Piloting the Arvamusrännak Discussions (EE0060)

Brief description of the commitment Organise a series of discussions (arvamusrännak) among the adult population in the autumn of 2022 to collect proposals and input from people for updating the action plan of the ‘Estonia 2035’ strategy in the spring of 2023. The goal is to hold at least 150 group discussions across Estonia. After the discussions, the methodology is described with lessons learned so that it can be used by other interested parties in Estonia and elsewhere.

Problem definition
What problem does the commitment aim to address? Estonia has integrated the involvement of non-governmental organisations in the policy-making process quite well, but the current system primarily supports the involvement of people in non-governmental organisations. However, most people are not members of a representative or umbrella organisation, and therefore the policy-makers often do not hear a significant part of the opinions. Various polls and studies map the approach and expectations of the general public, but they do not support the emergence of in-depth and reasoned discussions, which is why new solutions are rarely found. The long-term national development strategy ‘Estonia 2035’ approved by the Riigikogu states the goal ‘As a country, Estonia is people-centred, where policy-making is co-creative and people can participate in making important decisions’. In order to achieve this goal, it is stipulated, among other things, that the ‘Estonia 2035’ action plan of the Government of the Republic is updated every year in co-creation with the people of Estonia.

What are the causes of the problem? In 2020, the Government Office conducted user interviews with people who usually do not participate in engagement events as part of the Innosprint organised by the public sector innovation team. The interviews revealed that there are several reasons for inactivity: ● people do not consider themselves politically active, although they keep an eye on what is happening in politics every day and often discuss these topics with family and friends; ● people do not feel that their contribution could change something, because the calls to express their opinion are usually general and it remains unclear whether there is a specific person who actually wants to and can implement the presented proposals. Based on these conversations, a profile of an ‘active of their own’ person was created, whose involvement has not been targeted until now. 18

Commitment description
What has been done so far to solve the problem? During the preparation of ‘Estonia 2035’, the Government Office, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, conducted the opinion poll ‘What kind of Estonia do you want in 2035?’ in the spring of 2019. Nearly 14,000 people participated and in the process, important value-based keywords were screened for formulating the long-term goals of Estonia. It was possible to participate in the opinion poll both via an e-questionnaire and to fill out a paper form in libraries. The questionnaires were available in Estonian, Russian, and English. Although the number of participants in the opinion poll was significant in the Estonian context, it can be said that it was merely a consultation. Therefore, the Government Office set itself the goal of piloting a co-creation methodology every year during the renewal of the ‘Estonia 2035’ action plan, which could be used by others in the future. For example, in 2021, the Government Office organised discussions with the youth for the ‘Estonia 2035’ strategy, during which the ideas of students in grades 7–12 were studied on how to improve the living environment in Estonia. A playful website was created to explain the topic and guided discussions were conducted in more than twenty schools (both on site and as e-lessons). As a result, nearly 200 ideas were gathered from the school students, resulting in 15 specific proposals on the topic of transport, waste, and energy. The people of Estonia were asked to vote for their favourite idea through the news portal. The young people who submitted the proposals with the most votes also presented their ideas to the prime minister.

What solution are you proposing? The Government Office will organise a series of discussions (arvamusrännak) among the adult population in the autumn of 2022 to collect proposals and input from people for updating the action plan of the ‘Estonia 2035’ strategy in the spring of 2023. The Government Office wants to hold small group discussions all over Estonia, which will be led by active citizens on a voluntary basis in a place of their own choosing, and as a result of which the participants in the discussions will submit proposals to the state. The target group is the so-called ‘active on their own’ people, and the process is designed in a way that supports personal contact. After the discussions, the methodology is described with lessons learned so that it can be used by other interested parties in Estonia and elsewhere.

What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment? A tried and tested co-creation methodology has been created, which helps to involve the target group of those who are active on their own. Based on the lessons learned from the discussions, either new methods can be designed or existing policy-making processes can be supplemented to increase the degree of co-creation.

Commitment analysis
How will the commitment promote transparency? In the methodology of the discussions, it is taken into account that the participants would know at all times what has become of their proposal after it has been presented. The background materials necessary for the discussion are also created for the participants.

How will the commitment help foster accountability? How will the commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions? The aim of the ‘Estonia 2035’ discussions is to hold at least one hundred and fifty group discussions. That would be the largest inclusion initiative in Estonia so far. The lessons of the Arvamusrännak discussion will be integrated into the co-creation instructions (see previous commitments).

