Pokemon GO‘s (Free) developer, Niantic, has been steadily pushing the game to be more than just entertainment. We’ve had all kinds of attempts at bringing communities together, and recently another such effort was announced. Niantic will be challenging the youth of Boston to create new PokeStops around the city in an effort to push students to explore their communities and to promote civic advocacy. The challenge will run until August 18th, and it should be quite a fun way for young Bostonians to explore the city while playing Pokemon GO.

In order to participate, students have to make 60-second videos explaining why the location they’ve picked matters. It could be because the location is historic or just because something great happened there. After all the videos are in, a youth-led selection process will pick the winning locations, and those will become PokeStops. I like the way Niantic is involving people in the game beyond simply taking suggestions for new features. If you’re in Boston and of the right age, let me know if you plan on participating.