Action plan – Catalonia, Spain, 2021 – 2023

At-a-Glance

Duration

May 2023

Date Submitted

24th November 2021

Foreword(s)

With the same ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... that we manifested a year ago, and after the co-creation of this Action Plan has been finalised, the Government of Catalonia – with the support of the Network of Transparent Governments (representing public administrations) and civil society – will remain committed to the values that prompted its candidacy; values which, moreover, are fully aligned with those of the Declaration of Human RightsAn essential part of open government includes protecting the sacred freedoms and rights of all citizens, including the most vulnerable groups, and holding those who violate human rights accountable. T..., the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, and all of the other international instruments pertaining to human rights and good governance.

Consequently, this Action Plan fully guarantees the values and methodologies provided by the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More. As members, we are obliged to demand of ourselves that we also attain the same level of quality, and to meet the challenge of reviewing the outcome every two years and producing new action plans.

It has been an extremely fruitful learning experience in terms of co-creation in the field of open government, and one that we hope will set a precedent and provide an example for the other administrations with regard to future public policies in Catalonia. Co-creation also needs to be implemented in many other fields.

As an outcome of this Plan, and to facilitate its implementation, we have created the Open Government Forum: a multi-sector meeting-place for open government. The Forum will have continuity, as the Action Plan was only the initial objective; and it will serve as a powerful tool for promoting projects in the field of open government.

The Plan aims to bring improvements for every citizen and group in Catalonia, without exception, with a view to building a stronger democracy in order to improve the system of common government we have established for ourselves.

Open Government Challenges, Opportunities and Strategic Vision

This subsection details the Open Government Strategic Vision in your local area that should guide the commitments for the action plan period.

What is the long-term vision for open government in your context and jurisdiction?

• The strategic vision co-created at the Open Government Forum – Catalonia’s multi-sector meeting place for open government – involves the creation of a work ecosystem to foster open government, in the form of a network that operates through structures that are open, shared and pluralistic (in terms of territory, genderOGP participating governments are bringing gender perspectives to popular policy areas, ensuring diversity in participatory processes, and specifically targeting gender gaps in policies to address gov... More, social strata, etc.). In other words, there is no single body that drags the rest of the organisations along with it; rather, different actors and individuals construct and create meeting spaces or hubs, adopting a communal and coordinated approach to progress.
• This vision establishes an intergenerational, intercultural, gender- and diversity-based perspective for all of the processes that take place within the framework of open government.
• Likewise, councils in small municipalities are able to carry out tasks and meet requirements related to open government, thereby ensuring territorial balance and equal rights for all citizens, regardless of where they live.

What are the achievements in open government to date (for example, recent open government reforms)?

• Ethical mailboxes for citizen complaints.
• Integrity plans at municipal and regional level.
• Creation of a protocol for long-COVID sufferers following a process of dialogue with citizens.
• Creation of a transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More portal for local bodies, which automatically collects the information supplied by local bodies and presents it.
• Shared 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... portal for local bodies, with data supplied by the local bodies themselves.

What are the current challenges/areas for improvement in open government that the jurisdiction wishes to tackle?

• Obtain data that enables the analysis of current levels of gender inequality in Catalonia.
• Engage young people and encourage them to participate.
• Supply all of Catalonia’s administrations with resources on citizen participationAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, citizen participation occurs when “governments seek to mobilize citizens to engage in public debate, provide input, and make contributions that lead to m... More, in order to prevent inequalities.
• Provide training in order to minimise or prevent corruption and help administrations gain citizens’ trust.
• Raise awareness of the Sustainable Development GoalsOGP countries are experimenting with open government innovations to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 16+ which includes peaceful, just and inclusive societies....

What are the medium-term open government goals that the government wants to achieve?