Commitment planning Milestones Expected outputs Expected completion date Stakeholders

Development of the Arvamusrännak discussions methodology The methodology is ready for implementation August 2022 Lead: Government Office Supporting stakeholders Government CSOs Others (e.g. parliament, private sector, etc.) All ministries Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organisations

Organisation of the Arvamusrännak discussions There will be at least 150 discussions December 2022 Lead: Government Office Supporting stakeholders Government CSOs Others (e.g. parliament, private sector, etc.) All ministries Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organisations

Updating the ‘Estonia 2035’ action plan The proposals of the Arvamusrännak discussions have been considered when updating the action plan, and the choices have been justified to the submitters May 2023 Lead: Government Office Supporting stakeholders Government CSOs Others (e.g. parliament, private sector, etc.) All ministries Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organisations

Analysing the lessons of the Arvamusrännak discussions and describing the methodology The methodology of the Arvamusrännak discussions has been published February 2023 Lead: Government Office Supporting stakeholders Government CSOs Others (e.g. parliament, private sector, etc.) All ministries Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organisations

Action Plan Review

Commitment 1.3 Piloting the Arvamusrännak Discussions

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● This commitment has been clustered as: Increasing co-creation in policy-making (activities 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 of the action plan)

● Potential for results: Substantial

Government Office, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Finance

For a complete description of the activities included in this commitment, see activities 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 in the action plan here.

Context and objectives

Estonia has sought to nurture participatory and co-creative policy-making practices throughout several OGP action plans. Increasing the transparency and accessibility of public decision-making has been the government’s and civil society’s shared priority as the government’s lawmaking process has been deemed complicated for the public to follow and take part in. [1] Symptoms of this problem are persistently low public participation rates in policy-making processes and civil society organizations (CSOs) being involved in policy processes too late when there is little time to substantially influence the government’s plans. [2]

This commitment continues the development of a government-wide digital tool for legislative drafting and co-creation that Estonia started in its fourth action plan. In addition to giving the public an integrated view of the policy cycle, the tool will enable citizens to participate in different stages of the lawmaking process. The commitment also continues the fifth action plan’s work on developing a public toolbox of co-creation methods to serve as a resource for policy makers, and the government will continue testing specific co-creation methods in real-life policy-making exercises.

• Under the fifth action plan, the government developed a minimum viable prototype [3] of the legislative drafting and co-creation tool, conducted user tests and launched pilots to test the functionalities of the tool in actual legislative drafting processes. For the sixth action plan, the government aims to develop a pilot-ready version of the tool’s public interface, which would enable the public to submit comments in legislative drafting processes. In addition, data on meetings with lobbyists where the particular initiative has been discussed will be presented next to each legislative initiative.
• Under the fifth action plan, the Government Office developed an online toolbox of co-creation methods, but publication has been delayed due to discussions around the technical solution. [4] The toolbox will include a repository of co-creation methods, guidelines, and real-life case studies, as well as an overview of the government’s ongoing policy co-creation processes. The Government Office published the first parts of the toolbox in November 2022 and regards it as a ‘live’ resource that government agencies and other stakeholders can update with their own methods and experiences. As part of the sixth action plan, the Government Office aims to add four new co-creation methods to the toolbox, some of them based on CSOs’ input to the action plan co-creation process.
• Under the fifth action plan, in 2021, the Government Office coordinated a large-scale participation initiative gathering young people’s proposals for improving the living environment in Estonia using the “opinion journey” co-creation methodology. [5] The sixth action plan will adopt a similar method but on a much larger scale: government institutions, CSOs, and individual adult citizens of different ages will be invited to conduct 150 group discussions all around Estonia to solicit input to the 2023 annual action plan of the national development strategy “Estonia 2035”. The methodology and lessons learned from this exercise will be added to the co-creation toolbox and the government will provide reasoned response to participants on how their input shaped the annual action plan.
• Under the fifth action plan, the Ministry of Rural Affairs analyzed the management and participation practices of their more than 20 advisory bodies with the aim to develop guidelines for better engagement of stakeholders in these bodies. [6] This activity is not continued in the sixth action plan.

As a new activity, the sixth action plan includes a review of the legal and policy landscape to create a roadmap for widespread adoption of co-creative policy-making methods at the central and local government levels. This commitment therefore seeks to advance both government transparency and civic participation by combining digital tools, methodological resources, public participation initiatives, and roadmaps for legal and policy change.

Potential for results: Substantial

The impact of this commitment is not likely to be immediate – major shifts in public participation are likely to happen only in the long term if the government continues advancing transparency and inclusion in policy-making processes. However, previous action plans have already made small improvements in transparency and participation that create a strong foundation for the sixth action plan.

