Overview
The municipality of Emmen, with approximately 32,000 residents—more than 37% of whom do not hold Swiss citizenship and have no formal opportunities for participation—is representative of many municipalities in urban agglomerations undergoing change. Major urban development projects will create numerous new housing units and jobs in the coming years, thereby fundamentally altering the population structure and the character of the town—bringing opportunities, but also challenges regarding social integration and participation.
In the context of current spatial, social, and economic transformation processes, municipalities in urban agglomerations such as Emmen face the challenge of strengthening the public’s participation in shaping their living environment while simultaneously alleviating the burden on existing institutional structures.
Despite existing civil society initiatives, there are often significant barriers to accessing information, responsibilities, and resources needed to implement their own projects.
At the same time, there is a lack of suitable platforms to coordinate and support collaboration between the administration, the public, the business community, and other stakeholders. As a result, existing commitment is only partially harnessed, and the potential for social innovation and sustainable spatial development remains underutilized.
Against this backdrop, the project “Amt für Unmögliches Emmen – Activating Untapped Resources” aims to develop new forms of collaboration and support. A central element of the project is a real-world laboratory located on a public green space in Emmen spanning approximately 3,000 m²—the so-called “Weberwiese.”
Together with residents, the municipality, and other local stakeholders, ideas for the development and use of this open space are developed through a participatory process, assessed for feasibility, and implemented step by step. The real-world laboratory serves as a space for experimentation and learning, where new forms of participation, collaboration, and accountability are tested under real-world conditions and scientifically monitored.
The insights gained from this process are directly incorporated into the development of the “Office for the Impossible” as a permanent support and facilitation tool for civic engagement.
