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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. Feedback is currently being sought on draft terms of reference, Network facilitators and the next meeting of the OGN to be held in June.
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 Activity
Phase One: Creation of the Network (April – May 2017)
Focus: on preparatory work to set up a more formalised Civil Society Network with clear guidelines around purpose, membership, structures using outputs from previous meetings and through open feedback mechanism.
| Review of existing Forum meeting outputs to scope relevant feedback around formalising OGN
(April 2017) |
Meetings of the forum have taken place since July 2015 and outputs have been recorded and circulated to the group. This work has been facilitated by SCVO and Involve UK, who are coordinating the UK wide Open Government Civil Society Network and supporting work in devolved nations. |
| Meeting of Forum to discuss next-steps
(April 2017) |
A number of Forum members met on April 6th 2017 to discuss civil society engagement around open government in Scotland, and to share thoughts on where we go next in developing Scotland’s Civil Society OGN. Draft notes of the meeting can be found here. |
| Request for input in the creation of basic structures and operations of the Scotland Civil Society OGN
(April - May 2017) |
An online open planning page has been set-up that draws on the discussions at the recent and historical meetings, as well as guidance from the OGP Support Unit. Feedback on the approach outlined on the planning page to formalise the role, purpose and operations of the Network was sought over a 3 week period and a number of forum members fed back either by email or on the page itself. |
| Draft proposals presented to Forum for discussion and feedback ahead of strategy session
(May 2017) |
An initial set of proposals for formalising the Network have been developed. These draft terms of reference serve as a starter for ten and build on the idea of operating an Open Steering Space to encourage broad participation and new energy to open government in the early stages or our Network’s de velopment. |
Phase Two: Managing the Network (June onwards)
Phase Three: Network and plan implementation (June onwards)
Development Feedback
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.
How do we start the network?
| Prompt Question | Contributions |
|---|---|
| How can we open up previous dialogues, decisions, meeting notes to ensure activities in the last two years are open to scrutiny in this process? |
|
| What network model could be used for Scotland’s Civil Society Network? What are the strengths and weaknesses of those models? |
|
| Who at this stage considers themselves as part of Scotland’s Civil Society Network and why? What role do you see yourself playing? |
|
| How can we communicate this process to ensure as many actors can take part in this initial set-up process? (mapping of routes to diverse audiences) |
|
| Will the chosen model require selection of people in some form (coordinator, core group etc.)? If so, what is the mechanism and is it fair and transparent. |
|
| What should the next steps be for establishing Scotland’s Civil Society Network? |
|
How should the network work?
| Prompt Question | Contributions |
|---|---|
| What is the purpose / vision of the network? | |
| Who should be permitted to be a member? On what basis? | |
| What should be expected of members? | |
| What roles does the network need (e.g. coordinator, chair, steering committee, spokespeople, thematic leads, etc.)? How should they be selected and rotated? | |
| How should the network identify the information needs of networks participants? What are those needs? | |
| How should information be shared within the network? What should the network’s communication system look like? | |
| What should the frequency and format of meetings be? (Monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, additional, online, face to face etc.) | |
| How should the network make decisions? What rules should be established? | |
| How should the network coordinate with local government, national government? What will the coordination mechanism look like? | |
| How should the network coordinate with wider civil society that aren’t currently part of the network? What will the coordination mechanism look like? | |
| How should the network develop its assets, resources, capabilities, capacity etc.? | |
| How will terms of reference be developed? | UK OGN ToR for reference: http://www.opengovernment.org.uk/resource/terms-of-reference-of-the-uk-open-government-network/ |
| Who should be able to speak on the behalf of the network? On what basis? | |
| ********Please insert any other prompt questions********** |
Network and plan implementation
| Prompt Question | Contributions |
|---|---|
| How will the network conduct awareness raising activities to boost civil society engagement in developing a future plan or engaging in current plans? | |
| What should the network's method be for developing, securing and implementing lasting open government reforms in an OGP plan? | |
| How will the network monitor and scrutinize progress on the current plan? | |
| ********Please insert any other prompt questions********** |
Network Meetings
June 2017
We would also like to set-up the next meeting of the OGN for the end of June 2017. Doodle poll here: https://doodle.com/poll/y9pb4dsxz2wfck2i Some suggested areas of focus for the meeting are:
| Suggested area of focus | Comment |
|---|---|
| Open budgeting (in view of the Budget Process Review Group) | |
| Participatory Budgeting | |
| Review of the National Performance Framework (Open Government themes) | |
| Engagement with the NAPs (current NAP and crowdsourcing approach for future plans) | |
| Meeting with SG and SG support for Open Government | |
| INSERT AREA |
Network Structures (draft proposals)
As the Scotland Civil Society OGN grows and becomes more active, there will be a need to formalise the structure of the network to enable it to effectively co-ordinate action.
The Network has adopted the following loose structure in the early stages of development to encourage broad participation and new energy and commitment to open government and the OGN in Scotland. This structure is experimental and is open for testing and evaluation.