First, initiatives such as the youth’s “opinion journey” have given a small number of policy makers direct experience of coordinating co-creation processes and a small number of citizens experience of participating in such processes. Positive experiences like this can encourage the government to implement similar participation initiatives on a broader scale. This is visible in the new commitment to conduct 150 group discussions with citizens to co-create the “Estonia 2035” strategy’s next annual action plan. As of November 2022, 115 discussions have already been registered, covering all 15 counties of Estonia. [7]

Second, the government has laid the groundwork for more open policy-making practices at the central level by developing a digital tool, the design of which enables and explicitly encourages transparency and co-creation. According to the current roadmap, a government-wide adoption of the tool would likely not happen before the year 2024 and further developments (e.g., integration of Parliamentary proceedings) may continue beyond 2025. [8] This means this commitment, if implemented as planned, will constitute an incremental, yet indispensable step in a long process of shifting to new policy-making methods and tools. According to the coordinator from the Ministry of Justice, the use of the co-creation tool will become mandatory for government agencies once it is ready for adoption. [9] She also notes that the government users who have piloted the tool have given positive feedback and expressed a desire to use it in the future. Both the obligation and intent to use the system are important, albeit not the only preconditions for successful institutionalization of new policy-making practices.

Although previous action plans have included capacity building of public officials and ministries’ public engagement coordinators, they lacked a comprehensive plan to drive deeper institutional change. Commitment 1.2 addresses this gap, by establishing an expert group that will analyze the gaps that hinder the adoption of co-creative policy-making practices in government agencies and local municipalities. The expert group will then develop a public roadmap laying out proposals for fostering co-creation at the central and local government level. According to the commitment coordinator, the expert group is led by two open government experts from civil society and is divided into two sub-groups, one focusing on the central government level and the other on the local level. [10] The expert group includes representatives from three ministries, the Government Office, and a number of CSOs and social partners. [11] The local government subgroup also includes representatives of municipalities. To inform the roadmap, the expert group is conducting interviews with ministries and plans a survey among key CSO partners to analyze their views on the barriers of public participation. [12]

Ultimately, this commitment’s impact will depend on the actual implementation process that follows the adoption of the roadmap. The government is currently considering two possible approaches to that. [13] The first would require the expert group and Government Office to work with ministries to carry out the roadmap’s proposals that relate to their policy area. However, if a stronger mandate is needed to drive action on the roadmap, the Government Office could take the roadmap to the cabinet of ministers, who could assign tasks to government agencies and oversee their implementation. Either way, the Government Office’s strong sense of ownership of this commitment increases the prospects of it leading to substantial changes in government transparency and civic participation in the long term.

Opportunities, challenges, and recommendations during implementation

Since this commitment continues work from previous action plans, the key challenges that may affect implementation have already been highlighted in previous IRM reports. These include the need to work on promoting the take-up of the resources created as part of the action plan, and the challenge of securing institutional will to change policy-making practices. [14] More specifically, the lead agencies could consider the following recommendations:

• Devote attention to fostering a culture of collaboration and dialogue in addition to promoting new co-creation methods. According to the Estonian Cooperation Assembly, the action plan’s focus on trying out new methods is valuable but carries the risk that more attention is paid to the technical side of collaboration than to fostering a culture of dialogue and creating spaces conducive to genuine co-creation between different stakeholders. [15] Possible measures to support cultural change include civil service training and capacity building, but also identifying and empowering innovators and community leaders within the public sector and civil society who can drive cultural change in their organizations or communities. The expert group could be tasked with analyzing what resources, experiences, and incentives public officials and CSOs need to become active proponents of co-creation in their organizations. For future consideration, stakeholders have also proposed the government establish a center of competence (either as a separate institution or department of a government agency) with the responsibility and resources to develop democratic governance in Estonia. [16]
• Include action to support ministries’ public engagement coordinators in the work of the expert group. The IRM has previously recommended strengthening the role of public engagement coordinators to advise engagement processes in government agencies. [17] Despite efforts to support the coordinators’ work, the role of engagement coordinators continues to be uneven across ministries, often depending on the top managers’ interest in public engagement. [18] The expert group could propose a course of action for strengthening the role of public engagement coordinators in ministries. This may require reducing other work in the coordinators’ portfolio to allow them to focus on supporting their institutions in public engagement. The Government Office notes that the expert group is autonomous in deciding what solutions it will propose, but leaders of the expert group have interviewed ministries’ public engagement coordinators and they are engaged in evaluating possible steps in the future. [19]
• Devise an action plan to foster active use of the co-creation toolbox. As this valuable resource becomes available, it is vital to plan concrete activities to promote its use. Ministries’ public engagement coordinators could jointly plan activities to promote the toolbox among their colleagues. In addition to ministries, the toolbox could also be interesting for CSOs and local governments. The Government Office could take the lead in disseminating information about the toolbox and work with the Association of Estonian Cities and Rural Municipalities and CSO networks like the Network of Estonian Nonprofit Organizations, the OGP civil society roundtable, Kodukant the Village Movement, and others to share the toolbox with various communities.
• Engage ministries from the outset to secure their commitment to carry out the activities in the roadmap. According to the Government Office, the expert group is interviewing ministries to identify their needs regarding the use of co-creative and collaborative policy-making practices. It is important that the expert group keep close contact with all ministries to ensure their awareness of the roadmap process and discuss their role and responsibilities in implementing the resulting proposals early on.