Live democracy!

Actions to create dialog

As part of the NRW 2022 state elections, the Brachland-Ensemble once again accompanied the "Live Democracy!" tour of the NRW State Center for Political Education with activities in public spaces

Infos

Concept Dominik Breuer, Gunnar Seidel, Dr. Karina Hauke-Hohl (LpB NRW)
with Irina Ries, Dominik Breuer, Gunnar Seidel

About the project

In over 20 cities, the Brachland-Ensemble accompanied the NRW State Center for Political Education on the "demokratie leben!" tour 2022 in the run-up to the NRW state elections using interactive methods. The focus was on the emotional side of debate culture and was made visible with lively statistics, playful discussion formats and constellations in public spaces.

The current culture of debate in our society is highly emotional, depending on the topic and constellation of the participants, whereby "talking oneself into a rage" also works wonderfully within one's own bubble without the direct presence of a (political) opponent.

It is interesting to note that this emotional attitude usually works, and is also
is also addressed by the other side, but real reflection rarely takes place. We are often unaware of our own impact within a debate, and if we are made aware of it, this often takes the form of criticism, which in turn triggers defensive and/or counter-offensive attitudes. Our aim in this tour is to
tour to make people aware of precisely this emotional level using interaction methods in order to facilitate an empathic level of discussion.

Project description of the State Center for Political Education

Democracy is both a form of government and an attitude. A democratic attitude is characterized by the preservation of human dignity, mutual respect, tolerance, diversity, participation and appreciation of peaceful conflict resolution.

This attitude is currently being called into question in parts of our society. Rejection, skepticism, exclusion and anger characterize the mood there. The "Demokratie leben - Die Tour durch NRW" campaign picked up on this mood and sought to talk to many people in the state in order to inspire enthusiasm for democracy. The analog "Wahl-o-mat" was the main focus and provided an opportunity for discussion.