Citizen & Stakeholder Engagement Vienna
Communication Vienna
SIMmobil

Communication Munich

Munich Citizen & Stakeholder Engagement

General facts

Description & main goal

One main objective of this project is to mobilise citizens and stakeholders in the civic engagement process. It aims to inform residents and stakeholders about the Smarter Together process, to raise awareness and to transfer basic knowledge about the planned smart solutions. 

Category
Communication concept and measures
Deployment area
Neuaubing-Westkreuz / Freiham
Involved actors and their role

MGS 
Coordinator of all district communication, district management – local support in distribution of information
www.mgs-muenchen.de

City of Munich
Project coordination
 

Key-contact person
Florian Mandel

Specific facts

Communication activities prior to Smarter Together

The project area has been an urban renewal area since 2012. With the funding of the programmes Aktive Zentren and Soziale Stadt it could build up trustful relations to local communities, citizens, businesspeople and institutions.

Target groups

The communications aim at the following groups:

  • Residents of the project area and other interested citizens
  • Local business people, social and cultural initiatives and representatives of institutions in the project area 
  • Owners of real estate in the project area (mostly owner communities [WEGs])
  • Local policy makers 
  • Opinion leaders & multipliers
  • Project partners
  • City of Munich executive employees
Communication Strategy & short description of communication measures intended

A communication strategy & branding shall be worked out and presented to local politicians, initiatives for feedback. The intention is to analyse the target group and the general feelings in the project area towards the project. Smarter Together shall  make the information interesting to the target group. The communication needs to be an emotionally loaded experience and easy to understand. 
From these branding values MGS and the partners will develop communication formats and offers (events). A cross-media distribution strategy is adopted to raise the maximum possible awareness and make sure that all the different target groups will be reached. Continuous communication activities are important throughout the whole runtime of the project

Local specifics in communication

There are two specifics in Communication in Munich. 

  1. The project area has a very diverse population. 
  2. The main target group in energy (Holistic Refurbishment + District Heating & Renewable) are owners of local real estate, who have to be convinced to take part in the project. Therefore  communication needs to outline the personal benefits for them and show possible options for their individual real estate stock.
Comm target groups
Residents of the project area and other interested citizens
Local business people, social and cultural initiatives and representatives of institutions in the project area
Owners of real estate in the project area (mostly owner communities [WEGs])
Local policy makers
Opinion leaders & multipliers
Project partners
City of Munich executive employees
    Implementation status

    In which phase is the project?    
    Operation phase

    What is the current implementation status/ what is the current activity step?    

    • Branding “NEU DENKEN” established for cross-media communication and Smart Neighbourhood Lab
    • Implementation of cross-communication activities according to annual communication plan.
       
    Complete 50%

    Risk and challenges

    Which risks & challenges is the project currently facing?

    Lack of interest in local press, local partnerships

    Which are critical or seem invincible? Please provide a detailed description

    None

    Which previously identified risks and challenges have you managed successfully and how

    None

    Lessons Learned and Recommendations

    Which lessons learned can be derived up to this point from the implementation process?
    • Prototyping: creating early visibility for the smart city solutions and space for their improvement in real space
    • Making the people behind the smart solutions (task / project leads) accessible to the community.
    • Importance of transparency and openness in communicating both progress and challenges to residents (and at all stakeholder levels in general)
    What could be done better in comparable future projects (what needs to be done and what needs to be prevented)?

    Longer preparatory phase and more integrated approach:

    • Creating shared vision and objectives with all partners and stakeholders of the project.
    • Integrated stakeholder analysis and engagement strategy covering all aspects of the project
    Next steps & To Do ́s

    Please shortly outline the next steps planned for the implementation of the project.
    Public events around smart district topics

    • Vernissage smart district painting project 
    • Integrated energy refurbishment (Zukunftsreihe Energie)
    • On-site inauguration of smart lampposts
    • Focussed discussions on SmartHome solutions
    • Cooperation with project “Freiluftsupermarkt” to promote shared district box 
    • Filmscreening “Tomorrow” on the subject of smart citizens and smart solutions
    • Exhibitions of smart topic areas including prototypes, experiments and information
    • Focussed communication activities around special needs of target groups (home owners associations, youth, elderly, schools)

    Are there additional steps planned due to occurred challenges? Which corrective activities have been taken?    

