Eden Project embeds Web 2.0 to win £50m

Tourist centre plans interactive facility to boost bid for funds

Tourist centre plans to build centre on life with climate change

The Eden Project is to use Web 2.0 technologies in an attempt to win £50m of lottery funding for a new building project.

The Cornwall-based tourist attraction is one of six organisations competing via a public vote for money available through the Big Lottery Fund’s Living Landmarks programme.

The firm will launch a web site next month to drum up support for its bid to create The Edge, a centre that will explore living with climate change, said Eden Project head of IT Jon Curry.

“Our aim is to use Web 2.0 by developing a web site with rich media to appeal to an interactive community,” he said.

The site is part of a strategy including multimedia content and email and text message alerts.

“It is all about using technology to get your message across to the public and capturing their interest,” said Curry.

Web 2.0 is gaining popularity with established businesses. British Airways and Tesco are exploring the use of social networking, interactive feedback and user-generated content to attract customers (Computing, 31 May).

“The technological tools are there and it is mattering more how we use them,” said Curry.

The Eden Project’s upgraded site should help attract up to 200,000 email registrations.

“The fight for the vote will be won or lost before the programme goes out,” said Curry.

“The focus for us is reaching our electorate by using our database of contacts and interactive media,” he said.

The push for the vote will also be the first big test for the Eden Project’s recently upgraded contacts management software from CS Group.

“The system has gone live over the past two months, but this will be our first big campaign,” said Curry.

The public vote will take place over three days in December.