Online hearing in 7 studios

The task

The Metro Company and the City of Copenhagen would hold a digital citizens' meeting, where citizens could actively participate in the dialogue on, among other things, possible line routing, noise and sustainability. The format was to bring everyone together, first in a common main room and then in 6 separate topic tracks with the possibility to ask questions and view presentations with e.g. PowerPoints and cards.

Our Approach

We designed a clear participant journey: joint intro in main-room → topic track selection → live Q&A in each room. To give special presence in the 2024 edition, we used virtual production and created a realistic metro station as scenography, so that the main presentations could be held “at” one of the new stations that have not yet been built. All presenters — both experienced and first-time — were dressed with scripts, reviews and safe, clear facilitation.

Production

The civic meeting was conducted simultaneously from 7 studios: one main-room and 6 parallel tracks, all staffed by moderators and hosts. In each room, the audience could ask questions along the way, and the presenters showed presentations, maps and cases. Main-room broadcast from our virtual subway station that provided a strong visual framework and helped citizens understand the context of the project.

They delivered that.

• Common main room with intro, main presentation and overview
• 6 simultaneous topic tracks with live Q&A and presentations
• Online platform with clear navigation for participants to choose (and switch) tracks
• Virtual Metro Station Scenography for Main-Room (2024)
• Host training, driving tickets and support for presenters
• On-demand recordings of main-room and all 6 tracks

The result

A very successful digital citizens' meeting with high participation, active dialogue and many concrete issues across themes. More citizens could speak out than in a physical meeting, and the virtual metro station provided extra presence and understanding for the upcoming project. The format is now a proven model that the parties want to build on.