Data

General Issues
Transportation
Specific Topics
Mass/Public Transport
Transportation Planning
Collections
OECD Project on Representative Deliberative Processes
The POLITICIZE Project on Deliberative Mini-Publics (DMPs) in Europe
Location
Vorarlberg
Austria
Scope of Influence
Regional
Links
Citizens' Council on Mobility in Vorarlberg
OECD Project Page for Innovative Citizen Participation
Bürgerrat Mobilitätskonzept Vorarlberg
The POLITICIZE Project
Presseaussendungen - Bürgercafé zum Mobilitätskonzept Vorarlberg
Bürgerrat Mobilitätskonzept Vorarlberg Juli 2018 Dokumentation
Start Date
End Date
Ongoing
No
Time Limited or Repeated?
Repeated over time
Purpose/Goal
Make, influence, or challenge decisions of government and public bodies
Develop the civic capacities of individuals, communities, and/or civil society organizations
Approach
Consultation
Social mobilization
Spectrum of Public Participation
Consult
Total Number of Participants
28
Open to All or Limited to Some?
Limited to Only Some Groups or Individuals
Recruitment Method for Limited Subset of Population
Stratified Random Sample
General Types of Methods
Deliberative and dialogic process
Planning
General Types of Tools/Techniques
Facilitate dialogue, discussion, and/or deliberation
Propose and/or develop policies, ideas, and recommendations
Recruit or select participants
Specific Methods, Tools & Techniques
Civic Lottery
The Vorarlberg Bürgerrat model, aka Citizens' Councils
Conversation Cafés
Legality
Yes
Facilitators
Yes
Facilitator Training
Professional Facilitators
Face-to-Face, Online, or Both
Both
Types of Interaction Among Participants
Discussion, Dialogue, or Deliberation
Ask & Answer Questions
Information & Learning Resources
Written Briefing Materials
Expert Presentations
Decision Methods
General Agreement/Consensus
Communication of Insights & Outcomes
Public Hearings/Meetings
New Media
Traditional Media
Primary Organizer/Manager
Vorarlberg State Government
Type of Organizer/Manager
Regional Government
Funder
Office of the Provincial Government of Vorarlberg
Type of Funder
Regional Government
Evidence of Impact
Yes
Types of Change
Changes in people’s knowledge, attitudes, and behavior
Changes in civic capacities
Implementers of Change
Lay Public
Elected Public Officials
Formal Evaluation
Yes

CASE

Citizens' Council on Mobility in Vorarlberg

General Issues
Transportation
Specific Topics
Mass/Public Transport
Transportation Planning
Collections
OECD Project on Representative Deliberative Processes
The POLITICIZE Project on Deliberative Mini-Publics (DMPs) in Europe
Location
Vorarlberg
Austria
Scope of Influence
Regional
Links
Citizens' Council on Mobility in Vorarlberg
OECD Project Page for Innovative Citizen Participation
Bürgerrat Mobilitätskonzept Vorarlberg
The POLITICIZE Project
Presseaussendungen - Bürgercafé zum Mobilitätskonzept Vorarlberg
Bürgerrat Mobilitätskonzept Vorarlberg Juli 2018 Dokumentation
Start Date
End Date
Ongoing
No
Time Limited or Repeated?
Repeated over time
Purpose/Goal
Make, influence, or challenge decisions of government and public bodies
Develop the civic capacities of individuals, communities, and/or civil society organizations
Approach
Consultation
Social mobilization
Spectrum of Public Participation
Consult
Total Number of Participants
28
Open to All or Limited to Some?
Limited to Only Some Groups or Individuals
Recruitment Method for Limited Subset of Population
Stratified Random Sample
General Types of Methods
Deliberative and dialogic process
Planning
General Types of Tools/Techniques
Facilitate dialogue, discussion, and/or deliberation
Propose and/or develop policies, ideas, and recommendations
Recruit or select participants
Specific Methods, Tools & Techniques
Civic Lottery
The Vorarlberg Bürgerrat model, aka Citizens' Councils
Conversation Cafés
Legality
Yes
Facilitators
Yes
Facilitator Training
Professional Facilitators
Face-to-Face, Online, or Both
Both
Types of Interaction Among Participants
Discussion, Dialogue, or Deliberation
Ask & Answer Questions
Information & Learning Resources
Written Briefing Materials
Expert Presentations
Decision Methods
General Agreement/Consensus
Communication of Insights & Outcomes
Public Hearings/Meetings
New Media
Traditional Media
Primary Organizer/Manager
Vorarlberg State Government
Type of Organizer/Manager
Regional Government
Funder
Office of the Provincial Government of Vorarlberg
Type of Funder
Regional Government
Evidence of Impact
Yes
Types of Change
Changes in people’s knowledge, attitudes, and behavior
Changes in civic capacities
Implementers of Change
Lay Public
Elected Public Officials
Formal Evaluation
Yes