• Promote interoperability between public administrations and access to (and use of) data on the part of private actors and citizens in general. Common standards and coordination between administrations. Data governance.
• Make citizens aware of the potential and uses of open data.
• Enable improved assessment and auditing (even by external parties) of the actions of public administrations, and improve citizens’ capacity to engage in public and political participation through open data.
• Guarantee the right to access public information by providing public information that can be understood and accessed easily by citizens. Proactivity on the part of public administrations in publishing public information.
• Proactivity on the part of public administrations with regard to participation: ensuring openness to the needs of all citizens and improving criteria related to quality of democracy.
• Promote spaces for ethical reflection among society as a whole, so that citizens are aware of – and make use of – all of the resources and tools at their disposal with regard to public ethics (ethical mailboxes, information, spaces for participation and reflection, etc.).

How does this action plan contribute to achieve the Open Government Strategic Vision?

• By creating a model of territorial participation, in order to facilitate the taking of complex decisions that affect the entire territory by using a co-leadership network approach, rather than having one body make the decision.
• By opening up data that shines a light on the socio-economic inequality of women and the feminisation of poverty, and ensuring the accessibility and usability of this data. This promotes the use of open data in decision-making processes for sector-specific policies.
• By promoting and modifying the Open School project, so that students in the final years of compulsory 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 ... are able to analyse open data related to social rights issues. The aim is to educate citizens and achieve informed participation based on open data.
• By opening up data that adds value to the indicators for the SDGs, so that citizens are able to analyse and assess the administrations’ achievements and the extent to which they are meeting the goals. This promotes the use of open data to carry out a transparent and real-time assessment of public actions (in this instance, the global challenge of the SDGs).
• Additionally, guidelines will be provided so that every municipality can create a public ethics and integrity plan, in order to ensure equal rights for people who live in different territories.

How does the open government strategic vision contribute to the accomplishment of the current administration’s overall policy goals?

The strategic vision set out in the Action Plan reinforces the objectives set by the Network of Transparent Governments, which are based on fostering collaboration between Catalonia’s public administration, the opening up of data, the reuse of public information, the right to access public information, good governance, open government, the establishment of mechanisms for coordination and collaboration, raising awareness among civil servants in Catalonia and the public in general with regard to a culture of transparency, and ensuring a diversity of mechanisms for participation in public policy.

The policy programme drawn up by the current Government of Catalonia has five areas of focus, which the OGP Action Plan for Catalonia will help to achieve:

• Fair Catalonia, with good governance and a world referent in democracy.
• Guarantee of the rights of equality, opportunity and welfare.
• Knowledge economy, digital and entrepreneurial.
• Green Catalonia, balanced and connected.
• Feminist Catalonia, based on the guarantee of the human rights.

More detailed:

Strengthening good governance, moving towards open government, in order to create public value.

Deploying an efficient, professional and excellent administration at the service of the people, in accordance with the principles of good governance.

Ensuring the effective equality of women and men in order to guarantee a fair and equitable distribution of rights, benefits, obligations, opportunities and resources.

Engagement and Coordination in the Open Government Strategic Vision and OGP Action Plan

Please list the lead institutions responsible for the implementation of this OGP action plan.

• Barcelona Provincial Council
• Girona Provincial Council
• Lleida Provincial Council
• Tarragona Provincial Council
• Barcelona Metropolitan Area
• Open Administration Consortium of Catalonia
• Localret Consortium
• Government of Catalonia
• Catalan Anti-Fraud Office

What kind of institutional arrangements are in place to coordinate between government agencies and departments to implement the OGP action plan?

• The Network of Transparent Governments of Catalonia was created by means of a horizontal agreement between various public administrations in Catalonia. It is formed of the four provincial councils, the Government of Catalonia, two bodies representing Catalonia’s municipalities (the Catalan Association of Municipalities and Counties (ACM) and the Catalan Federation of Municipalities), the Open Administration Consortium of Catalonia, Barcelona Metropolitan Area, the Localret Consortium, and the Association of Local Government Auditors, Officials and Treasurers.
• The Network has a number of working groups, including groups with a specific focus on citizen participation and monitoring the OGP (two major areas of coordination).
• Additionally, the Government of Catalonia has an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Open Government. All of the government ministries form part of this Committee and are kept informed of the actions it takes in relation to open government.

What kind of spaces have you used or created to enable the collaboration between government and civil society in the co-creation and implementation of this action plan? Mention both offline and online spaces.

