Local Roundup | July and August 2025

Hear from Local Leaders

Aidan Eyakuze, CEO of OGP
“Open government is at its most powerful when lived locally. Citizens are shaping budgets, tackling inequality, and ensuring access to safe water. Progress is never automatic, but together we show that transparency and participation are the foundations of trust, resilience, and hope. This newsletter celebrates those breakthroughs and connects all of us committed to local open government. Welcome to the OGP Local Roundup!” Read the editorial.

Featured Story

See how local communities are driving open government reforms.

Promises to Action

NEW ACTION PLANS, NEW AMBITIONS

Athens (Greece) is using online tools to bring more transparency to local decisions and spending, ensuring public services are accessible for all while tackling energy poverty through community-led renewable solutions. More here.

Elbasan (Albania) is focusing on strengthening the connection between the municipality and its citizens by establishing a Citizens’ Forum. More here.

Madiun (Indonesia) is building a more sustainable and inclusive city by engaging communities in shaping tourism and improving waste management. More here.

Yerevan (Armenia) puts citizens at the center of local governance in their second action plan by opening up the budget, launching a participatory digital platform for city spending, and engaging youth in urban governance. More here.

La Paz (Bolivia) is fostering evidence-based policies through a Bicentennial Datathon and driving digital transformation with LaPazTec, a municipal program supporting young entrepreneurs and startups. More here.

CHANGE IN MOTION

Córdoba Province (Argentina) is advancing its commitment to co-create a bill on access to public information by establishing a multi-stakeholder commission and exchanging practices with other jurisdictions across the country. More here.

Leova (Republic of Moldova) is co-creating its first action plan, bringing together the city hall, civil society, and citizens through online consultations, a community questionnaire, and a co-creation workshop. More here and here.

Bogotá (Colombia) has made history by adopting the world’s first regulations on deliberative assemblies, designed through a citizen assembly, while also co-creating its second action plan with over 10,000 participants. More here, here, and here.

Cajamarca (Peru) is launching an action plan website designed to showcase implementation progress and an activity calendar. The municipality also trained young public officials on how to help community members navigate the website. More here and here.

Lisbon (Portugal) shared the results of its first action plan at the seminar with the City Council, civil society, and experts, showcasing breakthroughs in transparency, participatory funding, and citizen services. More here, here, and here.

Kakamega (Kenya) has institutionalized participatory budgeting and strengthened citizen engagement through the adoption of a Public Participation Act and a Public Participation and Civic Education Policy. The county is also working with civil society to break down barriers faced by persons with disabilities. More here, here, and here.

Kaduna (Nigeria) launched a four-week pre-budget engagement training, strengthening its commitment to gathering citizens’ input and making the budget process more inclusive and impactful. More here and here. The state also validated its Youth Engagement Plan, which guarantees their involvement in policy-making, budgeting, and service delivery. More here.

Zviahel (Ukraine) launched the Youth Leadership Academy, empowering youth and veterans to co-create the future of their community within values such as remembrance, civic responsibility, integrity, and inclusiveness. More here.

Goiás (Brazil) invited Brazilian citizens to join the 6th edition of the “Embaixadores da Cidadania” program and to receive training as agents of change, allowing them to actively participate in local governance. More here.

Quintana Roo (Mexico) launched its Real Estate System to modernize the Public Property and Commerce Registry. Developed with input from citizens, notaries, and organizations, it can help streamline processes, reduce costs, and prevent fraud, enhancing transparency, accessibility, and public participation in property management. More here.

Mendoza (Argentina) secured first place for the fourth year in a row in the National Open Data Index, reaching 100% compliance across all categories. This year, the Index included an AI component in its evaluation, and the city responded by creating a Local AI Committee to foster more transparent, innovative, and participatory public management. More here.

Navarra (Spain) adopted 163 measures with civil society that will be funded through a budget of EUR 36 million, with the goal of standardizing changes to make the city more accessible for people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups. The government also promoted children’s participation in public decisions through a new protocol, in partnership with UNICEF. More here and here.

Osasco (Brazil) launched an innovative form of public consultation and participation where citizens can send an AI-generated photo of their desired city transformations. The innovative visuals will be gathered in the Future Vision Notebook for Osasco 2050 and will help guide more sustainable and inclusive urban development and construction. More here.

São Paulo (Brazil) launched its Shared Management Forum, bringing together six representatives from civil society, six from government, and one from a monitoring body. The Forum co-creates, monitors, and evaluates the city’s action plan. More here.

Buenos Aires (Argentina) launched the Forum, an institutional space for collaboration between the government, civil society, academia, the private sector, and other relevant actors. Throughout meetings and gatherings, the Forum intends to co-create and implement projects and monitor the city’s action plan. More here.

West Sumbawa (Indonesia) held a new session of the Yasinan Forum, where the public can openly express their aspirations to address various community issues. More here.

Pichincha (Ecuador) continues to strengthen equality and inclusion by engaging in dialogues with women from #ChocóAndino and with LGBTQI+ organizations and leaders. More here and here.

Kakamega (Kenya) hosted a capacity strengthening and peer learning workshop through the OGP Technical Committee, drawing valuable lessons from Nandi county’s OGP journey to guide the implementation of its action plan. More here.

Scotland (UK) reported on its recent progress through OGP, such as participatory budgeting pilots that funded over 100 projects worth £3.5 million over three years, the Open Data City Map project with the University of Edinburgh Business School, and youth participation engagement efforts through the Youth Parliament and Children’s Parliament. More here, here, and here.

