Guest article: Würzburg on the way to becoming a smart region

But what are the needs and wishes of the people in the region? In order to find this out and actively involve citizens in decision-making processes, the Smart Region Würzburg is implementing comprehensive public participation and developing these formats further. The aim is to make participation processes as simple and accessible as possible.

Experience with digital participation formats

Public participation of all kinds is a central component of the Smart Region Würzburg, both digital and analogue. One of the many possibilities is the digital participation platform ‘wuerzburg-mitmachen.de’ based on the Consul software. Here, topics from the city and district administrations can be presented to the public. Citizens can actively participate and take part in the discussions. The software is characterised by its diverse interaction options and ensures open and barrier-free communication.

There are already a number of concrete examples of this type of participation, from heat action plans to city centre development and climate adaptation strategies, digital participations have been carried out with a very good response. In addition to this platform, LimeSurvey is also used as a supplementary tool for surveys.

In implementing the measure, the Smart Region of Würzburg aims to make participation as simple and straightforward as possible for administrative staff and the public.

There are two focal points here:

1. supporting the administration: administrative staff are to be equipped with digital tools that are intuitive to use. This should enable all employees to bring their issues closer to citizens and involve them in important urban development decisions.

2. simple citizen participation: Citizens should have uncomplicated opportunities to participate and express their opinions on the topics in demand.

Further development of digital participation formats

Initial experience has shown that there is great interest in public participation on the part of both the administration and citizens. However, it has also become clear that creating a participation with the Consul software currently still requires technical knowledge and is not always easy for users to implement. This is where the Würzburg Smart Region comes in. Together with other smart cities, it is working on a solution that will turn the Consul software into a user-friendly tool for the administration. An AI assistant will support administrative staff in independently creating, publishing and analysing public participation. This further development of Consul will be published as open source software after completion so that other interested cities and municipalities can also use this feature.

However, experience has shown one thing: no matter how well prepared and organised a public participation process may be. Early and accompanying communication is essential if citizens are to learn about it and get involved.

Public conference on direct, digital and lot-based democracy

In order to further promote the topic of participation, the Smart Region Würzburg, in cooperation with Mehr Demokratie e.V. and Consul Democracy, is organising a conference on 28 and 29 November 2024 entitled ‘Kommune im Fokus: Die Tagung für direkte, digitale und losbasierte Demokratie’. Representatives from administration, politics, business and civil society will come together to present and discuss a variety of citizen-centred formats. The conference is free of charge and open to all interested parties.

Further measures of the Smart Region Würzburg

In addition to promoting participation formats, the Smart Region of Würzburg is pursuing numerous other measures as part of the ‘Social resilience - emerging from the crisis in a human way’ programme. In the digital field, these include the development

- a new technical basis for data exchange and communication between local authorities, associations, institutions and citizens as a supplement to existing IT structures in the region,

- an open data portal,

- a municipal app focussing on events in the region,

- a platform for supporting people in stressful situations, including a counselling guide for students,

- a volunteer platform that makes it easier for volunteer structures to organise themselves internally, network with others and present themselves to the outside world.

In the digital-analogue area, there are projects on neighbourhood management, the development of climate-resilient recreational areas and sensor technology.

What happens next?

The milestones have been planned and the measures are being developed. The Smart Region Würzburg is a joint project of the city and district of Würzburg and one of 73 model projects as part of the ‘Smart Cities Model Projects’ funding programme of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building. At the end of the funding period at the end of 2026, the projects are to be implemented and their continuation ensured. In order to achieve these goals, the Smart Region Würzburg is working closely with other smart cities and is keen to ensure that the measures can be utilised not only for Würzburg, but also for other municipalities. The greater the interest in the developments, the easier it will be to jointly continue the products created.

The Smart Region Würzburg is an example of the successful use of digital technologies to strengthen social resilience and promote citizen participation. With its diverse measures and close cooperation with other cities, the project shows what sustainable urban development can look like.

You can find more information on the measures of the Smart Region Würzburg at: www.smarte-region-wuerzburg.de.

Or send your questions to marketing@slswue.de