Camino del Perezoso

CIID

IxDA 2021 shortlisted

Camino del Perezoso (Sloth Path) is a sustainable certification standard that connects museums, gastronomical hubs, small businesses and nature all together into a connected network of paths across San José city.

CONCEPT

San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica, a city full of culture and nature. Even though it has a lot to offer, unfortunately the city is currently seen as a bridge for tourists between natural attractions across the country; and not a destination. How might San Jose become synonymous with the Costa Rican identity of regenerative tourism while retaining its cultural and historical heritage?

As a way to bridge this gap, we created “San Jose, Camino del Perezoso” It’s a way to highlight the sustainable businesses and attractions within the city, that focus on social, economic, and environmental developments.

HOW IT WORKS

You can either start at a ‘Camino kiosk’ or any certified sustainable business partner with a sloth sticker. Here you can acquire the Sloth Passport to begin your journey through our recommended routes.

The passports include a map with all of our partners and attractions of the city, providing you the most complete and sustainable guide of San Jose. When you visit these locations, you’ll receive a stamp in return.

While walking through the city, way finders will help guide you. We have designed a variety of recommended routes for you to explore, each encompassing a combination of culture, art, nature and gastronomical experiences. You can combine and decide your own path and pace.

Once you have collected at least 5 stamps, visit one of our kiosks either at the city center or at the airport to receive one of our collectible pins as a memory of your time in the city. ‘The Green Street Award’ is presented to the cleanest and greenest streets of the city, encouraging businesses and citizens to work together as a community to clean and beautify their area. One street at a time, transforming San Jose as a role model for green cities across the world.

PROCESS

Our design process included 5 in-depth interviews and 2 co-creation workshops with urban planning experts from San Jose, foreign tourists, and locals who don't travel much to downtown San Jose. Through this process, we discovered that there's no clear offering enticing tourists to the city, which sets people up for either a pleasant surprise or a much greater disappointment. Also when people visit San Jose they often feel disassociated from the country's ‘biodiversity rich’ identity which makes them spend less time in the area. Furthermore, due to the current infrastructure, there are restrictions on how people traverse the city, limiting their relationship to the city. Camino Del Perezoso was our attempt to make the city's offerings more visible and attractive in order to inspire people to experience the cultural and historical aspects of Costa Rica in the most sustainable way.