Banská Bystriça: from ideathon to digital democracy

Earlier this year, Banská Bystriça joined the second edition of the “Innovative Citizen Participation in Cohesion Policy” program (see report of the first edition). This program, designed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) and the OECD, aims to provide technical assistance to managing authorities, intermediaries, beneficiaries and civil society organisations (CSO) in the implementation of innovative citizen participation processes in the management of the European Union’s funds.

For this pilot, Banská Bystriça partnered with the Dialogue Centre, a CSO whose mission is to promote the culture of dialogue and cooperation across society, to integrate citizen participation in the design of its Integrated Territorial Strategy (ITS) plan (2021–2027). Within the municipality, two teams were tasked with implementing this participatory process: the Participation and Open Government team as well as the ITS / Cohesion Policy team.

Innovative citizen participation and the European Union’s cohesion policy

The cohesion policy instrument chosen in this pilot is the Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI):

“The Integrated Territorial Investment (ITI) is a new tool introduced in the Common Provision Regulation (CPR) for use during the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) programming period. Its aim is to make it easier to run territorial strategies that need funding from different sources. ITI also promotes a more local or ‘place-based’ form of policy making.”

The OECD applied a methodology that is greatly inspired by the OECD Guidelines for Citizen Participation Processes. The OECD’s support was provided through tailored workshops on participatory process design, communication, actor mapping and outreach strategies, instruction in innovative approaches to citizen participation, and inspirational sessions showcasing closely related processes from around the globe. The OECD’s assistance also has for objectives to leverage the expertise of both internal and external experts and facilitate connections between the pilot team and other cities to guarantee the successful implementation of the pilot.

Green, inclusive and well-managed: Banská Bystriça’s main priorities

Banská Bystriça joined the DG REGIO/OECD program with the aim to involve citizens in the development and prioritisation of the Integrated Territorial Strategy (ITS) plan for the years 2021–2027, as it pertains to the Functional Urban Area (FUA) of the city. Citizens were able to suggest new ideas of projects that would, after a round of public voting, serve as recommendations to the city’s Cooperation Board. Suggested projects had to fall under three thematic categories: “Green city”, “Well-managed” city and “Inclusive city”.

A hybrid ideathon: the step-by-step methodology

The team chose to follow a hybrid ideathon method. This method aligns closely with “Open innovation” and “Public consultation”, as categorised in the OECD Guidelines for Citizen Participation Processes. This method usually requires a technical interface, some communication efforts, and a physical space for hackathons / ideathons. It is designed to ideate and find collective solutions to framed problems and involve the public in developing prototypes.

As defined in the pilot’s final report, an ideathon is “a dynamic participatory format designed to facilitate an intensive brainstorming session involving individuals from diverse backgrounds, each bringing unique skills and intentions. This collaborative gathering serves as a platform for collectively identifying various ideas, solutions, or action plans centered around specific themes. Ideathons typically operate within a defined time frame, spanning from several hours to even days, and can be executed through either online or offline workshops and consultations.”

The ideathon was both an in-person day-long workshop and a month-long online public consultation. A month-long voting phase was then organised to finalise the final list of projects.

The project had no specific target group. It focused on engaging a large and diverse group of citizens, including individuals of all ages and backgrounds. The city did actively involve stakeholders such as civil society leaders and academia in the meetings.

Communication was achieved through institutional channels (social media and institutional website). A final report was also written and communicated to the citizens. In this pilot, the channels matched the intended breadth of the public targeted throughout the pilot. The city gave special consideration to removing any technical language from public communication.

With regards to human resources, the project coordination team was made up of 4–5 members (the City’s participation lead, a CSO representative, two team members from the Cohesion Policy/Integrated Territorial Strategy team, and an additional project manager). The project also leveraged existing institutional structures, by using, for instance, its already established Open Government Partnership (OGP) platform to disseminate information and updates about the participatory process.

Digitalization of the municipality’s participatory processes

For this pilot, a Google Form was used for the online public consultation along with Consider.it, an opinion mapping tool with a geosurvey function to conduct the online voting. As explained in the pilot’s final report, “the voting platform allowed each voter to express any level of support (minus values, neutral, plus values, or values from -1 to 1) for any number of project ideas, and all 25 project ideas that we received through the ideathon’s collection phase were included in the voting”.

