„Vacancy Is Stagnancy“: Crowdsourcing New Life for Vacant Buildings in Engelhartszell

The small Upper Austrian municipality Engelhartszell is facing increasing vacancy in its village and several key buildings stand empty:  the upper floors of the municipal building and the former elementary school, the ground floor of the former courthouse, and the convent of a former Trappist monastery.

In a small rural community with limited resources and political momentum, breathing new life into these landmarks is a challenge. Traditional internal processes tend to reach their limits here, especially when it comes to reaching younger residents and generating new ideas beyond the village’s established structures.

Engelhartszell wanted to open participation up, but doing so digitally was uncharted territory. The municipality had run public surveys before, though never online, and digital crowdsourcing demands a baseline of digital literacy from both administrative staff and contributors that cannot be assumed across all age groups, particularly in a community with an older population

The challenge was therefore twofold: generate genuinely new ideas for the vacant buildings and build the municipality's own confidence in running a digital participation process for the first time.
 

Engelhartszell chose to try something new: a digital crowdsourcing campaign on the open innovation platform IdeaSpace. Under the banner "Vacancy Is Stagnancy", the municipality invited residents and outside contributors to propose exciting and feasible future uses for the four empty buildings.

The challenge was promoted on different online and offline communication channels.  The primary target groups were young residents of Engelhartszell as well as local people with a strong interest in regional development and community innovation.

Over the campaign period, a total of 28 ideas were submitted. An intersdisciplinary 11-member expert jury consisting of mayors, heads of administration from neighbouring municipalities, and young residents of Engelhartszell first assessed the submissions individually online, then met in a virtual jury session to debate and select the strongest concepts.

One winning idea was selected for each building, with winners receiving regional shopping vouchers. The selected ideas were then presented to the Municipal Council, where they are now being discussed and assessed for feasibility — turning a digital campaign into a concrete item on the local political agenda.

The campaign delivered a winning concept for each of the four buildings, plus a community favourite:

• Arztpraxis im 2. OG Amtsgebäude:  a medical practice for the municipal building's second floor
• Physiotherapie und Fitnessstudio: a physiotherapy practice and fitness studio
• Das unerzählte Archiv – Wo Steine zu sprechen beginnen: a heritage concept giving the building's history a voice
• KlosterZeit – Übernachten im Rhythmus der Stille: contemplative overnight stays in the former Trappist convent
• Community winner: Gesundheitszentrum Engelhartszell: a village health centre

Beyond the ideas themselves, the most significant benefit was a step-change in the municipality's own digital capability. For Engelhartszell, running a crowdsourcing campaign and working with IdeaSpace was an entirely new experience. Through this project, the administrative staff was able to expand their experiences with digital surveys and the use of a blog. The municipality was able to build in-house competence in digital citizen participation that it can reuse for future initiatives.

Do's

• Clearly define the objectives of the idea challenge from the outset and communicate the expected type of contributions (e.g. locally grounded, feasible, or visionary ideas).
• Invest in targeted outreach and communication, especially towards local stakeholders and the intended target groups, to encourage broad and relevant participation.
• Leverage local expertise during the evaluation process, as municipalities possess contextual knowledge that is essential for assessing the feasibility and relevance of submitted ideas.
• Provide guidance on the use of AI in idea generation, encouraging participants to combine AI support with their own local knowledge and experience.

Don'ts

• Do not assume that a high number of submissions automatically reflects local relevance. Some ideas may be generated primarily with AI and lack important contextual understanding of local conditions. 
• Do not underestimate the importance of communication and promotion. Limited outreach may reduce participation from the local community and lead to a less representative set of ideas. 
• Do not leave expectations implicit. Without clear guidance, participants may submit ideas that are creative but do not align with the municipality's needs or the competition's objectives.