WE STRENGTHEN COMMUNITIES
Kindness Kiosk is a community activation project that is part of an ongoing series of work which centers around community-building programs that bring people together, foster connection, and inspire goodwill.
In a time when people seem disconnected and more divided than ever, Kindness Kiosk seeks to build stronger, more connected communities —one act of kindness at a time. When people are connected through kindness, both the giver and the recipient can see and feel its rewards, illustrating the impact of kindness and bringing a few moments of joy into our everyday lives.
After piloting Kindness Kiosk in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago in the Fall of 2022, Common Place Projects continues to bring the pop-up activation to other locations across Chicago —engaging new communities and spreading kindness throughout the city. As Common Place Projects continues its kindness research, we hope to develop future iterations of the project —whether that be by implementing a larger, city-wide activation series, designing new kindness activations, or by expanding the project to encompass additional themes of caring.
KINDNESS KIOSK
Community Activation
KIOSK ACTIVATIONS
Kindness Kiosk can be easily assembled anywhere —allowing it to pop up wherever more kindness is needed. It features bright colors, inviting signage, and playful graphics to grab people's attention. Once a member of the public engages, there are a series of activations that they can participate in:
Kindness Wheel
Participants are enticed to spin the Kindness Wheel to receive an act of kindness from us so that they can feel the rewards of kindness for themselves —starting the cycle!
Example Giveaways:
Kindness pin
Handmade gift
Sweet treat
Kindness Prompts
Participants are invited to help us learn more about kindness by sharing their thoughts in response to any or all of the Kindness Prompts. Responses are then posted onto the kiosk for future visitors to read and become inspired to join the conversation.
Example Prompts:
What can kindness do?
Kindness is important because...
How does being kind make you feel?
Random Act of Kindness
Participants are encouraged to pick an easy yet impactful Random Act of Kindness to complete at their convenience in order to help inspire the spread of kindness in their community.
Example Acts of Kindness:
Compliment a stranger
Leave a positive review
Stick up for someone
Social Kindness
To close the loop and continue the cycle, participants are encouraged to grow the kindness community online in order to make sure that all communities —whether virtual or physical— are full of kindness.
Examples of Social Kindness:
Share how your act of kindness went
Contribute to the kindness conversation
Be kind when commenting online
MEASURING OUR IMPACT
To date, Kindness Kiosk has spurred countless smiles, laughs, and impromptu conversations. While those experiences are difficult to quantify, we are able to measure the kiosk’s impact in some inspiring ways:
acts of kindness and
counting!
622
Kindness Kiosk
has inspired
kind acts and
counting!
514
Kindness Kiosk
has performed
Kindness Prompt
responses from
the public
112
Kindness Kiosk
has received
times across the Chicagoland area
9
Kindness Kiosk
has popped up
CONTINUING OUR KINDNESS RESEARCH
Common Place Projects believes that Kindness Kiosk has the potential to make a positive impact in all of the varied spaces in which we gather for work, life, and leisure:
Schools
City Streets
Plazas
Museums
Workplaces
Lobbies
