Canvas - made in collaboration to support collaboration

Do you find it time-consuming to write reports that document surface water plans? Or have you ever been overwhelmed by the time it takes to write meeting minutes with all the small comments on various local details in a project area?

We feel you, it does take a lot of time and text to explain even the simplest project ideas when the ideas relate to a spatial context. And it takes just as long to read and understand the ideas afterwards.

A screenshot or a map in a report can help explain, but these are static - they do not update if the plan develops or changes. And a screenshot does not allow the reader to explore the underlying data or zoom in and out on different details.

“We have seen so many examples of excellent work being documented in reports that are never actively used”

Morten Revsbæk, CEO and co-founder of SCALGO

“We have seen so many examples of excellent work being documented in reports that are never actively used”, says Morten Revsbæk, CEO and co-founder of SCALGO.

“When we developed Canvas, we wanted to create a medium for explaining and reporting challenges, ideas and solutions.”, Morten continues. “In Canvas, all information has a location and can relate to specific things in an underlying map or analysis. With Canvas we bring text and basic drawing tools to geographic data instead of bringing screenshots to a universe of text. And then we make it easy for people to share and collaborate around the content in a Canvas. We believe that this will enable a much more efficient, engaging and fun way of working with surface water challenges".

Canvas works as a transparent overlay to SCALGO Live where you use freeform tools to draw and write text on top of all the existing analyses and background maps. And you can easily import your own vector data and visualise them alongside.

A tool for better surface water management

The Innovann project started in 2021 as a collaboration between 7 partners. The goal was to develop digital tools and collaborative work processes to help municipalities work more efficiently with surface water management and flood mitigation. The project was funded by Innovation Norway, initiated by the Norwegian municipality Bærum, and included SCALGO and the engineering consultancy Envidan.

In the early phases of the project, the focus was on understanding how Bærum municipality currently worked with surface water management.

“During the first workshops with Bærum, we discovered that detailed reports of flood risk and suggested mitigation measures already existed for parts of the municipality, but it was hard to take the next step and implement these suggestions”, Morten explains. “We realized that, to reach the goals set in the Innovann project, we did not only need more flood risk analysis and reports. We needed tools that support collaboration around turning analysis into actionable plans, and we need these plans to be digitally integrated into the workflow of the entire municipality – and that’s how the Canvas idea was born”.

“We want to use Canvas for creating strategic flood mitigation plans for the municipality and for sharing these plans across departments and teams"

Hans Holtbakk Thoresen, Head of department, Bærum Municipality'

Several design prototypes and interactive workshops later, the Canvas concept and design was formed. In October 2023, Canvas was released for all SCALGO Live users and Bærum is now using Canvas in their surface water planning.

“We want to use Canvas for creating strategic flood mitigation plans for the municipality and for sharing these plans across departments and teams", says Hans Holtbakk Thoresen, Head of department in Bærum Municipality.

But Canvas has a much broader application than that.

“When we create tools, we want to design them in a way that allows them to be used in many different ways – we always look for a common denominator”, says Morten Revsbæk. “There is no limit to what you can use Canvas for, it really depends on your needs and your creativity.”

What’s so good about Canvas?

That we asked Bo Klinkvort Kempel, Technical Director for hydraulic modelling at Envidan, who’s had early access to Canvas though the Innovann project.

“Well, first time I saw it, I thought, oh no, not just another drawing tool”, he says with a smile, “but I very soon changed my mind.”

The overwhelming response we get when we ask people about Canvas is that it is simple. Bo agrees and continues.

"Simplicity is not a negative thing, quite the opposite. Simple tools make it easy to work together", Bo Klinkvort Kempel clarifies. " We all know that we need to work together to solve flood issues, and we need platforms to make it easy to collaborate. Canvas could be that platform".

"We all know that we need to work together to solve flood issues, and we need platforms to make it easy to collaborate. Canvas could be that platform."

Bo Klinkvort Kempel, Technical Director hydraulic modelling, Envidan

In short, Canvas is the easiest way to start creating your own maps and plans. By sharing your Canvas, you can collaborate with your team and clients, making Canvas a meeting point for the project.

To Bo Klinkvort Kempel and his team at Envidan, Canvas has become a natural first step in almost any project.

"It's such an efficient way for us to create a mutual understanding from the start, and then we continue to build up the plans in Canvas step by step", he says. “We can even create the entire project documentation in a Canvas”.

Watch Canvas webinar

To hear more about Canvas and how Bo Klinkvort Kempel and his team at Envidan are using the new tools, check out the webinar from a few weeks back.

Ideás on how to use Canvas

Here's a few ideas for you on how to use Canvas in your next project.

1. Draw initial conditions and local knowledge on a map. There are always details that need to be clarified at the start of a project. Create a georeferenced drawing of important details at the kick-off meeting.
2. Draft entire meeting notes directly into the map. Use text boxes to describe goals and objectives, meeting outcomes and more. Draft discussions immediately onto the map instead of writing extensive meeting summaries. 
3. Conceptualize your proposed solutions. Create clear and professional looking maps to communicate solutions. You can group all shapes and notes according to project phases, types of measures and more to help present the results. 
4. Documentation. Not all projects and plans need to be described in long reports. Instead, create beautiful canvases and share these with colleagues and stakeholders.