End of Commitment Report – Broaden the spectrum of participation

Name of Evaluator

Álex González Ruiz and Anabel Suso Araico

Email

madrid-spain@opengovpartnership.org

Member Name

Madrid, Spain

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 – Madrid, Spain, 2022 – 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...

To broaden the spectrum of participation by developing specific programs aimed at those sectors of the population with less participation such as the elderly, children and young people, and other vulnerable groups.

Action

Broaden the spectrum of participation, developing specific programs aimed at those sectors of the population with less participation, such as the elderly, children, young people, and other vulnerable groups, improving the usability of the Decide Madrid portal, making it more accessible, user-friendly and adapted to the language, needs, and interests of these groups, also reducing, where necessary, the digital divide and through different types of activities that contribute to facilitating their participation.

Problem

Decide Madrid should reach people who are usually further away: the youngest and the elderly. At present, children, young people, and the elderly participate through different channels of the Madrid City Council. These include various participation bodies such as the Sectoral Council for YouthRecognizing that investing in youth means investing in a better future, OGP participating governments are creating meaningful opportunities for youth to participate in government processes. Technical ... More, the Sectoral Council for the Elderly, the Participation Commission for Children and Adolescents of the City of Madrid, and the Participation Commissions for Children and Adolescents (COPIAS), as well as an important network of youth associations, associations dedicated to children and adolescents, the elderly, etc. On the other hand, participation must be inclusive, giving a voice to everyone, particularly those who do not have the means to make themselves heard, and ensuring that no one is left behind especially the most vulnerable groups.

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:

Most of the activities that make up the two actions of the commitment (“implementation of participation programs aimed at children” and those aimed at the elderly and vulnerable groups) have been completed. However, some of the more complex ones have yet to be continued: the “development of a specific web space for children’s participation in Decide Madrid” and the “development of specific initiatives and new attractive technological tools” that integrate the first action. Although steps have been made towards the development of both issues, this has not yet been completed, requiring a continuation of the work undertaken so far.
As it has been said, the rest of the activities have been completed and lay the foundations for their reproduction, amplification, and improvement.

Provide evidence that supports and justifies your answer:

• Monitoring Report on the Third Open Government Plan of the Madrid City Council (December 2022)
• Final Follow-Up Report On The Third Open Government Plan Of The Madrid City Council
• Campaign Videos
  • Make your voice count! In mobility, accessibility, and environment
  • Make your voice count! In Culture, Leisure and Environment
  • Participatory budgets

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

The main internal factor that has facilitated this level of implementation is related to the development of the third commitment of the current Open Government Plan, which consists of improving the usability and adaptation of the Decide Madrid website. This has contributed, above all, to specific activities of the actions, such as “improving the usability of the website to facilitate its use by the elderly”, within the framework of the second action of this commitment.
Externally, the existence and participation throughout the first action of a multitude of stakeholders working specifically with the youth population has allowed the various youth participation activities to be guided and grounded.

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:

As is pointed out in question 1.1, the only activities that remain to be completed involve the first action (the “development of a specific web space for children’s participation in Decide Madrid” and the “development of specific initiatives and new attractive technological tools”). In the first case, “work is still being done on a prototype” (Final, Report, p. 60), with the design of the platform and the forecast of the elements and services that will be necessary for its deployment. This is accompanied by a usability test of the prototype.
In the case of the second activity, only the development of “new attractive technological tools” has been undertaken, which in turn has consisted, in part, of sharing participatory methodologies and technologies for the youth population by agents with experience in this field.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Final Follow-Up Report On The Third Open Government Plan Of The Madrid City Council
• Campaign Videos
  • Make your voice count! In mobility, accessibility, and environment
  • Make your voice count! In Culture, Leisure and Environment
  • Participatory budgets

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:

