Title
Brief description
Keywords
Citizen participation, wisdom council, bioeconomy, plant-based biomass, politics recommendation
City/Country
Time period
From November 30th to December 1st 2018
Lever(s)
Methodologies
Wisdom Council, Dynamic Facilitation, World Café, Graphic Recording
World Region
Scale(s) of the case analysed
Target audience and dimension
Domain(s) of application
Context addressed
Solution applied
Challenge addressed/ Problem-led approach
Barriers addressed
Main Practices
Impact
Co benefits
Engagement Journey
Impact to climate neutrality
This initiative is part of the joint “BioDisKo” project which focuses for instance on the future-oriented field of bio-based circular economy. The German Federal Government aims (among others) to achieve a sustainable, bio-based economy in order to replace fossil fuels and contribute to climate protection. In addition to developing recommendations for solutions and policies, such processes also contribute to developing the social will to implement sustainability-related policies.
Context & Public policy of reference
This project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, and conducted by the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities Essen (KWI). This initiative aims to change the current way of living and economic activity, and particularly contribute to the design of a sustainable bio-economy.
In NRW, the region of Münsterland was deemed most representative to conduct the study. Results were incorporated into the “Future Council Bioeconomy NRW 2030”.
The method can be sponsored by the State government or at a more local level. The process is based on deep conversations between participants; no decisions are being made.
Innovative approach(es) addressed
This project was set up to engage citizens in drawing up recommendations on the “biologisation” of the economy in NRW, for sustainability and climate protection.
This chosen model addresses community issues in a brief and inexpensive participatory manner. Unlike alternative formats, it requires selected citizens, general public, experts and concerned political leaders to meet and dialogue in depth.
In addition to raising citizens’ sense of inclusion and eagerness to make impactful changes, it helps ensure transparency and oblige politicians to deal with the findings and wishes of the community (regardless of whether they subsequently choose to consider them or disregard them in their planning work).
Initiator
The German Federal Government is at the initiative of the BioDisKo project (2018-2021), which this case is part of. The goal of this particular initiative - conducted by the Institute for Advance Study in the Humanities Essen (KWI) - was to obtain recommendations for the future design of a bio-based economy in NRW. The region of Münsterland was chosen as it has a particularly high cultivation rate of Grain and silo maize within NRW. The Wisdom Council method was used to learn from a representative cross-section of citizen groups what they think about current and alternative land use.
Stakeholder networks and organisational model
In addition to informing citizens at an early stage, benefiting from their experience and making them feel like they can participate in more technical political issues and help shape regulations; this approach creates new ideas and solutions that are condensed into recommendations for policy-makers.
Stakeholder (Group) | Role |
Citizens | Randomly selected to take part in the Council and/or the World Café |
Moderators | Moderating the Wisdom Council, trained in Dynamic Facilitation |
Experts i.e. Peter Gerhardt (denkhausbremen eV), Dennis Herberg (CLIB2021) and Prof. Dr. Ralf Pude (Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Bonn) advised the participants during the Council | Relevant professionals / policy-makers and administrators to guide discussions and review results |
Federal Ministry of Education | Funded the project |
Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities Essen (KWI) | Developed, conducted and evaluated the Wisdom Council |
Research Centre Jülich GmbH, the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology UMSICHT and the IZT (Institute for Future Studies and Technology Assessment) | Partners |
Democratic Purpose
Participant Recruitment
nteraction between participants
Resources
Key enablers
- 369 citizens were randomly selected in Münsterland, with the aim to achieve the most representative cross-section of the population possible; citizens were invited in writing to participate
- The City Council happened over 2 days with 3 selected experts available to advise participants. Groups were organized in sitting circle and discussions were led by independent moderators who used the Dynamic Facilitation method. After experts had informed citizens of the opportunities and risks of bioecomy, short discussion rounds between participants followed.
- Findings were presented in a World Café for further and deeper group conversations. The objective is to listen to all voices and collect statements with the Graphic Recording technique and a research diary for participants. The end result is a brochure of policy recommendations, which are named and determined exclusively by the citizens. This provides informational groundwork for further conversation among community members and government.
