Making communities more liveable

New forms of mobility, redesign and revitalisation of the city centre or utilisation concepts for vacant buildings or fallow land - municipalities are faced with the challenge of finding sustainable solutions supported by all with often little room for manoeuvre. Involving residents and business people is an effective approach to achieving broad consensus. This is how you make your community more liveable.

Steering the process through early involvement

By having the opportunity to contribute ideas and approaches at the beginning of the planned project, the planned project receives attention in the community. Proposals and different approaches are presented for discussion in an objective and calm manner. Early involvement in the project is important, only then can you set the course in good time and make full use of the scope for design.

The topic of mobility is a good example of the advantage of early involvement: projects in this area are often fraught with conflict because the needs of those affected were not taken into account in the planning stage, or not in time.

If, on the other hand, those affected are given the opportunity to get involved right at the beginning of the project, this promotes acceptance of the project or brings complete rejection to light. And this happens long before the municipality devotes resources to it. Through early involvement, the community takes on the active role of shaping the process. The danger of escalation, for example through the formation of opposing initiatives or protracted objections, is effectively counteracted.

Transparency is crucial for success

Being able to contribute an idea to a community project does not mean that it will be implemented or that the idea provider will be involved in the decision-making process.
There are often false expectations and misunderstandings here.
Therefore, you need to inform idea providers about all relevant framework conditions from the beginning.

An ideas competition to revitalise the city centre will be successful if the requirements and conditions for participation are communicated in concrete terms:

• Why are ideas being sought?
  
• What is the aim of the ideas competition?
  
• What kind of ideas are you looking for?
  
• What criteria are used to evaluate an idea?
  
• Who are the decision-makers?
  
• What time periods are to be observed?
  
• Who can join in?
  
• What recognition is there for the best ideas?

Ideas received, which are already visible to all during the competition, serve as a valuable source of inspiration for further approaches. Participation is also promoted by the possibility to agree with the ideas of others and to supplement them with one's own input. This results in an active and transparent process that motivates citizens accordingly to contribute in a targeted manner.

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Thematic and digital

Concrete topics provide pertinent ideas. Suggestions for locations for a high-performance photovoltaic plant or where the cycle path network should be expanded bring clear feedback. Projects on complex topics, such as sustainability and climate protection, become understandable and accessible through concrete questions. Municipalities take the reins thematically when they actively facilitate early involvement in upcoming projects with foresight.

A digital purpose-driven platform is easy to use, motivates people to participate, ensures transparency, relieves the burden through automation, allows moderation and control and is resource-efficient.

In the municipal sector, digital solutions create the possibility for interested parties to contribute their own ideas on concrete challenges in their immediate living environment in a very simple way.

For municipalities, the advantages lie in the active steering of issues perceived by the public, in obtaining a picture of the mood regarding a project and in simple and targeted communication with citizens.