Strategic planning

Each city or region can be understood as a complex and constantly evolving organism, whose future existence and development requires a clear definition of goals and strategies.

Strategic planning is a creative process, during which the basic vision of the development of a city or region is formulated, individual goals and strategies are determined, as well as procedures leading to the actual implementation of the proposed plans.

The strategic development plan is then one of the basic documents of a city or region, which is based on cooperation between the public and private sectors and also on the active participation of civil society. A city whose residents are interested in its future and actively participate in considerations about the development of the city has the best chances of achieving its long-term goals and visions.

We implement strategy development projects so that the fundamental issues of city development are solved together by those who are most affected by them.

Project examples

Lety


The leadership of this small Central Bohemian municipality also included a participatory budget in its election program. Based on the initial discussions, we recommended that the municipality plan the development of the municipality in a different form rather than a participatory budget.

Meetings with active citizens and “associates” led us to identify the main development areas and possible projects. Thanks to the broader involvement of citizens, a general assessment of the importance and satisfaction within individual areas, the so-called “City Report Card”, was created so that Lety could come as close as possible to what citizens want it to be.

The updated plan is therefore based on the ideas and wishes of citizens, which they discussed together with the mayor of the municipality.

And what kind of Lety do citizens want? You can read more about this on the website lety.digitalniagora.cz

Český Brod

Participation is already an established practice in Český Brod. That is why a project was created with the aim of involving a larger number of citizens through digital tools. We created the strategy "Brod 2032, we are back on the water" under the auspices of our own large-scale "Digital Agora" project supported by the Active citizens program.

The citizens of Český Brod were able to encounter a total of 12 participation tools - 6 digital and 6 traditional. They included, for example, collecting ideas through sentiment maps, the digital tool YOUR PRIORITIES, streaming meetings, online working meetings or commenting on the strategy, online and offline surveys, as well as working groups or commented walks.

Almost 600 residents actively participated in the update of the strategic plan, and almost 3,000 unique "virtual" citizens visited the project's Digital Agora.

Liberec

Participatory preparation of a strategic plan on the scale of a regional city requires considerable capacity and professional preparation. In Liberec in 2013, the Development Concept Department at the Liberec City Hall offered the necessary professional background. The employees of this department prepared a very high-quality assignment for the strategic planning process itself, including the preparation of the Cooperation and Communication Management Plan.

Agora CE provided its expertise for successful public involvement. In a large regional city, greater anonymity prevails and people are perhaps less willing to enter into direct communication with the city hall. Nevertheless, Liberec managed to involve all the necessary target groups in the discussion about the future of the city, also thanks to a carefully prepared analysis of key development actors.

Mnichovo Hradiště

After the municipal elections in 2014, the new leadership of the city of Mnichovo Hradiště decided to use modern methods of management in the city administration and, in particular, to involve the public more in decision-making on important issues in the city. One of the fundamental issues is the future long-term direction of the city. Agora CE cooperated with the city in 2015 and 2016 in the preparation of a new strategic plan for the city. In a relatively short time, various target groups were involved in the discussion on the further development of Mnichovo Hradiště. In addition to public meetings and opinion polls, various forms of specifically focused events were also held in the city (discussion forums, simulation game, feeling maps, etc.).

Nové Město nad Metují


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Agora CE’s long-term effort is to help municipalities and cities in the Czech Republic use participatory mechanisms as a natural part of decision-making processes. We are therefore always very pleased when participatory processes take hold and the city begins to use them repeatedly. This is also the example of Nové Město nad Metují. In 2005, the city management decided to prepare a strategic plan for the city’s development, taking into account its leading role in the Novoměstsko microregion. The mayor of the city at the time wanted to involve the public in the preparation of the document. The city’s strategic plan was created and more closely reflected the opinions of the citizens of Nové Město.

Almost 10 years later, the city was preparing an update of its development plan and again did not neglect to involve the public and other target groups in the process. When comparing both procedures (in 2005 and 2015), a significant development shift was evident. In 2015, Agora CE designed and subsequently implemented a number of new activities (often focused on pre-defined target groups) and also had to cooperate intensively with an external developer of a new strategic plan.

Are you interested in our work?

For more information please contact vojtech.cerny@agorace.cz