End of Commitment Report – Creation of the open government strategy for the city of Banská Bystrica

Name of Evaluator

Katarína Vitálišová, Ivana Hačková, Mária Vavrušová, Artur Ivan

Email

katarina.vitalisova@umb.sk

Member Name

Banská Bystrica, Slovak Republic

Action PlanAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... Title

Action plan – Banská Bystrica, Slovak Republic, 2021 – 2022

CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action...

Creation of the open government strategy for the city of Banská Bystrica

Action

The aim is to create, in cooperation with the municipality and civic actors, the first draft of the strategy and also the short-term goals of open government in Banská Bystrica, which will be based on 8 topics generated during the creation of the first action plan. The commitment will also include the creation of a broader group of supporters of open government as a platform for open government, as well as a more narrow working group of Municipal Authority’s staff, civic actors, academics, MPs, and continuous work, to engage other relevant actors. Platform members will meet regularly to develop an open government strategy, define short-term goals and implement them where possible, analyze existing strategic and other documents and integrate open governance into these documents, incorporate a compliance clause of documents submitted for approval with the open government strategy, and its action plan. It will also include an effort to follow up on the strategic activities of the region, the national level, or neighboring cities and the strategic goals and activities of other civil society organizations.

Problem

The city of Banská Bystrica is creating its historically first open government action plan. So far, it did not have such a strategy at its disposal, although in other strategy papers, open government themes are partly emerging. Systematic work on the open government strategy as a way of developing democracy is particularly important in the Slovak Republic, given the historically insufficient public involvement in decision-making processes in public policies. Banská Bystrica, like other municipalities around the world, is facing comprehensive global problems that require new elements in public administration. One such element is also open governance which gives space for collective intelligence with the potential to find solutions to these types of problems. The open government strategy also can help build confidence and a partner-like relationship between the Municipal Office and civic actors, in which problematic moments are currently occurring. To ensure the integration of open governance in strategic and other city papers and their implementation, it is also necessary to monitor the compliance of these documents with the OGP strategy and action plan.

1.1 What was the overall level of progress in the commitment implementation at the time of this assessment?

Substantial

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

The City of Banská Bystrica developed a preliminary draft of the Open Government Strategy in line with the commitment set out in the AP. The draft was developed by an expert group consisting of experts from the City Council, academia, and independent experts in cooperation with the public. The strategic document has been elaborated in the form of an OGP roadmap, which sets out the vision, priorities, and draft measures in the implementation of the OGP principles in Banská Bystrica. These are not rigidly set and will be modified as necessary via frequent reflective meetings and OGP action plans. The main reason for updating the strategy into a roadmap was to achieve playfulness, liveliness, and flexibility.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer: 
Open Government MAP in Banská Bystrica 2030
Open Government MAP in Banská Bystrica 2030 – MIRO

1.2 Describe the main external or internal factors that impacted implementation of this commitment and how they were addressed (or not).

Internal factors that have influenced the implementation of this commitment include the current absence of any open government strategy in the city of Banská Bystrica more precisely the lack of identification with the implementation of OGP principles at the institutional level. The activities implemented within the Action Plan do change the status significantly. The city acknowledges the fact that it must work on the implementation of these principles to build a better trust and partnership relationship between the municipal authority and civil society parties. External factors include the lack of citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More in public affairs in Banská Bystrica and the need for systematic change in this area. Concretely the implementation of this commitment was influenced by the period of the pre-election campaign, where the emotions of people in the city were high. This was also one of the reasons why we have extended the deadline for the competition of this commitment.

