Those who involve the citizens of their country, city, municipality or community in the upcoming decisions will involve them from the outset and often come up with new insights and ideas. In this day and age, those who avoid public participation can almost wait for it to become apparent in the course of the implementation process, or at the latest at the start of the planned measure. Whether it is the construction of a new road, a new power line or a new building, citizens want to have their say. But how do you, as a planner or decision-maker in the committees and associations of this country, organise this citizen participation? It's much easier than you might think.
Führen Sie einfach Ihre Veranstaltung vor Ort wie gewohnt durch und lassen die Abstimmungen via TEDME laufen. Zusätzlich binden Sie mit wenigen Klicks einen Videostream ein, beispielsweise auch von YouTube kommen kann und schon ist Ihre Event-Website fertig – inklusive Voting, Umfragen oder Frage-Antwort-Runden. Alles was Sie für Ihre Bürgerbeteiligung nun noch brauchen, ist ein QR-Code für das Veranstaltungsplakat. So erreichen Sie die Bürger, die zum Event kommen und jene, die lieber online teilnehmen. Das erhöht Ihre Reichweite enorm und verursacht nur sehr geringe Zusatzkosten. Wer jetzt noch – wie bei TEDME möglich – anonym abstimmen lässt, sorgt für noch mehr Input. Das war Ihnen alles ein wenig zu schnell und zu viel? Dann zeigen wir’s gern etwas ausführlicher und der Reihe nach:
Citizen participation through voting
Do you want to know what the citizens in your municipality think about a certain topic? Then ask them and ask for suggestions or enable a vote. TEDME makes this very easy. Simply set up a survey with just a few clicks and share the link. And you're done. You will receive the results conveniently in the backend, where you can also download them in various formats.
What you could ask, for example:
- Should the motorway be widened?
- Should there be another grammar school in the district?
- How should a brownfield site be put to new use?
- Should the city centre area be closed to car traffic and a promenade created instead?
- What should the mobility concept of the future look like?
- Should there still be open Sundays?
Whatever moves you and the citizens of your community, ask for their opinions and ideas and turn them into supporters rather than opponents. With Surveys over a longer period of time you will succeed in implementing it. All you have to do now: Communicate the link or a QR code so that everyone can take part.
Public participation with streaming events, surveys and live chat
Beteiligen Sie Ihre Bürger mithilfe von Veranstaltungen, die Sie parallel ins Internet streamen und dort Interaktionsmöglichkeiten bieten. So wie beispielsweise die Stadt Dresden, die zum „Digitalen Bürgerdialog zum Stadteilhaus“ einlud.
A real expert in the field of citizen participation is the agency Lots* Gesellschaft für verändernde Kommunikation mbH. You can find out more about their expertise on their website Digital participation: More participation through the Internet. TEDME was used in these two projects, among others:
Digital citizen dialogue on the district house in Dresden
During the digital citizens' dialogue, the city planning office presented the current planning status for the new district house and answered questions from interested Dresden residents. Representatives of the state capital, the planning office and the Johannstädter Kulturtreff first explained the construction project and the future use of the new building.
Numerous comments and questions, including on the topics of site selection and parking, were discussed with citizens digitally. Around 100 questions and suggestions about the Johannstadt neighbourhood centre were received via live chat, telephone and email. The suggestions from the public were then analysed and the event documented.
In addition, the city administration has successively published the answers to the questions that remained unanswered during the public dialogue.
The result? The public dialogue met with great interest.
You can also find out more about the event in Dresden online:
By the way: The questions and comments can also be moderated with the TEDME tool. This means that you as the organiser decide whether you want to release comments and thus publish them. This way you avoid a shitstorm or completely irrelevant comments.
If you use TEDME as an interaction tool, you can also simply integrate the stream here and you have a complete event website. You can also find out how this can look in practice in the article Operating tools in parallel is a thing of the past - how to integrate TEDME into your event platform.
Mainz Mobility 2022
The city of Mainz also involves its citizens in important decisions, relying on the expertise of the Lots* agency and the functions of TEDME. For example, on the issue of mobility, as the city of Mainz wants to be climate-neutral by 2035. For this reason, local public transport in Mainz is to become even more attractive for citizens; among other things, by opening up the most populous district, Neustadt, for the climate-friendly tram. The basis for this is a city council resolution that provides for extensive public participation.
This extensive public participation kicked off with an event on 17 March 2022, which was held exclusively digitally due to the pandemic. It was broadcast live on television and streamed.
More than 400 spectators accepted the invitation and asked 180 questions on the day of the event alone. 40 of these were answered live at the event by experts from Mainz Mobility.
All other questions were included in the online dialogue for digital participation, which started at the same time - and are answered there on the project website.
More about citizen participation in Mainz:
Citizen participation with live voting
Do you want to make a live decision on one or more important issues at your meeting? Then use the Live voting von TEDME. Alles was Ihre Teilnehmer dafür brauchen, ist ein internetfähiges Gerät und den Abstimmcode, den Sie als Veranstalter Ihnen mitteilen. Und schon geht’s los.
- Pull out your smartphone,
- Open the TEDME.com website,
- Enter voting code
- and co-decide.
You can see the results in real time and, if you wish, you can also display them on a screen or monitors in real time. This means that everyone can see the results straight away. It could hardly be simpler or more transparent.
Internal surveys in municipalities, communities and associations
Would you like to ask not only the citizens but also the employees of your office or the members of your association? Nothing could be easier.
HR departments in other organisations are very happy to use TEDME surveys for internal surveys of all kinds. It's quick, easy to use and completely anonymous. What's more, nobody has to download anything.
Conclusion
With TEDME, you can organise public participation with just a few clicks. You set up the survey and communicate the link or a QR code so that everyone can take part. Do you want to broadcast it live online? That's super easy too: simply add the stream in TEDME and you have a functioning event website including polls, live chat and live video transmission.
