Description
This commitment has been submitted to the Open Gov Challenge as part of Spain’s 2025-2029 action plan, under the “Participation and Civic Space” category (Milestone 1.4.2).
Explore the full action plan: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/spain-action-plan-2025-2029
Background
In recent years, the public administration has faced challenges that require improving quality to ensure cohesion, competitiveness and the fundamental rights of citizens. This has led to the creation of the “Consensus for Open Administration”, which serves as a roadmap for transforming the public administration in a participatory manner with all stakeholders. This document is structured around four objectives, one of which is “Open administration to evidence-based public policies and the best innovative tools”, which includes the project called “Ecosystem of participation in public policies”.
What is the problem/need that the initiative aims to resolve?
The main problem that this initiative aims to solve is the “disconnect” between participatory processes and the beneficiaries of public policies in general. This “disconnection” arises from the difficulty, on the one hand, for the Administration to identify and convene the recipients or actors involved in a public policy before its design and subsequent implementation; and, on the other hand, by the difficulty that citizens, especially the most vulnerable groups, and civil society have in identifying the public body responsible for designing a public policy and in knowing about the participatory processes that are being carried out.
Brief description
Public policy formulation should be based on evidence and data, and be the result of participatory processes involving both stakeholders and citizens. This ensures that solutions to social, environmental and economic challenges arise from a deep understanding of the problems and are backed by solid data. Incorporating citizen participation in the formulation process improves the capacity of public institutions to design and implement effective policies in response to the complex and uncertain challenges facing governments. The feasibility of connecting this ecosystem with the Public Policy Map, existing participation portals and other initiatives linked to the improvement of consultative bodies will be assessed.
Objectives
Identify participatory public policy ecosystems as a key element in promoting citizen involvement in defining problems and generating new solutions through participatory processes.
How does the initiative contribute to solving the problem or meeting the need?
By carrying out the initiative and its corresponding activities, the aim is for participation managers to be able to identify stakeholders in a specific area, facilitating the registration of organisations and the identification of issues of interest, through the creation of a database that compiles all relevant information. Also, the incorporation of a section on the transparency portal will enable the creation of participatory spaces, thus eliminating the dispersion of data. In addition, it will be possible to know which collegiate bodies include civil society participation and achieve participatory processes that are more tailored to each context.
Relevance to open government values
Participatory ecosystems in public policy are essential to ensuring that government decisions reflect the needs and desires of all citizens. These ecosystems facilitate the identification of problems and the contribution of new solutions and approaches, and enable citizens to actively collaborate in the development of more inclusive, innovative policies that are adapted to changing social realities. In short, they are the cornerstone of open and participatory government that strengthens democracy and improves the quality of public policies by promoting transparency and participation.