- This brochure will then be presented to a wider public. Often with this approach, a responder team - team of relevant professionals at the institutional level - will also be involved to review the findings and monitors their implementation. In addition, feedback on the status of their recommendations is usually reported to council members.
TOOLS AND METHODS
Wisdom Council Process
It is a relatively simple and inexpensive participatory
process that directly engages citizens in dialogues about community issues, with the help of moderators using the Dynamic Facilitation method.
Dynamic Facilitation is a method for hosting deliberative dialogue in a way that creates psychological safety and thus encourages participants to engage creatively with differing perspectives.
World Café methodology Method for hosting conversations regarding relevant societal issues, with the ideal scenario being multiple conversations that build on each other so that the issue is considered in-depth.
Graphic Recording
This method aims to generate new insights and knowledge through the visual recording of oral statements in the form of comics, line drawings and short notes. It is used for documentation purposes, or to summarize and present information in a vivid way in order to promote collaboration and group processes.
Key inhibiting factors
- it is necessary to plan for sufficient time to invite participants, search for suitable premises, research and select experts and moderators, etc.
- for higher effectiveness, the format should be clarified with political decision makers (design leeway, expectations on results, clear follow-up responsibilities) in advance so as not to create false expectations among participants
- the benefit of having such a diverse group can also become a weakness in terms of finding common denominators - especially when focusing on more general issues as opposed to discussing concrete and specific questions (as it is the case here). In fact, holding reflective conversations with participants more regularly was mentioned as a potential improvement to the process. Additional methods may also be required to better involve quieter participants.
- certain conditions need to be met for success – e.g. honest interest on the part of all participants, willingness to engage in the open-ended process. This political culture of cooperation needs time to develop
- it is not enough to support community members; policy-makers also need support
- reporting and feedback could be improved (participants care to receive long-term updates on discussed concerns)
- a conciliation board could be introduced to intervene in case of conflict
Drawbacks/pros/cons of the solutions (after implementation)
RESULTS
The process creates new ideas that are condensed into recommendations for policy-makers. This format has the potential as a democratic innovation to complement and enrich representative democracy in a very meaningful way, as it succeeds in encouraging participants to work together to develop a new shared understanding of problems to then jointly develop creative solutions.
SUCCESFUL ASPECTS
1. Multi-stage process where initial conversations are explored again in deeper group discussions that enrich findings, and in which a dialogue is created between the community, experts and political leaders
2. Methodologies used create an atmosphere of trust among the participants, the shared process enables the development of creative solutions, and the ongoing documentation and reflection allows non-linear and visual forms of perspectives exchange
3. The format strengthens citizens’ ability to shape political configurations and gives them the opportunity to participate in political issues that are mostly discussed by experts. Participants are a diverse group of “normal” people who will certainly raise points relevant for many people in the community.
Scalability
Key lessons
Indicators
Indicators could include in-depth insights and knowledge gained in the issues and concerns raised, participatory democracy level, number of measure recommendations formulated
In addition, in the evaluation of the Vorarlberg Bürgerräte – method on which this case is based – commissioned in 2012, significant indicators were developed regarding the effects on individual participants as a result of their participation in these Councils. These included: political education and views, connectedness (sense of identity, sense of connection…), self-efficacy and social sense of powerlessness, inclusion.
External link
Wisdom Council on Bio-based Economy: "Biobasierte Wirtschaft?! Welche Folgen hat das für meine Region?" https://participedia.net/case/7007
Brochure (in German):
KWI. 2018. Der Bürger*innenrat
Biobasierte Wirtschaft?! https://dialogbiooekonomie.de/wp-content/uploads/KWI_BioDisKo_Broschu%CC%88re_Buergerrat_final.pdf
BioDisKo - Bioeconomic Utilization Paths - Discourse & Communication https://www.kulturwissenschaften.de/en/projekt/biodisko/
Methods:
Wisdom Council Process https://participedia.net/method/5367
The World Café https://participedia.net/method/167
Dynamic Facilitation https://participedia.net/method/1692
The Vorarlberg Bürgerrat model, aka Citizens' Councils https://participedia.net/method/6227
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