During the BürgerForum Europa, 361 German citizens developed their agenda for the future of Europe. To get these results into the public, Zebralog developed an online-tool where every visitor could read three provoking thesis coming from the citizens´ agenda and could give their own opinion.

The tool allows the interaction of hundreds of users but just needs a minimum of human moderation. Also it provides a lively and motivating method to gather opinions even for complex political topics.

Take a look at the video, in which we introduce the dialogue tool:

German chancellor Angela Merkel and participants of the BürgerForum Europa. by Bernhard Link, Berlin

The European Parliament will proclaim the United States of Europe? EU will grant basic financial security for all its citizens? After so many rejected referenda and strong suspicions against European politics, these ideas sound out of touch. However, they are just two examples from 16 solutions worked out by 361 citizens – randomly chosen in Germany – during a citizens' dialogue about the EUs future.

Special about these ideas is that they were not gathered in a quick opinion poll. Instead they are the result of a focused discussion, combining offline- and online debate, in which citizens tested and qualified their original opinions. What are the abilities of such an online dialogue and where are its limitations?