Focus Areas

Engage social actors – develop future-oriented solutions

Engaging various interest groups in the development of mutually beneficial solutions was a founding principle of the OEGUT and since then has remained a cornerstone of the organisation. The employees within the Participation department are experts on the cooperative development of sustainable solutions for creative communication, organisation and participation designs.

We advise and accompany actors from politics, administration, the economy and civil service in dialogue-processes from the planning to implementation stages, whether this involves workshops or conferences, the implementation of community citizens’ councils or the creation of workshops to develop future-oriented ideas, leading round table discussions to negotiate conflicts of interest or mediation for conflict resolution. We work using a whole range of methods and instruments, from classic moderation to ‘Dynamic Facilitation’, participative decision-making or ‘Design Thinking’.

Furthermore we develop materials and handbooks on ensuring the quality of participation, communicate our knowledge on participation in seminars and trainings and examine practical participation. An essential foundation of our work is linking the expert competencies of the OEGUT’s focus areas with knowhow and sensibility for social and societal processes, comprehensive methodological knowledge and the implementation of the  founding principles of the ‘Art of Hosting’ in the creation of process designs.

The particular focus areas in the field of Participation are:

• Providing information and advice on topics, methods and good practice within public participation.
• Design of dialogue processes: moderation and process support
• Mediation and conflict management
• Further education and training in participative methods and process design
• Maintenance of the website, www.partizipation.at
• Carrying out research projects
• Conception and organisation of events
• Awarding the OEGUT Environment prize for innovative projects in the area of participation