Description
The main goal of the project is to increase the awareness and capacity of Estonian local governments for implementing open, transparent and engaging governance. To attain the goal it is necessary to include concrete activities of open governance into the action plans of local governments and create a common open government partnership platform for sharing experiences and best practices. The network of front rank local governments, in close cooperation with local civic organizations, will elaborate certain principles of open government for local governments and design concrete action plans based on them. City Government of Tartu is involved as a test ground for testing those principles and planned actions. As a final event, international forum of Open Government Partnership for Local Governments will take place where all participated local governments and also international partners, guests will be sharing their experiences and practices. The role of Citizens Foundation from Iceland is to share all their experineces and knowledge and consult on e-participation platforms most suitable for online deliberation.
Summary of project results
The main goal of the project was to increase the awareness and capability of Estonian local governments for implementing open, transparent and engaging governance. To attain this goal, we created and activated a network of front rank local governments who, in close cooperation with local civic organizations, elaborated certain principles of open government for local governments and designed concrete action plans based on them. The concrete activities of open governance were included into the action plans of 8 local governments and their implementation has started. As a summing up activity the international forum of Open Government Partnership for Local Governments took place where all participated local governments and also international partners, guests shared their experiences and practices. The participants of project and forum have declared that their awareness about open governance and its importance has increased and they have gained new practical knowledge and inspiration how to implement it in their communities. The participants also admitted that their motivation for community collaboration has been increased. A short video was prepared that shows various ways that project participants made use of how to make local life better with open governance:
https://vimeo.com/164256805.
Summary of bilateral results
As a summing up activity the international forum of Open Government Partnership for Local Governments took place where project participants, local governments and community activists shared their experiences and practices. In addition to Estonian own practices it was deemed important to inspire and increase the awareness of Estonian municipality and community leaders with international best practices. Thus, partner organisations from Iceland and Norway, Citizen Foundation and Frivillighet Norge presented their best practices of community-municipality partnership. In addition, e-Governance Academy together with Network of Estonian Non-profit Organisations held a one-day seminra to brainstorm and discuss further cooperation prospects. As a result of cooperation, both sides became aware of both parties best practices and laid down plans for future cooperation. As OGP Forum participants coomented positively on the importance of presenting also foreign examples and they also expressed the appropriateness of selected guests and their examples. The project certainly gained in visibility due to bilateral cooperation and inspired participants.