End of Commitment Report – Public space with collective intelligence

Name of Evaluator

Javier Urrea – Gobierna Bien

Email

[email protected]

Member Name

Bogotá, Colombia

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 governmen... Title

Action plan – Bogotá, Colombia, 2021 – 2023

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...

Public space with collective intelligence

Title

Public space with collective intelligence

Action

Implement a strategy that promotes and guarantees 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 the generation, management, adaptation, and care of public space in 20 prioritized territories, with quality information and technological tools that facilitate participation, collaboration, collective innovation, and co-production of habitat improvement in Bogota. General objective: Promote citizen participation in the planning and sustainability of urban interventions proposed for the recovery of public space within the framework of the District System of Care.Specific objectives: Contribute to the construction of methodologies that enable the generation of spaces for participation and collaboration in the territories prioritized by each intervention. Promote recognition through the identification of actors, problems, and realities of the territory to be intervened.

Problem

In Bogota, there are territories with a deficit of public space and habitability conditions, over which there is a low appropriation by the citizens and little incidence in the governmental actions that are executed. This problem is caused, among other factors, by the low access that citizens have to sufficient and relevant information, as well as the insufficiency of technological resources designed for participation, a reality that has become more difficult with the COVID-19 pandemic.

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:

The commitment achieved a substantial level of implementation. Although the strategy was conceptually structured and outreach was conducted in prioritized territories, some planned phases did not reach expected levels. Reported progress on designing and implementing strategies for the re-appropriation of public space through collective intelligence reached 93%. The Secretariat of Habitat developed valuable inputs, including preliminary diagnostics, identification of community actors, methodological proposals, and validation of territorial recognition exercises. While not reflected in consolidated figures, these advances laid the groundwork for future projects to build on lessons learned. Outreach with community action boards, local planning councils, and neighborhood organizations was key to identifying challenges in the use and appropriation of public space.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer:

Evidence Commitment advancement

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

Among the external factors, one of the most influential was the COVID-19 pandemic, which hindered the possibility of holding in-person community meetings, essential for the proposed methodology. The inability to sustain broad dialogue processes in the territories reduced the scope of the co-creation component and limited the collective construction of designs. Likewise, the social crisis resulting from citizen mobilizations in Bogotá affected the scheduling of activities in some urban sectors, further delaying execution.

Regarding internal factors, the Secretariat of Habitat faced technical and financial resource limitations to fully carry out the three planned phases. While progress was made in the preparation of characterization documents and the conceptual design of the strategy, the implementation phase of works and the materialization of processes for the re-appropriation of public space were not achieved.

Additionally, interinstitutional coordination with other district actors linked to the District Care System was incipient, which reduced the capacity to align resources and actions to scale up the commitment.

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:

Some initial technical products were developed, and exploratory exercises were carried out to identify actors and issues, with most of the scheduled milestones executed as planned. In particular, the “Co-create and Design” and “Learn and Appropriate” phases successfully moved from the methodological stage to practice. Therefore, it can be stated that the commitment was substantially implemented, standing as a pilot experience with operational consolidation and verifiable territorial impact.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Evidence: Feedback Habitat Intelligence Public Space

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 commitment made an important contribution to generating a substantial change in information accessibility, as the strategy for systematization and 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... on public spaces reached an intermediate level of consolidation.

The preliminary exercises on territorial characterization and the identification of social actors provided valuable information, which, although not widely disseminated, constitutes a useful input for subsequent processes.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Evidence: Implementation Sec. of Housing Public Space Intelligence

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.

The commitment opened important spaces for participation during the diagnostic and community recognition phases. Through exploratory meetings with neighborhood organizations and community action boards, dialogue was promoted on issues of habitability and the shortage of public space. These opportunities were consolidated into permanent mechanisms that eventually became processes of influence in the design of urban interventions.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Evidence: Habitat – Participation Strategies.

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

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

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

The proposal sought to incorporate citizen oversight and social control as central components in the implementation phase of work. The impact in terms of strengthening institutional accountability was significant. The conceptual progress made in designing social control mechanisms remained as a general framework for future processes.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Evidence: Habitat – Schools

2.1.4 Other Results

Yes

Degree of result:

Major

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

The commitment made it possible to highlight the importance of addressing public space not only from an infrastructure perspective but also as a process of collective intelligence, where citizen appropriation and collaboration are fundamental for sustainability. Although the results were not comprehensive, the experience left a legacy in terms of participatory methodologies that can be leveraged in future urban policies.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Evidencia: Laboratory for Innovation in Public Policy of the Secretariat for Habitat

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 commitment addressed the identified problem: it acknowledged and diagnosed the deficit of citizen appropriation of public space and proposed innovative methodologies to address it. The territorial results and the continuity of the processes enabled an effective transformation in the relationship between citizens and institutions regarding habitat and public space.

Provide evidence for your answer:

Evidence: Commitment Sec. of Housing Public Space Intelligence

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.

The methodological design was solid but lacked execution capacity: The phases “Know and Be Known,” “Co-create and Design,” and “Learn and Appropriate” followed a coherent logic of collective construction, but there were not enough resources or time to fully put them into practice.

The pandemic exposed the vulnerability of in-person processes: Lockdowns and mobility restrictions limited the possibility of community meetings, highlighting the need for more robust digital participationMany governments are creating online mechanisms for citizens to petition, call for action, and participate in making decisions on issues they care about.  Technical specifications: Refers to public p... More tools.

Lessons for the future: For upcoming action plans, it is recommended to prioritize public space re-appropriation commitments with secured financing, hybrid participation methodologies (in-person and digital), and a strong component of community monitoring to ensure the sustainability of interventions.