To look ahead to the year 2040, the municipality of Nordanstig chose to invite its residents to an inclusive civic dialogue. With the help of Vocean and inspired by Nacka Municipality’s “Framtidsdialog” (Future Dialogue), an open, transparent, and engaging forum was created where both old and new ideas were welcomed. Nordanstig was then able to use AI to transform residents’ opinions into tangible change.
When the previous municipal vision was developed in 2009, only in-person dialogues were conducted—a good but resource-intensive approach. Now, as the municipality prepared to undertake a new visioning process in 2025, it wanted to embrace digitalization.
The municipality of Nordanstig faced the task of shaping a long-term vision:“What will Nordanstig look like in 2040?” To gain a broad understanding of Nordanstig’s future and build consensus, the municipality sought to reach out to both permanent residents and people with ties to the area—from those returning home to summer visitors. One goal was to clarify how the population wanted Nordanstig to be viewed by future generations.
The challenge was to:
Using the Vocean platform, Nordanstig was able to open up a digital dialogue where anyone could:
Participation was completely open—regardless of whether someone lived in the municipality or simply felt a strong connection to the area. Responses were broken down by age group, which made it possible to filter the responses and also allowed the AI to analyze similarities and differences.
Communication took place via:
Residents could submit as many suggestions as they wanted, at any time. This created a lively and ongoing dialogue rather than a one-time effort.
With Vocean’s AI support, the municipality was able to quickly analyze and summarize the large influx of ideas.
The results could be shared with the public directly via the same links and QR codes used to collect responses—a simple way to provide feedback and ensure transparency.
In addition, the municipality was able to use the AI to gain concrete insights to inform the vision statement and future decisions.
This fall, the municipality is hosting focus groups and in-person dialogue sessions, including at Kulturhuset Bergsjögården. There, the discussion surrounding the ideas submitted digitally will be explored in greater depth.
With the help of Vocean’s AI, the municipality can, ahead of these meetings:
The responses from these dialogues also serve as a basis for the municipality’s elected officials to hold workshops, where Vocean can be used to suggest discussion questions and foster effective collaboration.
Nordanstig’s journey toward Vision 2040 is still in full swing, and the dialogue is far from over; it will be kept alive through feedback on the responses and important follow-up questions. The municipality’s vision-building efforts have been praised in the national media, and thanks to a combination of technology, transparency, and trust, the municipality continues to build its future together with those who know the area best.