Outstanding

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

In the case of the first action, the activities carried out have favored, above all, the dissemination of information related to youth participation through the organization of workshops among agents dedicated to working with young people, which have allowed for the dissemination of the current work of the City Council in this area, as well as the sharing of different points of view and experiences among these agents. However, dissemination among the young population has also taken place through videos dedicated to encouraging their participation.
The second action included training workshops on the Decide Madrid website for senior citizens in libraries and municipal centers for the elderly. Specifically, these 5-session workshops aimed to inform and train these people in the use of the website, the different ways of participating through it, and its usefulness.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Monitoring Report on the Third Open Government Plan of the Madrid City Council (December 2022)
• Final Follow-Up Report On The Third Open Government Plan Of The Madrid City Council
• Campaign Videos
  • Make your voice count! In mobility, accessibility, and environment
  • Make your voice count! In Culture, Leisure and Environment
  • Participatory budgets

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:

Outstanding

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

Regarding the “implementation of participation programs aimed at the child population”, and specifically in the analysis of the problem and the corresponding design of actions, the prospective work among the target population through individual and group interviews with 95 children and adolescents should be acknowledged: 12 individual interviews, a focus group with minors participating in a Red Cross activity (thus ensuring the participation of socially disadvantaged groups), street interviews and a survey of 61 young people. In addition, a workshop was held with the related municipal team to draw conclusions and proposals based on the results of this analysis.
Regarding the design of a website for the participation of children, a usability test was carried out among potential users, as well as a working day with youth associations in order to refine the design of the website. It should also be highlighted the creation of a working space for officials from the City Council’s Directorate General for 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 and other areas of government. It has been a collaborative effort between professionals with expertise in children, teenagers, and youth and experts in citizen participation, which has resulted in the definition of a prototype youth participation platform, and the drafting of the first documents on content, guidelines, and protocols.
Along similar lines, a session on “Citizen Participation Practices in Mini-laboratories” was organized as a training experience for representatives of associations, entities, and groups that work with young people, enabling the sharing and pooling of participatory experiences for minors.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Monitoring Report on the Third Open Government Plan of the Madrid City Council (December 2022)
• Final Follow-Up Report On The Third Open Government Plan Of The Madrid City Council

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.

It should be mentioned the actions to promote activities through the associative network dedicated to participation, either among the young population or among the elderly. Specifically, we refer to subsidies for activities aimed at these sectors, the improvement of coexistence, territorial balance, and community development through the promotion of participation and the promotion of associations among them.
This type of subsidy not only encourages associations or civil society initiatives related to the problems and needs of these sectors of the population but also enables their sustainability and extension.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Monitoring Report on the Third Open Government Plan of the Madrid City Council (December 2022)
• Final Follow-Up Report On The Third Open Government Plan Of The Madrid City Council

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:

Although, as mentioned above, there are two actions that have not been completed within the framework of the first action of the commitment, it can be concluded that the implementation of the commitment is related to the public policy problems to which it was intended to respond. On the one hand, the set of activities has been clearly aimed at developing ways and content to broaden the spectrum of citizen participation, focusing in this case on two social strata with a lower tendency to exercise it. On the other hand, both actions have considered the need to adapt the usability and contents of Decide Madrid to these social profiles, establishing or prototyping solutions to overcome the different obstacles that prevent their more active incorporation into the platform.

Provide evidence for your answer:

• Final Follow-Up Report On The Third Open Government Plan Of The Madrid City Council

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 implementation of participation programs aimed at children and young people and, specifically, those activities dedicated to the analysis of the problems surrounding issues such as the very conception and significance of participation by this population profile, in which areas participation is of most interest to them, etc. provides a methodological model with great potential for the design and improvement of spaces for citizen participation, as well as other public services. The aim of these methods is gathering information in a more multifaceted way and can have as a corollary the design of services that are more adapted to the social profiles that are to be reached or on which it is desired to have an impact.
In this sense, it is also possible, on this methodological basis, to open up the spectrum of population strata among which to broaden participation. Although the age variable is extremely important in this area, others such as origin, socio-economic status, 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, neighborhood/district of residence, ethnicity, or culture may also be important. Therefore, it may also be of interest to study the degree of impact of these socio-demographic characteristics on citizen participation and to analyze the possible interest of approaching the issue from one or more of them, as has been done in this case with regard to age.