Lisboa Para Pessoas is still a prototype, a prototype of something that will continue to be developed until there is a will and that will need more human resources, more time and more money.
I'm told that I'm a person of fixed ideas, which means that when I want to create something, I just go ahead and start doing it. The bad thing about this is that sometimes I come up with projects without much thought or planning in advance, and they are resolved as time goes by. The good thing is that I end up putting ideas down on paper instead of putting them off. This stubbornness made me launch Shifter eight years ago and this year the Lisbon For People.
Lisboa Para Pessoas is the result of my stubbornness and my timeBut the experience I've accumulated with Shifter has enabled me not to make the same mistakes. Between the first page created in June 2020 and the launch of the project to the public at the end of February this year, many hours of solitary work took place. The initial aim was to bring together information about the city that was scattered around in the same place and that could be very useful for anyone who was or wanted to start using public transport, cycling or walking in Lisbon. But as Lisboa Para Pessoas took shape - between creating pages, texts, news, making and inserting images, and countless changes until the final result - I also realized what the project could be.
Something I realized very early on was that more than an aggregator, Lisboa Para Pessoas could tell stories about the city and its community - could be a media outlet to help with the transition that Lisbon has embarked on and committed to: increasing cycling, pedestrian and public transport mobility, and reducing the car's modal share by 28% by 2030, becoming a more humane, inclusive and sustainable capital. A magazine that is independent, collaborative, convergent and without ulterior motives. A digital platform that offers information and tools for more thoughtful and conscious decisions, that help in the public debate on the future of the city and present its value proposition - a Lisbon for People.
Over the course of 2021, Lisboa Para Pessoas has developed as a media outlet. More articles, better articles, more in-depth articles. There have been reports, interviews and also chronicles. The site gained new sections, the design was retouched and the pages adjusted here and there. It was the year of the municipal elections and Lisboa Para Pessoas showed that it could be useful during the elections, but above all that it could be a meeting point for democracy and local citizenship beyond election time. In the message boxes, we received a lot of affection and also many suggestions for topics, as well as various concerns from readers about their street or neighborhood. Lisboa Para Pessoas responded by real community magazine who you are and who you want to be.
In this first year of Lisboa Para Pessoas, I'm proud of the work that has been done in partnership with the Shifter, who lent his knowledge and editorial experience of more than eight years. Lisboa Para Pessoas is still a prototype, a prototype of something that will continue to be developed until there is a will and that will need more human resources, more time and more money. There's a lot to do and a lot to improve, and in 2022 the project will have to make the leap. There are a lot of ideas and a lot of will to make them a reality.
If you want to help Lisboa Para Pessoas grow, share it with your friends and contacts on social media. Share our guides and our stories. You can also make a one-off donation or a recurring subscription through our website, from Patreon or the MB Way number 933140217 with "LPP" in the description.
Thank you and see you in 2022!
