Niantic teaming with Knight Foundation for civic engagement events

Niantic, the maker of Pokémon Go, is teaming up with the Knight Foundation in a multiyear commitment promoting civic engagement in communities. That means the two entities will pitch in time, money, and plenty of Pokémon to get citizens outside, exploring their towns in city-organized events.

“We’re techno-optimists at the Knight Foundation,” says foundation VP Sam Gill. “We were excited to see someone who had seemingly cracked the code of how to use this device we’re all carrying around to go out and interact with each other.”

The partnership’s first event will launch on May 7 in Charlotte, North Carolina, as part of Knight’s Open Streets events. At these gatherings, which take place in towns around the country, the city closes off a street to cars so that people can walk and bike through urban areas in a sort of exploratory jaunt. Pokémon Go will provide a virtual layer atop this walk for those who want to play, but the map was designed by the community: The City of Charlotte chose 16 existing PokéStops and two Gyms to highlight along this route, promoting spaces like a rose garden and veterans’ park, while players enjoy the more frequent appearance of some Pokémon for those trying to catch ’em all.

“They’re really interesting features of the community,” says John Hanke, CEO of Niantic, “that hopefully educate people as they discover their civic pride.”