The Office of Future Related Issues (OFRI) for the State of Vorarlberg, Austria, headed by Dr. Manfred Hellrigl and Michael Lederer has been pioneering use of the Wisdom Council since 2005. This office has helped city and state governments in Vorarlberg conduct Wisdom Councils (See their website in English with Seven short videos) and has also been helping other governments throughout Europe to use it. For example, Manfred and his department held two conferences called "Surfing Democracy" to share their results with people in other regions and countries. 

• In this eleven minute video are seven short segments strung together where Dr. Manfred Hellrigl describes his organization's experience with the Wisdom Council. He is talking in a Skype call to citizen activists in North Carolina. Each of the seven video segments can be seen separately. Afterwards, Michael Lederer, who works in the department and is often one of the Dynamic Facilitators, speaks of his experience.

• 1.Meet Manfred Hellrigl who introduces The Problem (0 ... 1:45)
• 2. WC uniquely meets the crisis* (1.8min ... 1:08)
• 3.The New Public Conversation (3min ... 1:03)
• 4.Seeking the common good (4.1min ... 1:05)
• 5.How We Use the Wisdom Council (5.2min ... 4:11)
• 6.Our experience so far (9.4min ... 0:43)
• 7.We apply DF in our office too (10.2min ... 1:01)

Below, Michael Lederer who works in the Office of Future Related Issues speaks about his experience setting up Wisdom Councils.

ALSO:

• See the presentation by Rosa Zubizarreta about the "Citizens Councils" in Austria, which are available for use by any government agency.
  
•  See news article about the work of OFRI with the Wisdom Council.
• Andy Paice has a blog in English where he interviewed many of the main players in Austria: Big Strides in Participation for a Tiny Austrian State.
• See the English translation of the study on "Wisdom Councils in Austria" commissioned by the Austrian government.
• The Parliament of Vorarlberg holds regular Wisdom Councils, where a random citizen group meets ahead of time and then reports back their unanimous views to the Parliament. On Oct 14, 2011 the WC addressed the issue of "Limits of Growth." Using this approach allowed the citizens of Vorarlberg to engage one another and government in a more creative conversation on this issue. See the news article (in German).
• OFRI has hosted a conference on "Surfing Democracy" (now two) highlighting their work with Dynamic Facilitation and the Wisdom Council.
• See new article published in the German magazine KONTEXT about a recent Wisdom Council. (In German).
• See the video (In German) on the Wisdom Council (CIC) on the development project for downtown Bregenz. Also see Mayor Markus Linart describe the importance.

• See the article (translated to English) on a use of the Wisdom Council by communities in former Nazi concentration camp areas.
• See short video of youth WC in Tirol
• See the application for the Vitalizing Democracy Prize (2010)

Please Donate to the Center for Wise Democracy! ... All donations are tax-deductible. We are a 501-c3 organization.