ScotlandOGNplanning

= Introduction = This is a space to openly establish and manage the Scotland Open Government Civil Society Network. It has been set up to build openness around the process of building the movement for individual people and civil society who want to make government work better for people through transparency, participation and accountability.

The Open Government Scotland civil society network currently consists of the following:
 * Scotland OGN Forum - a members forum where people can register to engage in the network, connect with others, and engage with feedback from other network members
 * A Steering 'space' - this page, where anyone can engage in the strategic direction of the network
 * A set of network members who have offered to take on a specific delegated role on behalf of this group, as facilitators, coordinators and communicators. We need your input on how best to formalise this (see below).
 * The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations is supporting the development of this network with support from the Big Lottery UK as part of the Open Government Pioneers Project UK.
 * A Group based on an open invitation to the Scotland OGN forum and representatives from Scottish Government that met in May 2017 in the High Street, Edinburgh and the Meeting was livestreamed

Why there needs to be a Scotland Civil Society Network
A Scotland Civil Society Network provides the space for dialogue and co-creation within civil society in the area of open government. As stated in the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Participation & Co-Creation Standards, ‘civic participation is a core component of open government, and an essential element of the OGP cycle.’ Active engagement from people, communities and representatives of voluntary and community organisations in developing, securing and implementing lasting open government reforms is as basic expectation of the OGP process.

Current status
This page and the initial content has been set up by Paul Bradley (staff at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations - the network does not currently have a selected coordinator) on 7th April 2017 as a starting framework to prompt contributions to develop a Civil Society Network that can mobilise people around the issue of open government. This is an open wiki that anyone can edit and add or remove content.

Next steps
To ensure that an appropriate process is in place to establish and manage the Scotland Civil Society Network, a possible way forward would be to draw on the guidance and ideas for how to develop a multi-stakeholder forum from the OGP Support Unit. The Multistakeholder Forum Handbook is a publication based on research commissioned by the OGP Support Unit, the purpose of which was to capture different models of dialogue and collaboration and create practical, action oriented guidance and ideas for the OGP community. The following are proposed phases and next steps to establish and manage the Scotland Open Government Civil Society Network, based on the Multistakeholder Forum Handbook.
 * Phase One: Creation of the network
 * Phase Two: Managing the network
 * Phase Three: Network and plan implementation

= Development Phases = The prompt questions below have been based on the synopsis for forum/network design and management activities in the Multistakeholder Forum Handbook. They should be seen as a suggested starting point for contributors to support establishing and managing the Scotland Open Government Civil Society Network, but it is not an exhaustive list. '''Please insert your own questions or edit the current ones, and add your contributions. In particular, please focus on phase one.'''

Phase Three: Network and plan implementation
= Network Communications =

Communications Plan
This is a starter framework for the Scotland Civil Society Network Communications Plan. This plan will help the network to identify methods, moments and opportunities to prepare communications and act effectively and openly. This framework can be adjusted as required by contributors.

Why do we want to communicate with these audiences? (What’s the purpose?) Who do we want to communicate it to? (Who’s the audience?)

What do you want to communicate? (What’s the message?) How do we want to communicate it? (What communication channels will the network use?)

Who should we contact and what should we do in order to use those channels? (How will the network distribute the message?)

Communications Tracker
This is a space to record communications that are sent out from or on behalf of the Network. This plan will help the network to monitor outreach and identify where there are gaps in the Network's activity.

= Developing Terms of Reference =