The Creative Business Cup (CBC) is an annual global competition, enrolling participants from more than 80 countries from all over the world. Each year, all national CBC competitions culminate into the Global Finals, where more than 80 creative supernovas, brilliant keynote speakers, judges, and investors, come together at the industry forum BRIGHT, to focus on promoting innovation and creative business efforts.

This year, Be Here Then – the brainchild of Charlotte Rodenstedt – will represent Sweden in the CBC Global Finals.

When Charlotte Rodenstedt moved to Lugnet in Malmö, she started wondering what her neighborhood once looked like.

“Lugnet is this area in Malmö that was completely demolished in the 1960s and 70s and was re-built in the 80s. When I moved there, it sparked this intrinsic curiosity in me. What did this area look like before? Who used to live here? There are a bunch of images online, but since the neighborhood was completely demolished, it was hard to pin-point where, geographically, photos were taken,” Charlotte explains. “That’s how the idea for Be Here Then was born."

Be Here Then uses archival photographs, architectural renderings, historical stories, and GPS mapping software to showcase what the built environment surrounding you once looked like.

In a similar layout to Pokémon Go, the app consists of a map with push pins that can be clicked once you are close enough. Once clicked, an old (or future!) view of the area reveals itself in a historical picture, taken from the exact same angle as you are standing. With each location, there is a short historical biography, telling you more a bout the location or the moment the picture was taken.

“There isn’t really any other solution that does what we do, but I whole-heartedly believe that this app would be interesting for many,” Charlotte says. “We are currently looking to make Be Here Then a holistic app for city tourism. Whereas we have previously focused on walking tours and historical imagery, we are looking into solutions where users can also use the app as a navigating tool to museums or sight-seeing spots.”

Whereas Be Here Then currently sells most of their licenses to tourism managers, city councilors, town planners, and mayors that want to highlight their city’s history, there are ample opportunities for anyone who wants to showcase a special area or a certain narrative of their city.

As of now, Be Here Then is available in Sweden in, Helsingborg, Hässleholm, Höganäs, Karlskrona, Kristianstad, Lund, Malmö, and Åtvidaberg – and will soon be launched in Landskrona and Skanör/Falsterbo. Outside of Sweden, the app can be found in Dumfries, Scotland, with Charlotte also looking into possibilities for adding features in Loulé, Portugal.

Currently, Charlotte Rodenstedt and her team are developing a GPS-adventure for Seriestaden Malmö (The Cartoon City of Malmö), which is a historically rooted fictional story targeted at children the age 10–13. The addition will be released in the app in May. 

“It’s a ghost story set in Kv. Bilden, where you are guided by a fictional character who – through animations and illustrations – will take you through her version of the neighborhood. It’ll be like a game, essentially, where the player has to make different choices that will affect the outcome of the story.” Charlotte explains. “But the game still takes place within the framework of Be Here Then, so you have to walk around to different places to see and decide how the story will unfold.”

Apart from running Be Here Then, Charlotte is also the founder of production company Bloody Honey, where she works with graphic design, animation, filmmaking, and advertising – all focused on visual storytelling. We are confident and continuously blown away by Charlotte’s creative capabilities and can’t wait to continue following her journey.

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Be Here then is a free app available to download on iPhone and Android. To read more about Charlotte Rodenstedt and Be Here Then, visit https://beherethen.se/ and Bloody Honey, bloodyhoney.se.

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