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

Most of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

6 milestones were set, 3 of which have been achieved: the creation of an OGP strategy working group; the facilitation of at least 5 meetings at the City Collaboratory (10 meetings have been facilitated), and the creation of the OGP strategy draft.
The other two are being finalized in early 2023, namely the creation of a permanent OGP platform (statute), which will take the form of a City Collaboratory Council. Evidence suggests that short-term OGP objectives have been identified but have not yet been implemented. The fulfillment of milestone “Consolidation and coordination of the City’s strategic concepts and documents relevant to OGP” is in the process.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer: 
List of members of the working group
Public meetings
Municipal cooperative

2.1.1. – Did the government disclose more information; improve the quality of the information (new or existing); improve the value of the information; improve the channels to disclose or request information or improve accessibility to information?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

The City of Banská Bystrica developed a first draft strategy and short-term goals of open government in cooperation with civil society parties. For the creation of the first draft of the strategy and the short-term goals, the city commissioned a specific working group and created a permanent group of the open government platform, which serves as a channel of information – the “City Collaboratory”. The platform serves as a meeting point for all interested parties – city residents, Municipal Office experts, and the city leadership. The creation of the platform has improved access to information including strategy development and other matters related to the city. The city government received high-quality and valuable information and inputs that served for the drafting of the strategy and short-term goals, as well as for other purposes in public policy making.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer: 
List of members of the working group
Schedule of activities
Open Government MAP in Banská Bystrica 2030

2.1.2. – Did the government create new opportunities to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation inform or influence decisions; improve existing channels or spaces to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation/ inform or influence decisions; create or improve capabilities in the government or the public aimed to improve how the government seeks feedback from citizens/enables participation/ or allows for the public to inform or influence decisions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

The city created a platform called “City Collaboratory”, which serves as a communication tool that provides a new opportunity to get feedback from citizens and allows them to participate in the development of public policies in the city. It is a space for mutual information, feedback, and cooperation between citizens, civic communities, communities of professionals or entrepreneurs, the city leadership, and Municipality Office experts. At the same time, it enables citizens to get involved in problematic areas of life in the city through innovative forms of participation.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer: 
Activities of the open platform governance in the city of Banská Bystrica

2.1.3 Did the government create or improve channels, opportunities or capabilities to hold officials answerable to their actions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

City employees influenced the development of the open government strategy on two levels. First, selected employees directly participated in its development. Second, they commented on the material and made suggestions for amendments. Since the strategy and the subsequent open government map reflect the principles of OPG local, it is natural that these documents also derive obligations and responsibilities directly to the employees, set their tasks, or create new opportunities for development, cooperation, etc.

2.1.4 Other Results

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

To fulfill Commitment Number Two, the City of Banská Bystrica established cooperation with foreign partners such as the OECD and the World Bank, but also with partners from various sectors such as Matej Bel University or with multiple civic initiatives.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer:
Article “Banská Bystrica cooperates with the European Commission and the OECD in the field of participation”
Article: “Processes involving residents in the support of biodiversity in housing estates in Banská Bystrica“.

2.2 Did the commitment address the public policy problem that it intended to address as described in the action plan?

Yes

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Commitment 2 was aimed at developing a draft OGP strategy and addressing the lack of public involvement in decision-making processes in public policymaking by creating a communication platform. The platform, which is to be open to all groups of the city’s residents, held a total of 10 meetings between November 2021 and December 2022. The meetings were attended by representatives of the city, the professional community, non-profit organizations, the corporate environment, as well as active citizens. The abovementioned demonstrates that the commitment addressed the problem defined in the action plan. However, the city leadership yet needs to focus on how to increase the interest of citizens to participate in the platform meetings and thus increase participation.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer: 
Municipal cooperative
Public meetings

3. Provide at least one lesson or reflection relating to the implementation of this commitment. It can be the identification of key barriers to implementation, an unexpected help/hindrance, recommendations for future commitments, or if the commitment should be taken forward to the next action plan.

The City of Banská Bystrica in cooperation with the established platform “City Collaboratory” successfully fulfilled commitment No. 2 which was aimed at creating the first draft of the OGP Strategy /Roadmap and identifying and implementing short-term goals. The commitment ensured the collaboration of municipal and civil society parties within the Open Government Platform and the activities of the Specific Working Group. As part of the feedback, we recommend that the city leadership work on the overall marketing and communication of the activities, which could address the problem of low participation in the platform meetings and increase the overall motivation and interest of citizens in public policymaking. We suggest that the City consider live streaming of the City Collaboratory. We also recommend using social media more for communication. At the same time, it is important not only to communicate but also to educate the public and teach them how to participate in public affairs.