Strengthening participatory democracy and civil participation in Ozurgeti municipality using innovative participation mechanisms (GEOGT0007)

Commitment ID

GEOGT0007

Commitment Title

Strengthening participatory democracy and civil participation in Ozurgeti municipality using innovative participation mechanisms

Problem

Georgia has taken significant steps towards strengthening participatory democracy by introducing more inclusive, citizen-oriented local governance. However, despite these positive efforts, challenges remain in achieving meaningful public participation in the decision-making process, implementing innovative participatory consultation mechanisms, and reinforcing civic engagement councils.

To address these challenges, local governments need to adopt new methodologies in the policy development and implementation process. They also need to introduce innovative decision-making frameworks and practical tools for civic engagement, while improving practices that promote transparency, openness, and accountability.

Status quo

The current level of implementation of existing civil engagement mechanisms is low, and citizen participation rates are also insufficient. To address this issue, it is crucial to pilot new mechanisms and institutionalize them accordingly. Ozurgeti Municipality has taken steps towards this by implementing the Council of Europe's "CivicLab" methodology to determine priorities for the local action plan of the Ozurgeti Open Government Partnership (OGP). Based on the positive results obtained from this pilot, Ozurgeti Municipality recognizes the need for further experimentation and institutionalization of innovative mechanisms to enhance the effectiveness of civic engagement processes.

To achieve sustainable results in terms of civil engagement in Ozurgeti Municipality, it is important to introduce innovative consulting methodologies and practice frameworks to improve the forms of civic engagement.

Action

- Ozurgeti City Hall plans to implement the deliberative democracy mechanism called the "Citizens' Assembly" in June 2023.
- Based on the recommendations of the "Citizens' Assembly," Ozurgeti City Hall will approve a work plan for improving the parking system (December 2024).
- In order to strengthen the competencies of municipal employees in forms and mechanisms of civil engagement, the Municipality of Ozurgeti will provide training on specific methodologies of civil participation, such as the Council of Europe's "CivicLab" and "Uchange," (December 2023).
- Ozurgeti City Hall will develop a regulatory framework to ensure the sustainable use of civil participation methodologies, such as "CivicLab" and "mechanism of civil; participation in the decision-making toolkit," in the local decision-making process (December 2023)
- The Ozurgeti Municipality Council will approve a framework for institutionalizing civil participation methodologies (May 2024).

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?

The engagement of citizens in political decision-making is a core element of active democracy in municipalities. Among the different forms of participation and engagement of citizens, throughout Europe, there is an increasing development of deliberative formats of participation, such as the Citizens’ Assembly. This wide-recognized tool for participation will engage citizens in solving priority issues that of course will contribute to solving the above problem.

What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?

Supporting participatory democracy is one of the priority directions set under the strategic vision of the municipality. Therefore the innovative participatory instrument contributes to the above direction.

Primary Policy Area

Civic Space

Primary Sector

Public Services (general)

What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?