    • Identification activities for local residents (Smart District Pioneers)and improved visibility for “local heroes”
    Implementation status

    In which phase is the project?
    Operation phase

    What is the current implementation status/ what is the current activity step?    

    • close cooperation with local  partners e.g. Netzwerk Interaktiv, MVHS 
    • Regular meetings of the resident advisory board to support further development of smart services and related data and security questions.
    • increased visibility of project managers in the district
       
    Complete 60%

    Risk and challenges

    Which previously identified risks and challenges have you managed successfully and how

    Lack of local partners:  New cooperations with partners like Netzwerk Interaktiv and MVHS. (local partners in the field of education and media)

    Lessons Learned and Recommendations

    Which lessons learned can be derived up to this point from the implementation process?
    • Prototyping: creating early visibility for the smart city solutions and space for their improvement in real space
    • Making the people behind the smart solutions (task / project leads) accessible to the community.
    • Importance of transparency and openness in communicating both progress and challenges to residents (and at all stakeholder levels in general)
    What could be done better in comparable future projects (what needs to be done and what needs to be prevented)?

    Longer preparatory phase and more integrated approach:

    • Creating shared vision and objectives with all partners and stakeholders of the project.
    • Integrated stakeholder analysis and engagement strategy covering all aspects of the project
    Next steps & To Do ́s

    Please shortly outline the next steps planned for the implementation of the project.
    Public events around smart district topics

    • Integrated energy refurbishment (Zukunftsreihe Energie) (11/17 and ongoing)
    • on-site inauguration of smart lampposts
    • Focussed discussions on Smart Home solutions (regularly, Smart Home Event 21.10.)
    • Exhibitions of smart topic areas including prototypes, experiments and information   

    Are there additional steps planned due to occurred challenges? 

    • Fostering increased bottom-up communication: (local voices) e.g. interview with locals in local media
    • Fostering dissemination through local partner organisations (e.g. Netzwerk Interaktiv)
    Implementation status

    In which phase is the project?
    Operation phase

    What is the current implementation status/ what is the current activity step?

    • Ongoing since M21: Branding “NEU DENKEN” established for cross-media communication and Smart Neighbourhood Lab
    • Implementation of cross-communication activities 
    Complete 75%

    Risk and challenges

    Which risks & challenges is the project currently facing?

    Lack of interest in local press, local partnerships

    Which are critical or seem invincible? Please provide a detailed description

    None

    Which previously identified risks and challenges have you managed successfully and how

    Lack of local partners:

    • New cooperations with partners like Netzwerk Interaktiv and MVHS. (local partners in the field of education and media)

    Lessons Learned and Recommendations

    Which lessons learned can be derived up to this point from the implementation process?
    • Prototyping: creating early visibility for the smart city solutions and space for their improvement in real space
    • Making the people behind the smart solutions (task / project leads) accessible to the community.
    • Importance of transparency and openness in communicating both progress and challenges to residents (and at all stakeholder levels in general)
    What could be done better in comparable future projects (what needs to be done and what needs to be prevented)?

    Longer preparatory phase and more integrated approach:

    • Creating shared vision and objectives with all partners and stakeholders of the project.
    • Integrated stakeholder analysis and engagement strategy covering all aspects of the project
    Next steps & To Do ́s

    Please shortly outline the next steps planned for the implementation of the project.
    Public events around smart district topics

    • Integrated energy refurbishment (Zukunftsreihe Energie)
    • on-site inauguration of smart lampposts
    • on-site inauguration of mobility stations
    • participation on local festivals to promote smart city solutions
       
    Implementation status

    Operation.

    Complete 100%