Mechanisms for Constructive Engagement and Participatory Decision-Making (COBOG0007)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Action plan – Bogotá, Colombia, 2025 – 2027
Inception Report: Not available
Commitment Start: Nov 2025
Commitment End: Sep 2027
Institutions involved:
- Subdirectorate of Citizen Participation and Relations
- Subdirectorate of Citizen Participation and Relations
Primary Policy Area:
Primary Sector:
OGP Value:
- Access to information
- Civic Participation
- Public Accountability
Description
Commitment ID
COBOG0007
Commitment Title
Design and implement mechanisms for constructive engagement between the City Council and citizens to enhance institutional dialogue and participatory decision-making.
Problem
This action seeks to address the absence of structured and permanent co-creation spaces between the Bogotá City Council and citizens, which limits the joint development of guidelines and strategies to improve institutional relations. The lack of collaborative dialogue reduces the effectiveness of citizen participation, generates perceptions of distance and disconnection from public management, and hinders the identification of innovative solutions to enhance service delivery and strengthen public trust in the institution.
Status quo
The Bogotá City Council currently relies on traditional and unsystematic mechanisms of interaction with citizens, characterized by limited, fragmented, and often reactive participation spaces. At present, there are no consolidated co-creation processes that enable citizens to effectively influence the development of institutional guidelines or the enhancement of the Council’s core functions in political oversight and normative management. This situation has led to a distant relationship between the institution and the community, low levels of citizen engagement with the Council’s processes, and limited opportunities for innovation in strengthening social oversight and democratic trust.
Action
To establish an annual co-creation forum that brings together citizens and the Bogotá City Council to jointly design strategies for strengthening civic engagement, enhancing meaningful participation, and improving the quality and accessibility of institutional services.
How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?
This commitment helps address the identified public problem by creating a structured, annual co-creation space that enables citizens to actively participate in the design of guidelines and strategies to improve the relationship between the Bogotá City Council and the public. Through this mechanism, direct and collaborative dialogue channels are established, helping to build institutional trust, promote more effective participation, and ensure that citizens’ needs and expectations are integrated into institutional management. In addition, the joint development of solutions contributes to the optimization of Political Oversight and Normative Management processes, ensuring more efficient, inclusive, and continuously improving interactions between citizens and the City Council.
What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?
This commitment aligns with Bogotá’s long-term goal of consolidating the Open State model, strengthening a collaborative, transparent, and participatory public administration that brings the City Council closer to citizens. By promoting permanent spaces for interaction and co-creation, it embodies the principle of Open Government as a practical tool to address everyday challenges, improve institutional relations, and reinforce democratic trust. The commitment translates the city’s strategic vision into concrete actions that enable listening, dialogue, and joint problem-solving to enhance political oversight, normative management, and citizen participation. Additionally, it directly contributes to the implementation of the 2024–2028 District Development Plan “Bogotá Camina Segura”, by strengthening both institutional and citizen capacities to influence public decisions that improve quality of life and local democracy.
Primary Policy Area
Digital Governance, Open Data, Right to Information
Primary Sector
Cross-sectoral, Land & Spatial Planning
What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?
| Access to information | Access to Information This commitment is relevant to the value of Access to Information because it ensures that citizens not only receive data about the Bogotá City Council’s management, but also actively participate in shaping the guidelines and strategies that define how information is shared and managed. By opening a co-creation space, the initiative promotes transparency in setting institutional priorities, facilitates clear and timely access to information related to participation and service delivery, and ensures that citizen input influences how public information is communicated and made available — making it more useful, relevant, and accesible. |
| Civic Participation | Civic Participation This commitment is relevant to the value of Civic Participation because it establishes a concrete co-creation mechanism in which citizens are not merely consulted but become active contributors to the design of institutional guidelines and strategies. It fosters effective, inclusive, and shared participation, ensuring that the voices of diverse social sectors are incorporated into efforts to improve relations with the City Council and optimize its services. Moreover, it strengthens participatory democracy by creating spaces for direct dialogue and collaboration, increasing trust and citizen ownership of public management. |
| Public Accountability | This commitment is relevant to the value of Public Accountability because it creates a space where citizens can directly influence how the Bogotá City Council communicates, relates, and responds to its actions. By enabling the co-creation of institutional guidelines and strategies together with the community, the initiative establishes clearer and more participatory mechanisms for evaluating institutional performance and ensuring that decisions respond to citizens’ real needs. In doing so, it strengthens social oversight channels, enhances transparency, and reinforces the Council’s obligation to explain its performance and the quality of the services it provides. |