Citizen Dialogue for towns and cities in Germany

The depth of a citizens' assembly. The reach of digital participation.

Town meetings attract the committed and those most loudly affected. Families, commuters and young people are missing. Almost always. In the Citizen Dialogue, your citizens write anonymously what they think of a project and weigh each other's contributions. On their phone, when it suits them, and before the proposal goes to the council.

After 21 days you know what a majority supports. And where the real conflict lies. In black and white.

Proven with more than 60 clients in business, public administration & politics. On average, our clients did not know 8 of the 10 strongest contributions.

What you get

1. Hear the silent majority: You also reach those who have no time for an evening meeting. Their contributions count just as much as the loud ones.

2. Separate the desirable from the feasible: In the Idea Duel, people always have to choose between two contributions. Always. That shows what really takes priority, and the new playground suddenly no longer ranks level with the safe school crossing that so many parents care about.

3. Backing in the council: The decision matrix shows priorities and consensus. That is what you take into the council. Not a gut feeling, and not three letters to the editor.

How it works

• Strategy workshop: Three hours, also by video. We arrive with a concept. Together we sharpen the questions.

• Launch: Within 48 hours the dialogue space is ready in your city's design. We write the invitation, your town hall sends 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 citizens. The council decides.

Why BrainE4 is different

• More than a citizens' assembly: A citizens' assembly goes deep, but with 30 people. Here hundreds to thousands take part, and every idea is judged by many.

• More than a platform: Not another participation portal with a comment section. Reasoning instead of commenting, ending in majority and minority positions.

• Data protection: GDPR-compliant, developed and operated in Switzerland.

• 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 lord mayors: when a proposal must be weatherproof before it goes to the council.

• Urban planning and building authorities: when you want to test options before the public display begins.

• Participation officers: when your formats deliver good ideas but no weighting.

Experience from Swiss municipalities

Municipality of Schwyz: The Landsgemeinde is an old Swiss tradition: citizens used to gather in the open air and deliberate in public. 180 years after the canton's last Landsgemeinde, Schwyz took up the idea digitally. 11.2% of the population contributed 1,772 ideas on the town centre. Read the interview

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

Aesch ZH: A growing municipality, expensive and disputed projects: the picture of opinion was there before conflicts arose. Read the interview

«We also reached people we would never have reached through the traditional assembly route.» André Guyer, Mayor

Ideal for:

Urban development · Transport planning · Budget priorities · School locations · Climate action plan · Mission statement

Frequently asked questions

Does this replace our citizens' assembly?
No, it complements it. The assembly goes deep, the dialogue adds breadth. The two can be combined: first the dialogue, then the assembly deepens the topics at the top.

What about data protection?
Participation is anonymous, contributions cannot be traced to a person. The dialogues are GDPR-compliant, developed in Switzerland together with two universities of applied sciences.

What if criticism takes over?
Insults stay out. Criticism stays in. An angry contribution has to hold its own in many comparisons like any other, and if it still ends up near the top, many people see it that way, and then it is better for all of us that you know before the council meeting.

Is the result representative?
Through weighting we derive representative statements, by characteristics such as age, gender and district. We disclose the uncertainty for every statement.

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

Try it yourself: An Idea Duel from your citizens' point of view. Experience the Idea Duel

Participation you can show the council.
Broad. Anonymous. In 21 days.

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