Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality & HallMonitor

Lyngby-Taarbæk has significantly optimised the use of indoor sports facilities

In Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, with nearly 60,000 residents and many sports participants, the utilisation rate of the municipality’s sports facilities has increased by 10 percentage points in just one year.

Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality, with just under 60,000 residents, has many active sports participants. This puts considerable pressure on the municipality’s sports facilities. In 2021, it was therefore decided to address what was already suspected: that there were gaps in the schedule and unused hall and pitch times. Monitoring of hall activity was systematised, and the data provided valuable insights, which have since been translated into specific initiatives.

The starting point: Too few facilities

Sports like football, handball and badminton are very popular, and every spring there is high demand when training times are allocated in Lyngby-Taarbæk.

“Our main challenge is that we have too few facilities compared to demand. Some associations have long waiting lists, but we simply don’t have time slots to offer them. Every year it’s a puzzle to make it all fit,” says Jakob Kloster Pedersen, project manager in Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality.

Too many sources of error

According to Jakob Kloster Pedersen, it was a frustrating situation for all parties – especially since they knew there were unused facilities.

“We knew some facilities weren’t being used, but we lacked a factual basis to act on.”

Hall staff had regularly observed that some users did not show up for their booked times. Some years ago, a manual count was conducted for a period, but it was time-consuming and didn’t always provide an accurate picture.

“Such a count is prone to many sources of error and is only a snapshot, so it wasn’t something we could really use in the allocation process or for decision-making,” says Jakob Kloster Pedersen.

With a clear ambition to ensure the municipality’s sports facilities are used as optimally as possible, it was decided in 2021 to focus on the issue.

Activity mapping with HallMonitor

HallMonitor was installed, and the work of collecting, merging and processing the data made available by HallMonitor was systematised. According to Jakob Kloster Pedersen, there were several good reasons for this.

“For citizens, we hoped that data would give us an overview of reserved time slots that weren’t being used. Instead of being wasted, these times could support even more sports participants.”

“For municipal operations, it was also very relevant to map whether facilities were open but unused – and whether the resources could be better spent elsewhere. Before the project, the municipality did not have the same data and knowledge base to make decisions,” he explains.

Utilisation increased by 10 percentage points in one year

Systematic follow-up on no-shows led to fairer allocation

Associations became aware of unused time slots

Dialogue with users became concrete and data-driven

“The overview has enabled large associations with many members to optimise their use of time slots because they’ve become aware that they were not fully utilising all their allocated time.”

– Jakob Kloster Pedersen, Project Manager, Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality

Less waste, more play

Under the theme “Less waste, more play”, a systematic collection of data was carried out over a 16-week period. Among other things, it revealed that more than seven out of ten booked time slots were not being used – which does not align with the municipality’s challenges in supporting local sports associations.

“The project provided clear evidence and confirmed our assumption that some time slots were not being used. It could be due to a coach falling ill or a weekend match leading to the cancellation of Thursday training. But because there was no formalised culture of cancelling unused times, it just didn’t happen – and those times went to waste,” says Jakob Kloster Pedersen.

Important dialogue with users

Since monitoring began, Jakob Kloster Pedersen and other staff in the administration have had a factual data set to base their discussions on.

One direct result of the project is that weekly follow-ups are now conducted with various associations. If a booked time slot is not used, they first receive an email. If no-shows continue, the administration contacts the association – and in the worst case, they may lose their time slot.

“Previously, the process wasn’t systematised and there was no follow-up – but now there is. We can engage with an association on a concrete basis, and that user dialogue is essential for creating real change. In fact, the overview has enabled large associations with many members to optimise their time usage because they became aware of slots they were not actually using,” he explains.

Measurable effect of the effort

Jakob Kloster Pedersen also sees potential on the school front, where a lot of time is currently going to waste.

Schools have different needs and frameworks than regular recreational users, which means some wastage is expected. But this can be minimised by taking a closer look at schools’ actual need for hall time. There must also be a focus on reporting changes, such as project weeks, exam periods and the like. These kinds of fluctuations have received much more attention.

Already, the utilisation of various sports facilities has increased by 10 percentage points between 2021 and the end of 2022.

The use of data also ensures fairer allocation. For instance, if an association applies for five hours but only uses four, they’ll only be allocated four.

“We now have a much better foundation for both allocation and adjustment. And if you go to WannaSport – a portal where you can view available times – you can actually find attractive ‘prime time’ slots today, not just the less popular times on Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons.”

Optimisation and better use of off-peak hours

The concrete lessons learned are now being anchored into daily routines – but the work doesn’t stop here.

The goal is to improve further – for instance by better communication when time slots are available. This could be during holiday periods, like Christmas and summer, when activity levels typically drop.

The first step has been to map unused capacity. Work is also ongoing to make better use of off-peak times, like after 9 p.m. or early on Saturday mornings, when few are inclined to engage in recreational sports.

“That challenge clearly requires us to think outside the box. We’ve tried initiatives like ‘open hall’ events and inviting private individuals to participate – and we’ll experiment with similar ideas so that new user groups become aware of what we have to offer.”

About Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality

Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality is located north of Copenhagen and has just under 60,000 residents. The municipality has an active association life and many sports participants across several popular sports. The administration works actively to ensure optimal use of municipal facilities – both through data-driven solutions and in close dialogue with users. The goal is to create as much activity as possible within the existing framework.