Designing public participation in the digital age: Lessons learned from using the policy cycle in an Austrian case study

Social media, digital technologies, new online tools, and digital transformation processes in public sector organisations have led to the introduction of innovations and thus significant changes to public participation projects and processes. In this case study we study the impact of digital innovation on public participation processes by using the policy cycle phases. Multiple methods were used to collect expertise on how to develop participatory processes and the CoVID-19 lockdown in Austria represented an opportunity to test how to flexibly use digital tools in participation processes. The outcome provides an overview of lessons learned for designing participation processes flexibly drawing on different participation formats and digital tools.