Capital of Culture 2023), two large-scale Outdoor Office Day events as part of the Meaning and Fusion of Work programme. Public lectures and student projects were held at Mälardalen University in Västerås and Eskilstuna.
Organisations such as NetWalking from the US, Parkly in Helsinki, the UK-based Slowways and London National Park City Foundation, our friends from MYBusinessCamp (thank you for the translation onto German) and the Youth Advocate Programme (active in the US, Australia, Guatemala, Ireland and Sierra Leone) invited their employees and stakeholders to celebrate Outdoor Office Day outside in urban green spaces.
