Citizen Dialogue for municipalities: direct democracy starts before the vote

A few dozen speak at the information evening. Everyone votes.

You know the faces in the front row. What the other 95 percent think, you often only learn at the ballot box, and by then it is too late. In the Citizen Dialogue, residents write anonymously what they think of your project and weigh each other's contributions. On their phone, in the evening, while waiting for the bus. A town meeting with everyone. Except nobody has to raise their hand to be heard.

After 21 days you see where your proposal has support. And where you still need to persuade.

At the ballot box it is too late to listen. Proven with more than 60 clients, from the Municipality of Schwyz to the national dialogue with 20 Minuten. On average, our clients did not know 8 of the 10 strongest contributions.

What you get

1. Legitimacy beyond the hall: You rely on hundreds of voices, not on the few who have time on a Tuesday evening. That counts in the council. And at the ballot box.

2. Conflicts while they can be solved: You see the objections before fronts harden and a referendum is launched.

3. Clear budget priorities: When not everything fits, the ranking shows what matters most to residents. That makes the budget debate more factual, because we base it on what many support.

How it works

• Strategy workshop: Three hours. We arrive with a concept and sharpen the questions with you.

• Launch: Within 48 hours the dialogue space is ready with your municipal coat of arms. We write the invitation, you send it.

• Dialogue: Three weeks, moderated daily. Every contribution is checked. You follow along live.

• Result: A report for the council and the public, plus a ready-to-send response to residents. The decision stays with the authorities and voters.

Why BrainE4 is different

• More than a survey: In a survey people tick predefined answers. Here residents write their own arguments, and everyone weighs them against each other.

• No comment section: No names, no stage. Whoever wants to disagree writes their own contribution, and it has to hold its own in the duel.

• Broad backing: Through weighting we derive representative statements, with the uncertainty disclosed.

• Insight Guarantee: In the strategy workshop we record six assumptions per question: what you expect. We mix them covertly into the contributions. If on average at least five of the top 10 are new to you, your knowledge has doubled. Otherwise we refund the dialogue.

For whom

• Mayors and municipal presidents: when a proposal goes to the ballot and you want to know beforehand how it lands.

• Municipal council: when a budget or location decision needs broad support.

• Town clerks and administration: when you need public participation that takes little effort.

In practice

Municipality of Schwyz: For the town centre development, 11.2% of the population took part, with 1,772 ideas. The council now has a basis that survives changes in its membership. Read the interview

«I am impressed by how meaningful the results are.» Peppino Beffa, Mayor

Besenbüren AG: 667 residents, a heated topic: waste. The anonymous dialogue defused the controversy instead of fuelling it. Read the interview

«We were able to defuse controversies. Whether school buildings or waste: when emotions run high, BrainE4 is the ideal channel.» Peter Ammann, Municipal Councillor

Ideal for:

Ballot proposals · Local planning · Town centre development · School buildings · Budget priorities · Legislative goals

Frequently asked questions

Won't this raise expectations?
Expectations exist anyway. The dialogue shows which ones many share and which only a few. We write the response to residents ready to send, you approve it. In our experience participants greatly value being listened to.

We are subject to freedom of information rules.
What gets published is a checked ranking, not a comment section. Everything stays internal during the dialogue, and you explain the results first.

Can organised groups tip the result?
Volume gets you nothing here. The number of judgements per person is limited, and ongoing weighting corrects imbalances.

How much work is it for the administration?
Three hours in the workshop and one approval of the communication. We do the rest, from setup to report. Compliant with the Swiss FADP and the GDPR.

All questions and answers

See more

Video: The Citizen Dialogue in brief. Watch the video

Citizen Dialogue: From major projects to public votes. Learn more

Sample report: What a finished citizen dialogue report looks like. View the report

Those who have a say early
rarely launch a referendum.

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