End of Commitment Report – Extending the OpenCohesion School project to include subjects related to social challenges and involving new schools throughout the territory, in order to promote critical analysis on the part of young people and boost their impact on public policy

Name of Evaluator

Núria Pérez Milán

Email

nuriaperezm@gencat.cat

Member Name

Cataluña (España)

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 – Catalonia, Spain, 2021 – 2023

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...

Extending the OpenCohesion School project to include subjects related to social challenges and involving new schools throughout the territory, in order to promote critical analysis on the part of young people and boost their impact on public policy

Action

This action focuses on promoting awareness and use of open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... among young people via the modification of the OpenCohesion School program. The program, currently being implemented in five schools throughout the territory, gives young people the opportunity to use data analysis to study a number of specific subjects. The aim is to launch a pilot scheme in a further 20 schools throughout the territory and provide an opportunity to address subjects that are not subsidized under the program (e.g. social challenges). The action is broken down into the following stages: Identifying and defining the parameters of the new program. Creating a catalog of resources provided by public administrations and other relevant organizations. Coordinating implementation with the different actors involved. Launching the first pilot scheme in 20 schools. Raising the profile of proposals for improvement, so that they can be considered within the framework of public policy.

Problem

Young people need to know the sources of information. Young people need tools to be able to check the veracity of news (fake news). Promote critical analysis and propose social improvements through the analysis of open data. Have open data converted into information that citizens can understand. Generate interest in educationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation ... and training in sociology/politics/statistics. Give young people a voice so that they can transform their community. Improve knowledge and awareness of the existing open data portal.

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 commitment 5 encompasses the latest edition (2023-24). The previous edition (2022-23) did not take place; therefore, in evaluating the commitment based on the questionnaire responses, the currently available data has been considered. There has been progress in implementing the commitment, as the 4th edition of this project has been successfully achieved.

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

As obstacles, the following have been highlighted:

• Difficulty in attracting schools and maintaining their commitment.
• Lack of resources and dedication to invest in attracting educational centers and promoting their participation.

These challenges have been identified in the context of the commitment’s implementation.

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:

Considerable efforts have been made to attract as many educational centers as possible.

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?

Not Applicable

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?

Not Applicable

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

Not Applicable

2.1.4 Other Results

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

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

In addition, knowledge of local projects funded by European Regional Development Funds (FEDER) has been conveyed to educational centers. The concept of public finance oversight (public audit) by citizens has also been introduced. Moreover, efforts have contributed to developing new skills among students, focusing on digital literacy, statistics, and civic education. This has involved using new technologies and journalistic techniques such as surveys, interviews, and engaging with local administration.

Furthermore, young people have been encouraged to adopt a critical mindset when assessing the performance of public institutions, fostering a more participatory and democratic culture.

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

Yes

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.