Emma: Piece of the Puzzle in Emmen City
We are proud to introduce Emma, the critical puzzle piece that gives the local population in Emmen a voice and invites them to communicate their ideas and concerns.
Emma is the result of HSLU master’s students’ exploration of public participation with the Gemeinde Emmen (Municipality Emmen) during last semester’s Connect Project. Under the guidance of Sabine Junginger, nine master’s students from Service Design, Digital Ideation, Eco-Social Design and Design engaged with residents and workers in Emmen to understand their views on local government and voting. Municipal President Ramona Gut-Rogger provided an informative introduction to the issues, while Ivo Müller, Stefano Costa, and Michael Kost from the Digital Transformation Team supported the students throughout the investigative and creative process (Read more about the process on the municipal website).
During the project, the students interviewed numerous locals in Emmen, who generously shared their experiences in various languages, including Portuguese, Farsi, Spanish, Tamil, English, and Swiss German. On April 21, 2023, the students presented their project results at HSLU to their peers, lecturers and representatives from the Gemeinde Emmen. The project and Emma received such positive feedback that Emma has now become a chatbot on the municipal website, making it easier for visitors to find the services and documents they need. This is just the first step in implementing the project, as the municipality plans to further utilize Emma in other projects to enhance the membership experience for Emmen inhabitants and increase participation in the municipality. To learn more about the project results and municipality’s plans regarding the implementation of Emma, click here.
We congratulate Sabine and the students for their incredible work! A special thanks goes out to Ramona Gut-Rogger, Ivo Müller, Stefano Costa, Michael Kost, Manuel Amstein from the Jugendbüro Emmen and Petra Mauro who is active for the Ludothek Emmen, the Gemeinnütziger Frauenverein and the Mix Up Choir, and Aurelio Todisco!