The coordination team, with the help of the OECD, has also worked for several months on the implementation of a digital democracy infrastructure. This work included developing internal support from the elected officials and other staff members, allocating some budget to the maintenance and installation costs, and building the skills necessary for the coordination team to be fully autonomous with the use of a digital participatory platform — Decidim — and the design of online participatory processes. The first participatory budgeting should be launched in the autumn, on the soon-to-be-launched platform. The team from Banská Bystriça exchanged with other DG REGIO pilots to share good practices on implementing digital participatory platforms as such.

Results of Banská Bystriça’s ideathon

Regarding the use of citizens’ input, all projects’ ideas suggested by citizens are planned to be implemented as part of the City’s urban planning strategies (within the 2030 perspective). The city published the raw results from Consider.it but is yet to publish the final list of projects to be funded.

With regards to the impact of the pilot on the ITI: if a full implementation of projects is to be expected by the city, only a fraction of them should be carried out using the ITS cohesion policy framework. As explained in the final report “All proposed ideas, including those that cannot be financed within the thematically and volume-limited allocation of the Integrated Territorial Strategy, will be implemented in the […] new Banská Bystriça 2030 City Development Programme or used in the preparation of the City’s Action Plans”.

Lessons learned — an interview with the City’s participation manager and the CSO’s co-founder

Q1: What importance would you give to political sponsorship when experimenting with innovative citizen participation?

Soňa Kariková, Banská Bystriça’s OGP and participation lead, shared that, although the municipality’s leadership did not have experience with participation, they did place a blind trust in the change agents of the City (the participation team and the ITS team). Trust was also progressively built by opening a new and relatively innovative channel of “constructive dialogue” with citizens. According to her, this trust is key when implementing a participatory process since, although case studies exist worldwide, “there is no concrete evidence that citizen participation works at our local level, but the City’s Mayor and vice-mayors chose to trust us”. The OECD and DG REGIO also played an important role as third parties to increase political trust in the team’s work.

Q2: What recommendations would you give for a city experimenting with innovative citizen participation?

For Soňa, it is crucial to create the time and space for experimentation. There should not be pressure to show results at the beginning, because it is such a new agenda for a City. Regarding citizens, targeting civil society representatives who want to constructively engage in the process, and inviting them at each step of the process as legitimate stakeholders should also be a core part of the experimentation.

Eva Mazancová also shared her recommendations:

• Clear Communication: Establish open, transparent communication channels. Both parties should be on the same page regarding objectives, expectations, and roles.
• Shared Vision: Develop a common understanding of the project’s goals. Aligning on a shared vision can prevent conflicts and misunderstandings.
• Build Trust: Trust is foundational. Regular meetings, workshops, and joint training sessions can help nurture mutual respect and understanding.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Involve all relevant stakeholders early in the process. Their insights can inform the project’s direction and enhance its legitimacy.
• Define Metrics: Clearly outline key performance indicators and metrics to evaluate success. This ensures accountability and provides a roadmap for assessing progress.
• Flexibility: Be adaptable. Challenges will arise, and having a flexible approach allows for timely adjustments.
• Capacity Building: Ensure that both parties have the necessary skills and resources. Regular training can bridge knowledge gaps.
• Document Everything: Maintain thorough records of meetings, decisions, and outcomes. This documentation aids in transparency and can be a reference in case of disputes.
• Feedback Loops: Create mechanisms for regular feedback. This helps in early identification of potential issues and fosters continuous improvement.
• Celebrate Successes: Recognizing and celebrating milestones, however small, boosts morale and strengthens the partnership.
• Ensure Transparency: Both parties should be transparent about their intentions, constraints, and potential conflicts of interest.

What now? What needs to be improved in the next years?

Soňa Kariková discussed the implementation and development of the City’s digital participatory platform for the city’s participatory budget, and development programs. She also put forward the need to adapt the municipality’s internal organization to these new forms of participation. This would require, according to her, rethinking the organizational structure, increasing the collaboration between the City’s departments, encouraging the application of OGP principles, and continuing developing the necessary skills to implement more and better citizen participation.