Increase citizen participation in marine and coastal policy (FR0086)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address? Drawing on statistics and documented information, the commitment aims to engage citizens in a dialogue on widely overlooked marine and coastal policy issues affecting France today: ◦ Growth in marine and coastal activities is posing an increasing number of challenges, which is why it has become essential to put in place tools to ensure all users benefit from an ecological, economic and social standpoint. Coastal strategy documents (DSFs) strive to achieve this goal. To be effective and consensus-based, these resources must be backed by sound knowledge of the state of seas and coastal areas, as well as the activities being undertaken there, by incorporating a variety of sources of data, including citizen science data, to have the most upto-date information possible. ◦ Data and making it open is key in developing public policy, from the design stage up to impact assessment. 135

What is the commitment? 1- As part of open government, establish a dialogue with citizens: ◦ From 20 May 2021 to 20 August 2021, hold a public consultation going above and beyond legal requirements (which provide for electronic public participation only) by extending its duration to three months and holding meetings on planning and other issues raised by the various components of coastal strategy documents (action plans and monitoring system) 2- Ensure transparency of public policy and provide a way to monitor the implementation of various coastal strategies: ◦ Define and implement a monitoring strategy that makes it possible to (i) update and report developments regarding the current state of affairs in an area unaddressed to date (France’s two coastlines) and to (ii) assess the achievement of collectively defined strategic objectives for 2030, on the basis of input gathered over the first planning cycle, which is scheduled to last through to the end of 2023 ◦ Make 2022 data available and facilitate its use and enhancement through interoperability with interested partners (The implementation of the monitoring system undergoing a public consultation, and about which we encourage the public to approach the management of marine and 136 coastal data in a new way, will take into account feedback from the public beyond the 2021 consultation phase.)

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem? The commitment should serve to familiarise the public with this branch of public policy in order to ease competition between different types of uses and to strike the right balance between economic development and coastal conservation issues. Opening up data makes it possible to interact with citizens and stakeholders who are interested in marine data and have a usecase idea that addresses a problem or creates additional value for the blue economy.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values? This commitment is relevant to such values as transparency and citizen participation, particularly in that it allows for the disclosure of a larger volume of information by making as yet unavailable data accessible over time. It also gives the public a say in decisionmaking on how public policy is monitored.

Additional information This commitment is closely aligned with the open data objectives outlined in the report on government policy on data, algorithms and source code, as submitted by French MP Éric Bothorel on 23 December 2020. It also goes hand in hand with the setting-up of a marine data portal, the launch of which is funded under the France Relance recovery plan. Furthermore, the commitment addresses the implementation of release of information requirements on marine data set by the Order of 8 July 2019 approving the national marine data scheme.

Action Plan Review

Commitment 36. Increase citizen engagement in French marine and coastal policy

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● Potential for results: Unclear