Increasing the capacity for co-creative policy-making within local governments (EE0055)

2.1 Introducing the principles of open government within local governments
What is the public problem that the commitment will address? The adoption of principles of open governance in local governments is work in progress. Although various activities are being carried out, the principles of open government are often not established throughout the activities of local governments. Elva Rural Municipality and the City of Tartu are good examples of preparation of OGP action plan and open government activities. With the support of the European Social Fund project, Lääneranna and Valga municipalities have also developed an OGP action plan, and the City of Rakvere is currently developing an OGP action plan. In a survey of local governments concluded in the autumn of 2019, six local governments pointed out that, as at the end of 2018, they had an OGP action plan (some as part of a development plan). The results show that there is a need to increase awareness of broader planning for open government.

What is the commitment? In order to develop the principles of open government and raise awareness of their implementation at the local level, the goal is to organize open government workshops for local governments. The exact content and structure of the workshops are currently under development. In the past, projects for the development of open government action plans based on individual local governments have been supported. The practical workshops being planned would allow for a more thematic approach and a certain degree of regularity. With seminars intended for a much broader target group, it is possible to reach more local governments than with project-based support for few local governments. One of the possible solutions is to focus on a specific topic in different workshops (e.g. electronic sessions, transparency in decisions), depending on the expectations of the participants, analysing previously established practices. Experience has shown that seminars are effective where, 15 in addition to theoretical solutions, the participating local governments themselves are analysed and the experiences and best practices of others are introduced.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem? Workshops increase the policy-making skills of local governments and, at the same time, help develop activities that are suitable for them.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? Transparency Civic participation

Additional information The activity supports the achievement of the strategic goal of ‘Estonia 2035’, in which ‘Estonia is an innovative, reliable and people-centred country’.

Milestone Activity Result Start date End date Development of the terms of reference for open government workshops and the preparation of workshops The methodology for workshops has been developed 08.2020 12.2020 Organisation of open government workshops The workshops have been conducted (the number of participations is 120) 01.2021 06.2022

2.2 Increasing co-creative policy-making skills and the contribution of communities in local governments
What is the public problem that the commitment will address? One of the key issues in open government is the involvement of members of the public and civic associations in the decision-making processes. A 2018 survey of non-profit associations revealed that co-operation between local governments and non-governmental organizations has stalled (40% of associations have permanent co-operation relations with local governments).12 Involvement projects and a central training program are working, and satisfaction with them is high; however, the number of activities intended for local governments in particular must be increased. Within many local governments, there is a lack of perception concerning the importance of community involvement, and there is no overview of the communities in their area. Thus, over the last three election cycles, the rate of participation in local government council elections has decreased from 60.6% to 53.3%. Many citizens’ initiatives take place in communities and neighbourhoods, among peer groups and acquaintances. Communities have a major role to play in people-to-people contacts, debate and joint action, and in shaping an environment that supports health, at both the local and the national level. The development of policy can only be co-creative if, in addition to the representative organizations of civil society, communities also participate in these processes. As opposed to the activities described above (2.1), this activity focuses more narrowly on community involvement.

What is the commitment? To implement a co-creative policy development program with the participation of at least five local governments. As part of the programme, local governments – in co-operation with residents and, if necessary, also with Kodukant, the Estonian Village Movement – determine and identify their communities, and existing co-operation methods are collected, analysed and methodically described. A co-creation development program will then be implemented for at least five local governments and, in cooperation with representatives from the 12 Tallinn University, Estonian Business School, Turu-uuringute AS. Interim evaluation of the Civil Society Development Plan (2019). 17 communities a model for involving local residents will be developed which, keeping in mind the best practices, could be used in the future to involve communities more actively in the decision-making process of local governments. In order to evaluate the activity, a satisfaction survey will be conducted among the participants (of the participating local government units and the communities).

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem? A systemic approach allows for the exchange of experiences and increases the openness of governance. Contributing to communities helps to create a good living environment, where people want to live and start a family.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? Transparency Civic participation

Additional information The activities support the achievement of the strategic goals of ‘Estonia 2035’ ‘Smart, active and healthy people living in Estonia’ and ‘Estonian society is caring, cooperative and open’. Also the objectives of the ‘Development Plan for Population and Cohesive Society until 2030’ (under preparation) are supported.

Milestone Activity Result Start date End date Collection and analysis of co-creation methods (including surveys and interviews with the representatives of local governments and communities) At least five local governments and five communities have given input. 08.2020 12.2020 Description of the collected co-creation methods in cooperation with local governments and community representatives At least five methods are described. 01.2021 06.2021 Implementation of a co-creative policy development program for at least five local governments Five local governments have participated in the development programme. 01.2021 12.2021 Development of a concept model supporting an increase in the contribution by the community, in cooperation with local governments and community representatives The concept is ready on time. 01.2021 06.2021 Testing the concept of a model supporting an increase in contributions by communities The model has been tested in five local governments. 07.2021 12.2021 Improving the model supporting an increase in input by communities and agreeing on further development and administration Follow-up activities have been agreed upon. 01.2022 06.2022 18 Commitment 3: Increasing the transparency of policy-maki"