From June 15th to 16th, 2018, the 28 members of the Citizens' Council on Mobility in Vorarlberg met to develop principles and priorities in the field of mobility and transport in Vorarlberg for the next ten to fifteen years.

Problems and Purpose

This mini-public involved discussion around two main questions:

  1. "How can we contribute to a positive development of mobility and traffic in Vorarlberg?"
  2. "What do we need to do so and which developments do we have to counterbalance in order to guarantee future living quality?" [1]

Background History and Context

Organizing, Supporting, and Funding Entities

The tenth regional mini-public was commissioned by the Vorarlberg regional government in order to engage citizens on the 2019 mobility plan. The mini-public was professionally organized and facilitated by the “Büro für Zukunftsfragen”. [1]

Participant Recruitment and Selection

All participants were selected on the basis of representative criteria but it is unclear which ones. 600 people were invited, 100 responded (about 1/3 positive responses), 31 registered, and 28 ultimately attended. Participants' ages ranged from 19 to 75. 11 of the 28 were women while 17 were men. [1]

Methods and Tools Used

Dynamic Facilitation

What Went On: Process, Interaction, and Participation

Influence, Outcomes, and Effects

The mini-public created a set of recommendations, which were clustered into ten “key messages”: (1) mobility and consumption of every person is decisive – a broad discussion is needed; (2) a strategic traffic policy is needed; (3) the Vorarlberg region creates incentives and innovation; (4) transport chains should be easily connectable; (5) public transport should be further developed and used; (6) increase of bike usage for transport and mobility; (7) promote alternative mobility means to decrease usage of CO2-heavy vehicles; (8) value walking; (9) better logistic concepts are needed to decrease noise and delivery services; (10) support communes and companies to encourage their employees to look for alternative mobility means. These recommendations were presented at a Bürgercafé (Citizens’ Café) on June 20th 2018 in Bregenz (Landhaus) in front of 70 people, including participants, citizens, and politicians. In addition, the recommendations were put online to the digital platform, where everyone had one week (June 22-29) to comment and add ideas. On July 2nd, 2018, a stakeholder meeting took place to develop the new regional mobility strategy. In 2019, the regional government was to present the new mobility concept and respond to the Bürgerrat (mini-public), explaining how and why recommendations found their way into the new strategy and why others did not. Participants of the mini-public were then able to state whether they found their recommendations in the new mobility concept. [1]

Analysis and Lessons Learned

See Also

Vorarlberg Civic Council on Asylum and Refugee Policies

Citizens' Council for Dealing with Land in Vorarlberg

References

[1] Paulis, Emilien; Pilet, Jean-Benoit; Panel, Sophie; Vittori, Davide; Close, Caroline, 2020, "POLITICIZE Dataset", https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/Z7X6GT, Harvard Dataverse, V1

External Links

Vorarlberg Website

Notes

Data was sourced from OECD (2020), Innovative Citizen Participation and New Democratic Institutions: Catching the Deliberative Wave, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/339306da-en