Impact

Up to now the City of Hamburg has conducted four Internet discussions on political subjects. The first was conducted as part of the EU-funded project DEMOS. Subsequent to the project the methodology has been improved and the software system re-implemented. Hamburg’s administration aims to conduct at least one internet discussion a year. The novelty of Hamburg’s e-participation service lies in its comprehensive approach covering methodology, technology, political integration and implementation of results. Political integration: All discussions are carefully prepared and communicated with Hamburg’s administration and/or parliament in advance. The objectives, terms of participation and chances to influence decisions have always been pointed out precisely and communicated to the public. The discourses are deliberative consultation processes between citizens, administration and members of parliament. Sound methodology: Moderated online discussions enable interactive and asynchronous communication between large numbers of participants. Hamburg’s online discourses are all based on the DEMOS participation methodology which integrates different sociological methods in the so-called ‘DEMOS process’, like Delphi surveys and the mediation approach. The methodology provides support for three phases broadening, deepening and consolidating the discussion. DEMOS discussions are result orientated and are to be conducted on a limited time scale. Implemented results: Essential to the credibility of E-participation is that citizens see that it has an effect. Different ideas, concepts and measures which have been developed in the various internet discourses have been or are planned to be implemented. These include floating lofts, living bridges, family friendly housing and measures to consolidate Hamburg’s budget.

Track record of sharing

MEDIA@Komm-Transfer, was initiated by Germany’s Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour, to establish the development of local eGovernment nationwide. In this context the city of Hamburg led the working group for e-democracy and developed a guide for local e-democracy focussing on Internet discourses. In 2004 Hamburg organised the conference Electronic Democracy where 100 international experts, representatives of civil society and public administration attended. Hamburg’s engagement in the field of e-participation is well known and has inspired several other cities to implement online discourses. Berlin has chosen a similar approach. Munich decided to use the full Demos approach and launched an online discourse on the Family Centred City in 2006. The city of Dortmund followed in 2007 on the same subject. Hamburg’s approach of moderated Internet discourse plays currently an important role in two projects supported by the European Commission. In LexiPation, which has been funded as a preparatory action under the European eParticipation initiative, the DEMOS platform will be used to conduct moderated online discourses on legislative proposals in the four selected testbeds of Hamburg, Thessaloniki, Massa (Italy) and Alston (UK). The DEMOS methodology will be integrated with the Living Labs methodology, a user-centric approach for co-creative design and validation of IT products and services recently developed with great success at EU level. TELL-ME is funded as a market validation project under the eTen program. The aim of TELL-ME is to provide a methodology and toolset for the pan-European deployment of Living Labs in the areas of eGovernment, e-Democracy and e-Services, thus creating new opportunities for networking and best practice exchange between public entities, citizens, industry and academia. Representatives of Hamburg and TuTech presented this case at national and international conferences and published reports in scientific books and journals.

Lessons learnt

Lesson 1 - To win the trust and support of the political establishment and answer their concerns. Crucial to the success of each discourse was very careful preparation and involvement of key stakeholders including public officials. eParticipation is new and has to win legitimacy in the political forum. This means establishing trust and ensuring all means to ensure that it is not abused. Lesson 2 - To ensure citizens are well informed and know that their views will be taken seriously. To engage and win the participation of citizens requires carefully prepared information, a sound methodology and at least one top-promoter on the political level for each discussion. Good communication with journalists is essential, but it is not enough. Lesson 3 - Not to run discussions as one off events, but to have a carefully planned strategy for finding a series of topics, sponsors and promotion. These lessons show the importance of having a carefully planned and long term eDemocracy strategy. To establish greater citizen participation, discourses and follow up must taken place regularly, but not so frequently that engagement tires.