Action Plan Review

Commitment 2: Increase co-creative policy-making capacity within local governments

• Verifiable: Yes

• Does it have an open government lens? Yes

• Potential for results: Modest

Results Report

Commitment 2. Increase co-creative policy-making capacity within local governments

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● Potential for results: Substantial

● Completion: Substantial

● Did it open government? Marginal

Commitment 2: Increase co-creative policy-making capacity within local governments (Ministry of Finance, Ministry of the Interior)

Context and Objectives:

This commitment aimed to promote open government in local municipalities and build their capacity to engage communities in local governance. Local governments have lacked a systematic approach to open government and civil society stakeholders have emphasized local municipalities’ need for setting up new governance and participation mechanisms after the large-scale amalgamation in 2017. [24] In previous OGP action plans, the government funded the development of open government action plans in local municipalities, conducted pilot projects to build individual municipalities’ capacity to implement open government principles, and developed guidelines for local participatory budgeting. The Ministry of Finance also developed the Minuomavalitsus (“My local government”) public dashboard to monitor local administrations’ performance in several areas, including open government. In the fifth action plan, the Ministry of Finance conducted workshops to raise municipalities’ awareness of open government, and the Ministry of Interior launched a capacity-building program to improve municipalities’ co-creation and community engagement skills.

Did It Open Government? Marginal

The design of this commitment did not include explicit measures to support sustainable changes in local governance. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Interior’s capacity-building program helped foster community engagement in municipalities. Although the Ministry of Finance’s workshops have remained a one-off initiative without a clear follow-up plan, all participating administrations developed a draft action plan to promote open government in their municipality. This increases the likelihood that some municipalities will start implementing a more systematic open government agenda soon.

The Ministry of Finance contracted the e-Governance Academy to carry out the open government workshops. In 2021–2022, five workshops took place, reaching 115 participants from 36 municipalities. [25] This covers around half of the 79 Estonian municipalities. The participants have included local public officials, members of local assemblies and executive governments. Three workshops took place within the action plan term, two shortly after and three more were postponed to 2023. The delays were caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and difficulty of mobilizing participants in spring 2022 as local governments were busy helping Ukrainian war refugees. [26] The e-Governance Academy structured the workshops around the local open government framework that they developed during the third OGP action plan. The workshops included theoretical and practical exercises on topics such as government transparency, access to information, public participation, and public service co-production. Municipalities that had adopted open government agendas during previous OGP action plans also shared their experience. As a result of the workshops, participants developed a draft action plan to foster open government in their municipality. The full-day workshops were followed by online seminars where participants received feedback to their plans from experts and peers.

The Ministry of Finance does not plan to follow up with municipalities to support the development and implementation of these action plans. [27] As the workshops will reach officials from almost all municipalities by the end of 2023, the ministry aims to give the participants time to reflect on the results and practice what they learned. [28] The e-Governance Academy notes that municipalities have an incentive to follow through with the plans since the existence of an open government agenda is one of the indicators monitored on the Minuomavalitsus dashboard. [29] Based on the Minuomavalitsus data, the Ministry of Finance regularly monitors local governments’ performance and recognizes best performers across different categories of indicators, including open government. [30] In addition to draft action plans, the e-Governance Academy believes the workshops gave participants a more systematic understanding of open government. [31] According to the e-Governance Academy and Ministry of Finance, many participants realized that they can take small steps to increase openness even with limited resources, for example by publishing more information on the municipality’s website. [32]

At the same time, the Ministry of Interior and two CSOs – the Social Innovation Lab and village movement Kodukant – implemented a capacity-building program on co-creation for ten municipalities, exceeding the initial target of five. As a first step, the ministry conducted an online survey to collect data on municipalities’ public engagement practices. An informal body of experts analyzed the data and selected 12 good practices. [33] The ministry then interviewed local public officials and civil society representatives from these municipalities to identify gaps and challenges to public participation. [34] The program provided practical tools for analyzing stakeholder needs and leading co-creation and service design processes. [35] It engaged 46 participants, including local public officials, community activists, and civil society consultants from regional development centers. [36] A key output of the program was the local community engagement and collaboration model developed by the participating municipalities. The model provides a blueprint for municipalities to systematically involve local communities in public governance. It defines the roles of the local council, municipality government, community organizations, and citizens in developing a vibrant local community and recommends activities that each of them can undertake to strengthen institutional collaboration with other stakeholders. It also involves a conceptual model that helps local governments map the maturity of the local community and plan measures to support the development of the local community according to its maturity level. [37]

Participants also developed an action plan for implementing the model in their respective municipality. In addition to trainings, the program included 16 hours of expert mentoring to help municipalities develop and test the model. Municipalities have already begun implementing the model. For example, the municipality of Valga has been implementing a local open government action plan since 2019 as a result of Estonia’s fourth OGP action plan. They have now integrated new activities in this action plan targeting community development. [38] Representatives from Valga claim the community maturity model has helped them develop more realistic expectations of collaboration with the local community and have appreciated mentors’ help in identifying the community’s needs regarding preferred forms of collaboration with the municipality. [39] In the town of Maardu, the co-creation program helped set up regular informal meetings between municipality officials and civil society activists, which have continued after the end of the program. [40] Maardu is implementing the community engagement model to reinvigorate the local community of the town’s Muuga district. As the first step, the municipality organized open discussions and a roundtable with the residents of Muuga at the beginning of 2023 to reflect on the district’s identity.