• Creation of a mixed and gender-balanced steering group with equal representation from public administrations and civil society.
• Creation of the Catalan Open Government Forum: a multi-sector meeting-place with 60 members. The Forum has held three plenary meetings and created five working groups focusing on each commitment. Each of these groups has met three times. https://participacatalunya.cat/assemblies/AgoraGO
• Citizen consultations.

What measures did you take to ensure diversity of representation (including vulnerable or marginalized populations) in these spaces?

When the steering group and the Open Government Forum were created, efforts were made to ensure institutional equality and a gender-balanced, diverse membership. As far as possible, the same efforts were made for the working groups.

The processes of citizen information and consultation made it possible to gather proposals from various groups, including vulnerable communities.

Adopting an online approach has facilitated plurality and the ability to involve civil society and representatives throughout the territory.

Who participated in these spaces?

Across the various participatory spaces (specifically the three forums and 15 sessions held by the five working groups) a total of 134 people took part, of which 56% were women and 44% were men. In terms of the organisations represented, 64% of participants were from public administrations, 20% from civil society organisations, 5% from companies, 3% from universities and 5% did not represent any organisation. (No information is available for the remaining 3%.)

How many groups participated in these spaces?

62

How many public-facing meetings were held in the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive...?

18

How will government and non-governmental stakeholders continue to collaborate through the implementation of the action plan?

Commitments are jointly led and civil society is involved via the creation of working groups and spaces for monitoring and follow-up. Four of the Action Plan’s five commitments involve the direct participation of civil society:

• Integrity plans for local bodies in Catalonia: tools to fight corruption and promote good governance and public ethics.
• SDG-linked datasets that provide high-quality open data for the territory as a whole: reuse and impact.
• Design a participation model for policies and projects with a territorial impact.
• Provision of open data that enables the analysis of the socio-economic inequality of women and the feminisation of poverty.

Please describe the independent Monitoring Body you have identified for this plan.

• Stage 1: IERMB ( https://iermb.uab.cat )
• Stage 2: IVÀLUA ( https://ivalua.cat/es )

Provide the contact details for the independent monitoring body.

• Roger Barres, IERMB, Roger.Barres@uab.cat
• Marc Martí, IERMB, Marc.Marti@uab.cat
• Carla Cordoncillo, IVÀLUA, carla.cordoncillo@ivalua.cat

What types of activities will you have in place to discuss progress on commitments with stakeholders?

The multi-actor forum, which provides a permanent space for dialogue with civil society, will hold a plenary meeting every six months.

During these meetings of the Open Government Forum for Catalonia, which must be restructured as a space for social debate between administrations and civil society with regard to open government, reports will be given on the progress made in fulfilling the commitments.

Additionally, the Forum will also set up monitoring committees for each 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..., which will receive progress reports every three to four months.

How will you regularly check in on progress with implementing agencies?

Once the bodies that are leading each commitment have begun to implement it, a technical office will be set up in order to monitor the progress of implementing each commitment in accordance with the agreed timetable. This office will report to the Point of Contact for OGP Catalonia and the Open Government Forum, which will serve as a monitoring mechanism for citizens.

Monitoring will be carried out by means of bilateral quarterly meetings between the technical office and the leaders of each commitment.

This monitoring process will also be linked to the OGP working group of the Network of Transparent Governments.

How will you share the results of your monitoring efforts with the public?

The results will be published on the websites of the leader administrations. Additionally, the sector-specific portal for participation in Catalonia will publish information regarding the level of fulfillment of the commitments, so that citizens can monitor the progress being made.

Endorsement from Non-Governmental Stakeholders

• Catalan Association of Municipalities
• Catalan Federation of Municipalities
• Association of Political Scientists and Sociologists
• Iniciativa Barcelona Open Data
• Citizen Observatory Against Corruption
• UAB Comset (merger of Publiràdio and the Journalism Laboratory)
• Catalan Association of Female Journalists
• Women’s Council of Catalonia
• La Ciba Data Lab
• Association of Local Government Auditors, Officials and Treasurers (Network of Transparent Governmen

Development of Catalonia’s OGP Action Plan 2020

Catalonia – Letter of Support