Local governments are constantly seeking new ways to engage with their communities. Our platform has proven to be a valuable tool for facilitating this engagement, and governments all over the world are discovering new and innovative ways to use it. From campus renovation initiatives to participatory budgeting, CitizenLab’s platform has provided these six projects below (to just highlight a few) with a versatile and user-friendly way to connect with residents and gather feedback.
The residents of Coburg vote on the selection of public gardening devices (Germany)
The CoGardening project, developed by students at Coburg University of Applied Sciences, aims to build sustainable concepts for the transformation of urban spaces in Coburg, Germany. The project is part of the city’s green deal and seeks to collect and implement socially and ecologically sustainable ideas for the future. The student’s proposals are listed on the platform in both a list and map view, and residents are invited to participate in the project by voting for their favorite concepts. The goal is to encourage community participation in shaping a greener and more sustainable urban space in Coburg.
Currently, the proposal with the most engagement is a honeycomb concept in public places to encourage community gathering and gardening in hexagonal-shaped structures.
Concordia University consults with the community on the campus’ renovation master plan (Canada)
Through a series of digital workshops, online surveys, and in-person community meetings, Concordia University is gathering feedback to help co-create its vision for the long-term development of its campus. It includes a range of ambitious goals, from a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to improving accessibility for people with disabilities as well as plans for new buildings and public spaces that will enhance the campus experience for everyone.
With our seamless Typeform survey embed capabilities, the university is able to provide a clean and user-friendly survey experience, all within the community engagement platform environment to encourage multiple project participation. Plus, their use of our project phases gives participants an easy view of what has happened so far and what they can expect to see next!
Cambridge is checking in with its community through a broad survey to see what their relationship towards the city is (United Kingdom)
With over 400 participants already, the Our Cambridge program aims to create a more efficient and sustainable council for the future of the city. As part of this program, Cambridge is seeking feedback from residents through a comprehensive survey on the CitizenLab platform using our in-house survey tool to better understand their needs and priorities. The goal is to put residents and communities at the heart of the conversation and build a shared picture for the future that ensures a safe, happy, and healthy life for everyone in the city.
The findings from the survey will be published at the end of May, and as an incentive for participation, every participant will be entered to win a £100 Love Cambridge Gift Card.
Rueil Malmaison breaks down a huge participatory budgeting project for each village of the municipality (France)
Rueil Malmaison is a suburb of Paris with many different villages, and they are seeking to make improvements to every part of their community. The community consultation initiative, “My Village, My City,” is a project where residents can support their favorite ideas from a list of pre-selected ideas.
All ideas submitted have been studied by Village Councils to ensure they are feasible and serve the general interest, and now they hope to hear from their residents on which initiatives should take priority to ensure they are tackling projects that matter.
By consolidating their ideas and engagement projects on one online project, residents are able to both interact with their fellow residents as well as get inspired by discussions that other villages are having, giving additional insight into their overall community!
Novi Sad is prioritizing initiatives for their multi-year plan with their community (Serbia)
On Novi Sad’s community engagement platform, the city administration has proposed over 90 projects to include in their multi-year community improvement plan, and they are currently seeking the input and votes of their residents to help them prioritize the initiatives.
With projects ranging from constructing a new recycling center to improving their clean water supply, residents can vote and comment on the ideas they’d like to see implemented.
While it sounds like a lot of info to take in, by viewing through both the list and map views, residents can quickly get a sense of what each proposed project entails and where they are located. Over 900 participants have already shared their feedback, so it’s safe to say this project will have a significant impact on the future of Novi Sad!
Read through the proposed projects here
La Reina engages with its community to construct a human rights violation memorial (Chile)
In 2022, seven Chilean parliamentarians introduced a bill, proposing the construction of a memorial and memory circuit in the La Reina commune in memory of the victims of the Military dictatorship in Chile.
The Municipality of La Reina sought community input on the proposed memorial to ask if its construction would be appropriate. The municipality gathered input from their community, and then closed the feedback loop by reporting back on their findings, which ultimately determined that the residents were not in favor of the construction. They have taken this feedback to the Senate, where they are using it to inform its case for construction, or lack thereof, of this memorial.
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