The Ministry of Interior plans to continue disseminating and developing the model with the help of their network of civil society consultants working in regional development centers. [41] They are also planning meetings with the municipalities who participated in the co-creation program to discuss what support municipalities may need from the central government in fostering community engagement at the local level.

Another key outcome concerns the regional civil society consultants. The Ministry of Interior coordinates a consultation service in all 15 Estonian regions to counsel CSOs on a range of issues related to the management, funding, and operation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The ministry expanded this service in 2023 to support local community activists and grassroots initiatives that do not operate as NGOs. The reform itself was not in the scope of the OGP action plan but the consultants were invited to participate in the co-creation program. The consultants joined teams of municipality officials and CSOs and helped them co-create the community engagement model. The knowledge gained from the program will support the reform and enable consultants to provide a broader range of services to local communities. CSOs consider the reform highly beneficial for civil society development. [42]

Looking Ahead:

The government’s approach to local-level open government has so far mostly been project-based but lacking a long-term vision for fostering open government in municipalities. This has partly been due to the central government’s caution in interfering with local decision-making autonomy. [43] Nonetheless, OGP commitments have had positive effects on local governments. For example, the number of municipalities practicing participatory budgeting has risen from 18 in 2018 to 51 in 2022, while the number of municipalities that have an open government action plan or strategic agenda has risen from six to 22 over the same period. [44] As stakeholders continue prioritizing local open governance [45] and call for more support from the central government, [46] the Government Office introduced a commitment to the sixth action plan to develop a detailed roadmap for fostering open government at the local level. [47] This indicates a shift to a more comprehensive approach to supporting open government at the local level.

Based on the results of this commitment, the IRM recommends the following actions from the government:

• Since opening government at the local level is complex, it is important to assist municipalities not only in developing open government agendas but also in implementing them. Both the open government workshops and co-creation trainings involved developing concrete action plans, with the assistance of counseling. The e-Governance Academy, Ministry of Interior and local public officials note that municipalities will need more permanent counseling and mentoring to help them implement the plans. [48] The Ministry of Interior intends to engage the network of regional civil society consultants to provide such counseling service and are hiring a strategic partner for 2023–2026 to support the institutionalization of a community-centric local development model. [49] Municipalities that have implemented successful open government reforms (e.g. Elva, Valga) could continue sharing their experience with peers, but they are also interested in regular experience-sharing to learn from others. [50]
• The Ministry of Finance’s trainings revealed municipalities’ wish to adopt new digital tools to facilitate information provision and public participation. [51] Due to limited resources and shared needs, municipalities are interested in joint procurement of information systems and expect the Association of Estonian Cities and Municipalities (AECM) to coordinate this. [52] On agreement with the Ministry of Finance, the AECM recently assumed the role of a digital competence center for municipalities. [53] However, the local digital development strategy for 2020–2023 does not include an explicit focus on e-democracy, nor has the AECM expressed the intention to proactively coordinate this area. [54] The AECM could add the development of local-level e-democracy in the competence center’s mandate and lead municipalities’ collaboration in developing digital participation and co-creation tools.
• The Ministry of Finance has convened a working group of experts and stakeholders to update the methodology and indicators measuring local open government on the Minuomavalitsus dashboard. [55] The indicators cover different aspects of open government, such as political transparency, access to information, civic participation, etc. The first results of the new methodology will be published in June 2023. [56] In the future, the government could use Minuomavalitsus data to encourage a race to the top and provide tailored support to municipalities lagging behind.
• To achieve greater impact, more intensive policy coordination is needed between the Ministry of Finance, who assists local development, and the Ministry of Interior, who develops civil society and active communities. Both ministries indicated to the IRM that they are aware of each other’s activities when it comes to the development of open government at the local level, but do not design these activities jointly. [57] Since it is often difficult to draw clear lines between the responsibilities of the two ministries, the ministries could develop a shared vision of the change they wish to achieve, and design and implement a joint agenda. It is also vital to engage stakeholders such as the national civil society endowment, regional civil society consultants, the ministries’ strategic partners and AECM in planning and implementation.
• Most Estonian municipalities struggle with limited financial and human resources. For instance, Maardu city officials fear their recent efforts to develop the municipality’s civic engagement practices may not be sustainable since they rely entirely on officials’ voluntary work. [58] To help accelerate open government reforms, the government could pay attention to the financing model of local governments, including central funding mechanisms and municipalities’ availability to raise their own funds. It may be useful to continue supporting the development of local public officials’ skills related to open government and co-creation, and fund capacity-building of local community activists as well as concrete collaboration initiatives between local municipalities and communities.