Municipal council meetings and citizens’ assemblies are at the heart of democracy. Although decisions are made at the lowest level, they directly affect the citizens of the municipality. That is why the greatest possible transparency is all the more important. And how do you create more transparency and enable the participation of all citizens than with a livestream of the citizens’ meeting or municipal council meeting.
Hybrid meetings firmly anchored in new municipal law amendment
Bavarian politicians have also recognised the great necessity of live-streamed municipal council meetings and citizens’ assemblies. In the so-called municipal law amendment, in addition to facilitations for mayors, the possibility for hybrid meetings is to be permanently anchored. Specifically, a press release of the Bavarian state government states: “Municipal bodies can not only meet hybrid – i.e. partly in presence and partly as a video link – but also offer a livestream of their committee meetings on the internet and set up a media library in the future, provided the members agree to the recording.” Joachim Herrmann, Minister of the Interior, sees livestreams of municipal bodies as “the greatest possible citizen-friendliness, because interested citizens can thus follow the meetings of municipal bodies despite conflicting professional and family obligations.”
Three possibilities for a municipal council meeting or assembly in livestream
As a livestream service provider in Munich, we also see the great advantages that a livestream of municipal council meetings and citizens’ meetings brings. In addition to the transparency mentioned above, participation is also made possible for working or otherwise busy citizens who do not have time to come to the meeting especially. They can also follow the meeting on the go. For example, many of the citizens are parents and cannot always afford to hire a babysitter for the meeting in the evening. With a streamed meeting, the barriers to attending the meeting are correspondingly lower.
We have considered three options for how municipalities can live stream a hybrid municipal council meeting or citizens’ meeting without much effort. In this article, we would like to take a closer look at a practical microphone unit system with an integrated camera, training by a livestream staff member or production of the stream by Stream1.
Practical microphone unit system including automatic camera control.
Meetings and larger gatherings expect reliable technology. It starts with the beamer and continues with the sound system. Imagine a local council meeting with 21 members. Everyone should be able to speak and the audience should also be able to hear everyone, both on site and in the livestream. With our solution, you can save yourself major conversions or installations in halls. Because with the battery-powered system from Vissonic, you transmit everything that is said via Wifi – and thanks to built-in speakers, all members also hear directly what was said. We have had Vissonic’s Cleacon-W microphone units in our technology park since 2023. The product is a wireless conference system with DSP, network function, recording and camera tracking. A special highlight of the microphone unit system is the combination with a PTZ camera. The built-in camera tracking function allows the cameras to always capture the current speaker. In summary, our microphone unit system is perfect for hybrid local council meetings and town hall meetings. With little effort, a practical audio system including remote camera can be integrated into the community hall.
Training by Livestream Agency Munich for hybrid meetings
As a second option, we offer training by a Livestream employee of ours on site. This is particularly suitable for communities in Bavaria that want to invest in the technology themselves. In addition, however, there must also be a staff member on site who is interested in technology and wants to take on this new challenge. The procedure would be as follows: In an initial consultation, the main focus is on the general process of a hybrid municipal council meeting or a citizens’ meeting in livestream. In this first discussion, we will clarify together with you which technology you need and will be guided by your budget. Once the livestream equipment has been delivered, it’s time for concrete advice. An employee of our Livestream Agency Munich will be happy to come to you and set up the technology together. We will also pass on our livestream knowledge and provide you with competent advice. We can be on site at the first municipal council meeting in livestream or the hybrid citizens’ meeting and still support you if necessary. In this way, you should receive the necessary equipment from us to stream your municipal council meeting or citizens’ assembly yourself.
Hybrid local council meeting livestreamed by Stream1
As a livestream agency in Munich, we are also happy to stream your local council meeting and citizens’ assembly ourselves. Before we make you an offer, we clarify the essential points in an initial consultation. Because with Stream1 there are no off-the-shelf offers. If you accept the offer, we will start with the detailed planning. Can local councillors not come to the meeting and have to be connected? Where do we set up the control room? What is the process of the hybrid community council meeting? With recurring municipal meetings, certain procedures become established. This can reduce costs for your municipality.
Hybrid municipal council meeting for the municipalities of Aying, Holzkirchen and Gmund am Tegernsee
Hybrid municipal council meetings and citizens’ meetings are a useful way to involve all citizens of the municipality in important decisions and to reach more citizens. After the meetings, we make the livestreams available on a platform if required. This way, all citizens can watch the meetings again online afterwards. For the municipalities of Aying, Holzkirchen, Gmund am Tegernsee, we have already broadcast municipal council meetings and citizens’ meetings via livestream. Please feel free to call us on the subject of hybrid municipal council meetings and citizens’ meetings in the livestream at 0049 89 41 41 453 10 or send us your requirements to hello@stream1.eu.
