End of Commitment Report – Development of the active base of OGP ambassadors and building capacities to support innovations in open government/ governance

Name of Evaluator

Mária Reháková, Kristína Murínová, Anna Vaňová

Email

[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Member Name

Banská Bystrica, Slovak Republic

Action PlanAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open government ... Title

Action plan – Banská Bystrica, Slovak Republic, 2024 – 2026

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...

Development of the active base of OGP ambassadors and building capacities to support innovations in open government/ governance

Title

Development of the active base of OGP ambassadors and building capacities to support innovations in open government/ governance

Action

The OGP Local initiative in the city would benefit from broader active support provided by local stakeholders such as experts, entrepreneurs and academics, council members, but also civil servants at the Municipal Office. Thiscommitment aims to expand the active base of ambassadors of OGP Local and capacity buildingEnhancing the skills, abilities, and processes of public servants, civil society, and citizens is essential to achieving long-lasting results in opening government. Technical specifications: Set of ac... to support open government innovation – both from outside and from within the Municipality. We plan to support the base of ambassadors through strengthening partnerships with relevant university faculties through memorandums of cooperation in support of open government innovation, as well as through strengthening the status of the CoLaboratory Board as an advisory body to the mayor /City and through informal team-building activities with influential local actors from civil society or the business sector. Other activities will include specialized capacity building of OGP ambassadors, including capacity building in the field of depolarization, through direct educational interventions, but also through the support of a community of practice, aimed at sharing know-how among other cities (at home and abroad), or through the exchange of knowledge and experience among experts in the city and within the Municipality in the field of open governance (with the support of formats such as internal breakfast). We also plan to implement activities aimed at a broader information campaign on open government.

Problem

Lack of broader support of the OGP Local limits the progress of open government innovations´ initiative in our City. Reasons include: polarisation within the city causing a lack ofperception of open government as a shared value across the city, lack of shared understanding about open government innovation and why this innovation is needed, lack of skills or knowledge to support this type of innovation. To support the broader support of innovation in the area of Open Government,alongside the CoLaboratory tool, we have also developed a CoLaboratory board which the City supposed to use as a “cross sector consulting, and advisory body for the Open Government development” and which is currently composed of 15 active diverse actors from civil society. However, the board sometimes lacks the active involvement of some members, as well as other influential actors and experts from the city who have the potential to support the development of the OOGP Local. A similar situation exists within the authority, where, despite the growing number of supporters of OGP Local, there is still a lack of wider and systematic support for open government. The broader suppor of OGP Local is desirable given the fact that the innovation process in open government which we try to achieve is highly complex as it aims for a change in the culture of public administration – from hierarchical ways of functioning into a dialogical way of functioning.

1.1 What was the overall level of progress in the commitment implementation at the time of this assessment?

Substantial

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Of the eight milestones, five were assessed as completed: the information campaign, educational workshops, adoption of the Council’s statute, participation in conferences, and study visits. Two milestones were partially completed: partnerships with academic institutions through memoranda of cooperation and the Internal Breakfasts format. One milestone, concerning informal team-building activities, is still in progress.

The City systematically developed information, educational, and networking activities throughout the implementation period, including a specialised Training of Trainers programme delivered with expert Bart Brandsma and participation in the international Agents of Coexistence project under URBACT.

1.2 Describe the main external or internal factors that impacted implementation of this commitment and how they were addressed (or not).

Implementation benefited from strong cooperation with the academic community, particularly Matej Bel University (UMB), as well as with international partners, including Dialogue Centre, NOVA IMS, and the network of European cities involved in the Agents of Coexistence project. Expert support from Bart Brandsma also made an important contribution to capacity-building in the area of depolarisation.

At the same time, implementation was constrained by limited internal capacity. This led to the interruption of the regular Internal Breakfasts format in 2024. In addition, separate memoranda of cooperation with universities were not formally concluded; cooperation continued on an informal basis and through existing agreements.

