Increasing the integration and use of the CoLaboratory tool in the Municipal Office agenda (SKBBA0004)

Commitment ID

SKBBA0004

Commitment Title

Increasing the integration and use of the CoLaboratory tool in the Municipal Office agenda

Problem

The lack of systemic use of dialogue and co-creation processes often results in misunderstandings, distrust, and polarisation. Solutions created with insufficient co-creation processes fail to tap into the  collective intelligence. Our city also faces the challenge of lack of collaborative relations between the municipality, citizens and stakeholders. A recently developed initiative is the “CoLaboratory” which supposed to function as a permanent platform for the support of development of collaborative relations in the city,  cooperation of different stakeholders, including citizens, in developing  complex public policies and innovative solutions. One of the key features of this platform is that it is facilitated by professional facilitators who use dialogue and participatory methods such as “the art of hosting“, and “harvesting methods”. However the CoLaboratory has not yet been used in a systematic way in city’s agenda and policy making processes (only few participatory projects have been supported by CoLaboratory) due to various reasons such as  lack of institutionalisation of the CoLaboratory, insufficient capacities to foster quality participative processes, lack of awareness and understanding of the opportunities provided by the CoLaboratory, lack of common practices, no evaluation processes in place to provide data about its use, absence of a directive specifying how and when CoLaboratory can be used, also people’s resistance  towards new approaches and tools.

Status quo

Currently, there is a small unit – Department for Participation and Innovation in Open Governance (PIOG) existing in the city office with 2 staff members dedicated to  implement the innovation process in the area of open governance and helping the City to improve the quality of participatory processes. The City has experience in participatory budgeting , with the support of PIOG it has  launched several participatory initiatives (e.g., Revitalisation of housing estates, City Park revitalisation, Open Government strategy development, Integrated Urban strategy development). Thematic committees operate in the City consisting of experts and MP’s functioning as advisory bodies to the City Council. PIOG brought to life some other practices in Banská Bystrica -  implementation of the implemented project with OECD and the European Commission called „Innovative implementation of the principle of partnership in the EU cohesion policy". Within the scope of this project, together with OECD experts, the city developed a new participatory method called “Ideathon” and implemented platform for online participation called DECIDIM. A recently developed initiative is the “CoLaboratory”: a permanent city platform for the ongoing cooperation of different stakeholders and citizens, in developing various complex public policies and innovative solutions. This platform also has a CoLaboratory board, which function as cross sector consulting, and advisory body for the open government development.

Action

This commitment is focused to increase the use of the CoLaboratory tool in the Municipal Office as a live laboratory (platform) and an apolitical, neutral, and safe space, which provides methodological support for participative meetings and dialogue among the stakeholders from different sectors to work together on quality and innovative solutions to the complex challenges of the city. CoLaboratory tool could support the preparation of project proposals, concepts and strategies. The use of the The CoLaboratory tool could also help to alleviate polarised relations in our city. The CoLaboratory can also facilitate dialogues among Municipal Office experts, external experts, and members of the City Council as the format of City Council meetings does not always provide enough space to create a dialogue. The CoLaboratory can effectively foster discussion also in the context of topics with an immediate impact on the quality of life of the whole population which tend to deepen polarisation in the city. Action steps that could help to increase the use of the CoLaboratory include the participative creation of a directive and methodology on how and when the CoLaboratory can be used; designation of a permanent physical space for the CoLaboratory; monitoring and evaluation of the use of the tool and building the capacity of the self-government stakeholders, i.e., developing the necessary attitude and skills to use the CoLaboratory (see more in Commitment 2).

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?

Upon the implementation, the expected outcomes include: a more systematic use of the CoLaboratory; an increased number of topics and agendas addressed with the support of the CoLaboratory; increased quality of the co-creation process in various public policy areas with an immediate impact on the quality of the solutions created within this process; and increased quality of relationships within the city.

What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?

This commitment is closely related to the vision of open government formulated in our Open Government Roadmap as follows: The self-government of Banská Bystrica will be built on the principles of open and systematic communication and cooperation with the citizens, associations, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders in all areas related to citizens’ lives and city development. Particularly this commitment contributes to three priorities defined in our Open Government Roadmap:

• Implementation of Innovation principle in Open Government which also includes activities such as:
  • creation of guidelines / instructions for the application of open government principles in the agendas / processes and projects of the Municipal Office (such as the guideline for the use of CoLaboratory)
  • Evaluation of the data and testing new approaches (such as the testing and evaluation of the CoLaboaratory tool)
• Implementation of Collaboration principle which also includes activities such as:
  • Development of the CoLaboaratory tool and the evaluation of its use
  • Creation of new models of collaboration with:
    • citizens, multi-sectoral experts, organisations and institutions, commissions of the City council, members of City council, citizens\\' councils and town district committees
• Implementation of Participation principle

Primary Policy Area

Civic Space, Other/NA

Primary Sector

Cross-sectoral, Public Services (general)

What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?