For the last 25 years, the State of Vorarlberg has been pioneering different methods of public participation. Since 2008, they have been working intensively with Jim Rough’s process, originally named Wisdom Council or Creative Insight Council, which in their context they have named Bürgerrat or “Civic Council”. Austria is currently among the three most preferred destinations in Europe for refugees, next to Germany and Sweden. To deal with this situation adequately, the government of Vorarlberg organized a Civic Council to address the question “How do we deal with the rise of refugees well.”

This short video by Martin Rausch documents the work they did in June 2015 to help create a “Culture of Collaboration”, using World Cafe for the Citizen Cafés at the heart of the Bürgerrat. Their work is ongoing.

The Civic Council (“Bürgerrat”) in Austria on: “How do we deal best with the influx of refugees” – June 2015 from Martin Rausch on Vimeo.