According to feedback from participating stakeholders, challenges also remain in ensuring stronger engagement of representatives, increasing the involvement of residents, and reaching all relevant stakeholder groups.

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

Most of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

Most milestones were implemented broadly in line with the original plan, including the information campaign, educational activities, conferences, and study visits. The main exceptions were the formal memoranda of cooperation, which were effectively replaced by intensive but less formal forms of collaboration, and the Internal Breakfasts format, which was not fully stabilized as a regular activity.

2.1.1. – Did the government disclose more information; improve the quality of the information (new or existing); improve the value of the information; improve the channels to disclose or request information or improve accessibility to information?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

The city has created a separate section on its website and a Facebook page dedicated to the OGP Local initiative; it provides ongoing updates on activities, action plans, and participatory processes, and systematically promotes open government at public events. Thanks to these activities, open government capacities are improving, not only among stakeholders but also among the participating employees of the city of Banská Bystrica. Respondents highlighted, in particular, the improvement in the overall quality of the information provided, as well as the increase in its quantity and overall value.

2.1.2. – Did the government create new opportunities to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation inform or influence decisions; improve existing channels or spaces to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation/ inform or influence decisions; create or improve capabilities in the government or the public aimed to improve how the government seeks feedback from citizens/enables participation/ or allows for the public to inform or influence decisions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

Extensive educational and networking activities – including workshops on polarisation, the Training of Trainers program, the Platform of Centrist Leaders, and team-building meetings of the Co-Laboratory Council – strengthened the capacities and motivation of both internal and external ambassadors to engage in participatory processes.

At the same time, stakeholder feedback indicates that the involvement of all relevant actors remained only partial. Some communities that are actively engaged in the life of the city were not sufficiently represented in the process.

2.1.3 Did the government create or improve channels, opportunities or capabilities to hold officials answerable to their actions?

Not Applicable

2.1.4 Other Results

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

A stable link between the local government and the academic community, particularly Matej Bel University (UMB), was established through the Council for the Development of Open Governance. In parallel, specialized internal know-how in the field of depolarisation was developed through the certification of internal trainers in Bart Brandsma’s methodology.

These outcomes go beyond the original scope of the planned activities and represent an additional institutional capacity-building benefit of the commitment.

2.2 Did the commitment address the public policy problem that it intended to address as described in the action plan?

Yes

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

The network of ambassadors and internal capacities was expanded and strengthened through a combination of information, educational, and networking activities. However, feedback from participating stakeholders indicates that there is still a need for stronger involvement of representatives of local communities and the wider public.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Annual Report of the Consolidated Entity of the City of Banská Bystrica for 2024

3. Provide at least one lesson or reflection relating to the implementation of this commitment. It can be the identification of key barriers to implementation, an unexpected help/hindrance, recommendations for future commitments, or if the commitment should be taken forward to the next action plan.

A key lesson from implementation is the value of external expert support, including Bart Brandsma and the international Agents of Coexistence project, in building specialized internal capacity through a “training of trainers” approach. This model enabled knowledge and expertise to be embedded within the city on a more sustainable basis, rather than being transferred only through one-off activities.

The implementation process also demonstrated that informal and practice-oriented forms of cooperation, such as existing partnerships with Matej Bel University (UMB) and the Internal Breakfasts format, can in some cases be more effective than formal memoranda of cooperation. At the same time, such formats are particularly vulnerable to capacity constraints. Future Action Plans should therefore place greater emphasis on ensuring their continuity and institutional stability, for example by assigning clear ownership of each format and allocating dedicated staff capacity.

For the next Action Plan, we recommend maintaining a strong focus on reaching and involving representatives of local communities and ordinary residents, as participants repeatedly identified this as an area where engagement remained comparatively weak.

The city should also continue to strengthen relationships with existing open government ambassadors through regular informal networking and community-building activities, some of which are already planned for September 2026.