MOUNTAIN LOG NEWS 22 It was thought that maybe there wasn’t an easily accessible ‘go to’ place for all the information, and it was decided to make a digital library that could be of use for reference. Well, that was the original plan, but thankfully the Local Sports Partnership heard about it at a Wicklow Outdoor Recreation Committee meeting and asked if they could join forces. From there it morphed into a much better resource, adding ‘rewards’ and ‘latest news’ and other functions such as issue reporting and the ability to sign up to receive news flashes relating to a trail. For more on this, see https://wicklowtrails.ie. Further developments are on the way, as we have learned so much about the functionality and possibilities of the app. We hope to add more information, particularly about heritage sites and flora and fauna. Currently, you can filter trails by type, distance and grade, and very easily select the trails closest to your location. The system will log a walk you do, and this will go into your ‘completed trails’ section. From there, you can target types of walks – for instance, all the easy ones or the difficult ones – and, when you get enough logged, we will send you a small gift! It’s a token, but the hope is that it will encourage people. Who doesn’t want a free buff or beanie? The aim is to promote exploration and to promote more responsible activity across the county. The impact is still being understood, but the amount of visitors and downloads the App has had has been really promising – at time of print, almost 15,000 downloads! Further analysis will tell how many people are using the various functions and this, of course, will drive further development when we get a better idea what people really want from the Wicklow Trails app. Many thanks to all involved for a lot of work and patience – Gordon Shaw, Claire Byrne, Aishling Hubbard, Carol Coad, Sheena Hubbard, the teams at Evolve Technologies and Lighthouse Design.
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