Strenghtening the Participation Hub (IT0084)

Problem addressed:

Public participation in the Italian context, although very broad and diverse at the local scale and in some Regions, has not yet become a fully supported practice by institutional actors. Except for some sectoral regulations and public debate, which provide for specific regulation for early confrontation on major works, regulatory tools aimed at involving citizens in the definition, implementation, and evaluation of public policies remain mainly at the local level. At the same time, the exercise of the right to participation by citizens and civil society organisations in the definition of regulations, plans, and programs is still largely procedural by institutions. The lack of a consistent national framework to promote and consolidate participatory democracy institutions, ensuring minimum quality standards, leaves room for various interpretations and procedures that are not always in line with evolving practices, creating uncertainty in the functioning and outcomes of these processes. Additionally, unlike other countries like France, Italy lacks national deliberative discussions on major societal issues. The sporadic nature of initiatives is also related to the absence of a national regulatory framework to promote citizen involvement in policy formulation, as highlighted in the aforementioned European Commission Recommendation. The PNRR, currently being implemented, explicitly calls for the involvement of social partners and organised civil society in its regulatory framework (2021/241, art 18, 4a), specifying that these processes and their outcomes must be documented and made public. Stimulated by the OGP Challenge initiative, the Italian Community has decided to focus on promoting the quality of participation mechanisms, leveraging the Participation Hub and collaboration among promoters and actors that make up its community of practices, with a coordinated national approach.

Description of the commitment:

The main goal of the commitment is the co-creation of national guidelines on participation, which will be defined in accordance with the principles of the Public Participation Charter. These principles have been shared through an extensive and participatory revision process carried out by public and private actors collaborating in the management of the Participation Hub, co-created as part of the 5NAP. These guidelines will also include the consultation processes currently supported by the "Public Consultation Guidelines", resulting from the collaboration between DFP and DRI. They will consider guidance documents produced by other institutional actors to create a shared national reference framework and common language, identifying minimum quality standards to improve public participation. The main expected outcome is the dissemination and application of the guidelines by administrations in the public policy-making processes, with institutional support from the Minister of Public Administration.

How will the commitment address the problem?

The commitment aims to address the problem by defining national guidelines that public administrations and civil society can refer to for implementing quality participation policies at all levels of government. In this regard, during the OG Week 2024, the Minister for Public Administration publicly expressed interest in promoting the co-creation of the guidelines. To achieve a national reference framework defining the value, possible intervention areas, and different scales of public participation, understood as a form of equal collaboration between public administrations and civil society, there is a need for a political stakeholder who, within a soft-law framework, leverages institutional support to reinforce policies aimed at strengthening citizens' trust and generating public value. The commitment can thus help strengthen the participation of marginalised and underrepresented groups, such as younger generations, in public decision-making processes, ensuring that their voices are heard and represented. The Participation Hub facilitates the sharing of practices and resources; furthermore, emerging technologies and artificial intelligence can facilitate inclusion by providing tools for co-producing policies, actively involving citizens in regulatory processes, and improving the efficiency and equity of public policies.

Why is this commitment relevant to the OGP values?

European directives and the maturity of local entities and civil society in practicing participatory tools provide an important stimulus to practice open government principles, particularly to strengthen the citizens' right to contribute to public decisions within a soft-law framework. This commitment aims to improve access to policy design and implementation decision-making processes through a path based on defining shared principles. This involves public and civil society actors, both organised and unorganised, in the co-creation of guidelines on public participation aimed at improving the effectiveness of public participation and fostering greater social cohesion. Thus, participation for participation, to make open administration policies not an exception but a widespread practice. Additionally, the commitment aligns with the OGP Challenge initiative, which foresees managing multistakeholder centers for participation and improving access to public decision-making processes to strengthen participatory policies. Therefore, it aims to strengthen the Participation Hub as a national venue for designing inclusive and participatory public practices.

Description of the activities and outputs:

Strengthening the role of the Participation Hub: Intensifying communication on community of practice activities, Supporting the co-creation process of the guidelines
Output: Communication plan for the Hub 2024-2026 (September 2024)
Realisation of a launching event for the co-creation process of public participation guidelines
Output: Event program (July 20)
Participation Festival in Bologna: Presentation of the 2024 Participation Charter and Results of the first step of the guideline definition process
Output: Participation Festival program (July 31), Guidelines’ structure (September 10)
Draft production in collaboration with the Participation Hub promoters and public consultation of the guidelines
Output: Consultation report on the ParteciPA platform
Approval of the final text of the guidelines and sharing with the minister for public administration for institutional political endorsement
Output: Publication and promotion of the guidelines on the official website
Supporting activities for the application of the guidelines, linked with Commitment B4: Active involvement of stakeholders supporting training paths on participatory, democracy for integration of the guidelines in provided courses, & Promotion events for the guidelines during OG Week 2025 and 2026
Output: Action plan for promoting public participation guidelines (February 2025)
Evaluation of the outcomes of the first phase of guideline application with a report by the Participation Hub promoters presented to the Minister for Public Administration and main stakeholders (Conference of Regions and ANCI)
Output: Report to the OGP Community and the Minister for Public Administration (May
2026
Territorial intervention modeling to support public participation policies: OPEN RE
Output: Creation of a program of initiatives co-created with the participatory practices
community of RER (September 2024 - February 2025), Report on approaches, models, and qualitative effects of public participation (September 2025)