The desire for more participation and involvement is also growing in the urban context. People want to contribute their needs, experiences and ideas to help shape the city in which they live. With this knowledge, the city of Cologne is focusing on systematic public participation in order to give Cologne residents more opportunities to have their say and participate.
With this in mind, KISD students developed the »MeinungsMobil« together with a team from the City of Cologne. Designed as a bicycle trailer, it is pulled by an e-bike and is flexible enough to reach people exactly where they are in their daily lives. The wide range of integrated participation methods also allows it to be used at all levels of participation in the city of Cologne, from pure information and consultation to the joint development of ideas. The structure as an information stand with flyer holders and attachments for posters and plans makes it possible to inform citizens about projects. With the integrated »opinion tubes« and corresponding balls, quantitative opinion polls can be conducted. Whiteboards provide the perfect basis for short co-creation workshops to develop ideas together on site. In addition, audiovisual content can be integrated thanks to an integrated laptop (convertible). An integrated router makes it possible to conduct hybrid formats and, for example, to connect speakers via livestream. The mobile was used for the first time on January 28, 2022 in Cologne-Kalk and in the city center: Cologne residents received all the information they needed about the survey on the »motto of a city vision« that was running at the time and were able to vote directly in analog or digital form at the MeinungsMobil. Further deployments of the MeinungsMobil are already planned. The project took place within the framework of the research cooperation between the city administration of Cologne and KISD. The reseaarch cooperation has been extended now for another six projects.
Professors
Prof. Birgit Mager
Collaborators
Janina Rösch, KISD & Anastasia Bondar, Stadt Köln (Project Coordination)
Participants
Johanna Pirwitz, Paulina Porten, Theresa Tropschuh, Julius Walsch
Project Partners
Stadt Köln – Referat für Strategische Steuerung / Team der Verwaltungsreform
Funded by
Stadt Köln
Duration
Summer Term 2021 – Winter Term 2021/2022