Local Lessons

EXCHANGING IDEAS

🌐 Navarra (Spain) and the Basque Country (Spain) exchanged experiences in a meeting focused on strengthening public policies, evaluating impact, and advancing a more transparent and participatory public management. They both affirmed their willingness to consolidate joint workspaces. More here.

🌐 Local governments and civil society of Osasco and São Paulo (Brazil) gathered to discuss practices on transparency, open data, language, and citizen education to strengthen citizen participation. More here.

🌐 In Abuja (Nigeria), open government reformers from the six area councils met with OGP CEO Aidan Eyakuze in a session facilitated by the DEAN Initiative, a non-profit organization supporting youth-driven impact, to share how they are driving openness at the local level. More here and here.

🌐 This summer, OGP Local Coffee Conversations connected cities worldwide: Banská Bystrica, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Aragón, and Madrid explored innovation labs for better public services, while Mendoza, Quezon City, Elgeyo Marakwet, Medellín, Zagreb, and civil society from Nigeria and Indonesia shared tools for participatory budgeting. More here.

🌐 The People Powered Accelerator launched its new cohort with 80 teams of policymakers and civil society leaders, including OGP Local members Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Córdoba City, Antigua Guatemala, Kakamega, and Dar Chabaane El Fehri, who will co-create solutions on issues such as climate change and youth participation. More here.

TAKEAWAYS

📘 Discover how Antigua (Guatemala) co-created its action plan through broad citizen consultations, thematic working groups, and a multi-stakeholder committee. More here.

📘 Explore how Detmold (Germany) increased citizen participation through a toolbox to engage citizens in mobility and climate decisions, advanced work on sustainable open data and data protection and security, and new and improved sustainable infrastructures with open standards. More here.

📘 Dive into lessons from Peñalolén (Chile) on creating a digital office for information and feedback and participatory bodies like the Environmental Communal Committee, as well as strengthening protections for people with disabilities and their caretakers through workshops, mapping services, and a municipal ordinance. More here, here, and here.

📘 Learn more about Zagreb (Croatia)’s experience in its Final Assessment Report on their first action plan, which shows how the implementation of participatory practices, such as participatory budgeting, paved the way for a more institutionalized open government. More here.

RESOURCES

📘 Learn about youth participation in Ukraine with Kyiv, Zvihael, and Orzhitsia’s strong commitment to youth engagement and active role in decision-making and public spaces. More here.

📘 Check out how Hamburg (Germany) is bringing information closer to the people in a practical, inclusive approach. More here.

📘 Explore good practices from Morocco, through Tétouan’s progress to institutionalize public participation and a regional consortium’s work to co-create solutions addressing the impact of climate change. More here and here.

📘 Discover how to integrate public participation into climate policies through climate assemblies, panels, and public spaces through the experience of Scotland (UK). More here.

📘 Check out how Bogotá (Colombia) and Aragón (Spain) are working on more open, responsive, and inclusive policies. More here.

📘 Learn how local open governments can meet the SDGs by building spaces and connecting citizens, like a civic education program in Baguio City (Philippines) or an Open Data Platform in São Paulo (Brazil). More here.

📘 The OGP Local members from Chile (Peñalolén, Maipú, San Joaquín, and Renca) showcase the importance of the opportunity to connect with a global network, benefit from shared experiences, and access external support and monitoring. More here.

📘 Check out OGP Local members working on more collaborative and effective climate policies, such as Buenos Aires (Argentina), Sekondi-Takoradi (Ghana), Austin (United States), and Yerevan (Armenia). More here and here.

Get Involved

EVENTS

🌐 Participate in the next OGP Local Circle on Climate Justice on September 5th, co-organized by Scotland (UK) and Buenos Aires (Argentina), to learn about how cities are addressing climate change through open government strategies. Register here!

🌐 Come to our next Deep Dive on Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence next September 24th. The webinar will dive into how digital governance frameworks and AI can support and be shaped by open government principles. Register here!

🌐 Join us on September 15 fora webinar launching the Maturity Model for Public Participation developed by SFU’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, in collaboration with Canada’s Open Government team. Explore how to foster meaningful public participation with insights from Tim Hughes, OGP’s Lead on Democracy and Participation, alongside other leading voices in the field. More here.

🌐 Generalitat Valenciana (Spain) hosted an international conference dedicated to the transformative role of artificial intelligence in participatory processes and the design of new tools and methods to enhance citizen engagement in public life. More here.

🌐 Tangier-Tétouan-Al Hoceima hosted the 2025 Regional Green Economy Forum in July. The Forum highlighted African youth engagement and green leadership, with more than 80 young people participating in a mentoring session and roundtable. More here.

🌐 A webinar held by CoST—Infrastructure Transparency Initiative for OGP Local members presented practical tools to publish and use open data on infrastructure projects while integrating social, environmental, and climate dimensions. More here.

OPPORTUNITIES

🌐 OGP has relaunched the Youth Collective (18–30) and its Alumni Circle (31+)! This is a global network for youth leaders committed to shaping open government reforms, mentoring others, and driving change. Encourage interested candidates to apply here.

🌐 The Consul Democracy Foundation is looking for two to three pilot projects to use its platform, a digital citizen participation tool that helps empower citizens to get involved in decision-making, for free for a year. Send your expression of interest before September 30! More here.

Open Gov Challenge

Edwin Ondika of the Department of Public Service Administration shares how Kakamega is empowering citizens to shape policy by expanding civic education, introducing digital feedback tools, and ensuring that women, youth, and marginalized groups are heard.