What does great citizen participation look like?

One question, various answers. We were thrilled to explore some of these at the Smart Country Convention 2023 with gov and non-gov organizations from across Germany.

🌆 In North-Germany an interesting example is to be found in the city of Hansestadt Lübeck, which is on a potentially transformative path towards becoming the first German ‘Social Smart City’. Lubeck’s approach to integrating technology with social policy and processes is innovative and something our community can learn from.

🏆 A by now experienced Consul Democracy user and partner, the city of Landeshauptstadt München claimed this year’s Bitcom Award for their ‘commitment to digital innovation and citizen engagment’. Their story is an inspiring one for other cities aspiring to integrate digital solutions in public governance. Check out their implementation at https://unser.muenchen.de/.

🔮 We had fun testing augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), which can possibly play a future role in collective city planning and design, provided that people remain at the center of policy making, avoiding #techsolutionism.

🎇 The conference ended with the announcement of Land Berlin’s new #govtech feature. The ability to apply for ‘Meldebestätigungen’ (registration certificates) online is a significant step towards digitalization, reducing bureaucratic hurdles for citizens.

🙋♀️ It was great meeting so many wonderful people like Nancy Faeser, Frank Börger, Sascha Götz Mike Svystun, Eva Heising, Tobias Weinmann, Holger Prang, Dr. Benedikt von Walter, Costa S., Jennifer Sander, Dimitri Ravin, Wolfgang Glock, Jan Lindenau and many more (like Lutz van der Horst and Fabian Köster 😀 ).

Here’s to cities where technology and citizen empowerment go hand in hand.