Tiny Townhall
About this good practice
The idea for the Tiny Town Hall came from Sophie Mirpourian, who was working at the Anscharcampus, a creative center, at the time. As a strategist for co-creation with a focus on innovation, she had the vision of a mobile participation space and brought this idea to the Creative City department of the state capital Kiel. Various partners were involved in the project during the prototyping phase. The project is currently being run by KielRegion GmbH and supported by a project group from Kiel's city administration.
Society is facing the challenge of many citizens feeling socially and politically left behind. The social divide is increasing and people feel overwhelmed by the current crises and demands. The Tiny Town Hall aims to counteract these trends by showing that we are coming to you. It presents itself as an “administration of open doors”. It is an instrument that also serves to reach and involve people in the city who are not so easy to reach. All aspects of society, such as social, cultural and economic aspects, are to be taken into account in the branch office of the large town hall; it is to be a place of mutual dialog and promote open communication and networking. With the town hall on wheels, the administration comes directly to the people and can thus get a picture of the respective topics on site.
Resources needed
From November 2024 to February 2028, the Tiny Town Hall will be managed by a 0.5-person position as part of the SmarterLeben project. It will be used as an outreach participation format to get in touch with citizens throughout the Kiel region on digital topics and to open up spaces for dialog.
Evidence of success
The continuation of the project shows that the Tiny Town Hall is the best example of how a creative idea can become city and regional-wide practice. Other german cities are now showing interest in testing the Tiny Town Hall, four from Schleswig-Holstein, and Potsdam is also showing interest. There is also an exchange with other mobile participation formats such as the Kiezlabor Berlin.
Potential for learning or transfer
The “Tiny Town Hall” has established itself in the Kiel region as a model project for mobile participation and innovative administrative communication. The concept of the mobile participation space combines flexibility, accessibility and digitalization. The open atmosphere of the “Tiny Town Hall” makes it possible to address particularly silent target groups that are rarely represented in traditional participation formats.
There were also challenges, such as TÜV approval and accessibility. This shows that early planning and consultation with experts are essential. In addition, long-term financing and
integration into municipal structures remains a challenge. The “Tiny Town Hall” demonstrates how modern participation can be successfully designed, and provides valuable insights for municipalities and organizations. All experiences are individual and cannot be transferred 1:1 to every region or city.
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