- Open Steering Space
- Network Facilitators
- Mini-discussions
- Coordinator
Open Steering Space
An open steering space exists for those interested in steering the development of the open government movement and associated network in Scotland. This space is designed for individuals to play a more active role in facilitating the direction of the Scotland Civil Society OGN, but does not act as an executive group of experts.
Through adopting an open space, the Network ensures that decision making and ideas formulation is open to as diverse group of people as possible and is not restricted to a closed group. The space is open for any Network Member to participate in and serves as a platform to develop the Network’s strategy, communications and engagement plans in an open and collaborative manner.
The activity of the steering space will be communicated on the OpenGovScot Forum and a meeting open to all Network members will take place at least once every quarter. This meeting will be livestreamed here and recorded.
Individuals participating within this space are responsible for:
- Supporting and overseeing the work of the OGN Coordinator and ensuring the smooth running of the OGN
- Expanding the membership and reach of the OGN
- Deciding on areas of focus and discussion
- Deciding on necessary facilitators who host mini-discussions and/or engage with external parties
Facilitators
Facilitators exist to host mini-discussions with the Network based around a particular theme or issue (for example, participatory budgeting).
Facilitators also provide the link between external parties – such as government – and the Scotland Civil Society OGN on their particular theme or issue. In the case of government,
Facilitators act as brokers who meet and engage with government counterparts and report back to the Network.
Any Scotland Civil Society OGN member can volunteer themselves to be a facilitator of a particular theme or issue. (MORE DETAIL REQUIRED ON SELECTION)
Facilitators have a particular responsibility to abide by and exhibit the OGN’s principles. Any member that does not abide by them can be required to step down by the Network.
| Suggested Facilitator Role | Person One | Person Two | Person Three |
|---|---|---|---|
| Participatory Budgeting (current NAP commitment) | Ali Stoddart | ||
| Citizen Participation (current NAP commitment) | Ali Stoddart | ||
| Progressing Fairer Scotland (current NAP commitment) | Alex Stobart | ||
| Financial Transparency (current NAP commitment) | |||
| National Performance Framework (current NAP commitment) | |||
| Person Centred Services | Alex Stobart | ||
| Parliamentary Engagement | |||
| Health and Social Care Engagement | |||
| Education Engagement | |||
| Tech/Innovation | |||
| Sustainable Development Goals | |||
| Environment Engagement | |||
| Community Engagement | |||
| Local Government Engagement | |||
| Government Culture Change | |||
| ADD ROLE | |||
| ADD ROLE |
Mini-discussions
Mini-discussions in the Network will generally involve fewer participants than usual steering space meetings. They are hosted by Facilitators of a particular theme or issue, who are tasked with reporting into the OpenGovScot list as well as the steering space meetings that take place on a quarterly basis. Any Network member can take part in a mini-discussion and they do not need to be considered an expert to contribute.
List of initiatives to engage OpenGovScot network
Developing Terms of Reference (draft)
Scotland Civil Society
Open Government Network
Draft terms of reference (for discussion in OpenGovScot Forum)
1. Introduction
The Scotland Civil Society Open Government Network (OGN) is a coalition of individuals and organisations committed to making government work better for people through transparency, participation and accountability.
This document sets out the Scotland OGN’s draft terms of reference for discussion in the OpenGovScot Forum.
2. Background
The development of the Scotland Civil Society Open Government Network coincides with Scotland securing a unique place in the international Open Government Partnership (OGP).
The OGP is a global effort to make governments more effective through securing commitments to greater transparency, participation and accountability. The Partnership was formally launched in 2011.
Full members of the partnership, of which the UK Government is one, must submit National Action Plans with a two-year lifespan that are collaboratively developed with civil society. Progress against these plans is then independently evaluated by the OGP. The UK’s third (2016-18) OGP National Action Plan was published in June 2016, and Scottish civil society organisations mobilised to contribute to the planning process.
In 2016, the Partnership set up a new pilot program to consider how the principles of the OGP could filter down to a more local level. Scotland was one of 15 subnational governments selected to be part of this pilot and submitted an Action Plan with a one-year lifespan over 2017. A loose civil society network contributed to the development of the plan, consisting of relevant skills, experience and knowledge needed to make a legitimate contribution to the plan.
As we look to make these more local connections, Scotland’s civil society network should become more structured to ensure an effective relationship with government in our efforts to open up policy and decision making, and to increase civil society knowledge about open government in Scotland.
3. Purpose
The Scotland Civil Society Open Government Network was formed on the back of Scotland joining the Open Government Partnership, and with a focus on:
- expanding civil society involvement in the open government movement through increasing knowledge and awareness of open government in Scotland; and
- engaging with the development and review of the UK’s and Scotland’s Open Government Action Plans.
The Network works to mobilise and coordinate civil society advocacy for government and other public institutions to work better through transparency, participation and accountability.
Through initiating outreach and increasing engagement across Scottish civil society, the Network serves as an engine for new ideas and as a collective voice to collaborate with and challenge government.
4. Membership
Membership of the Network is open to any individual or civil society organisation, on the condition that they:
- Endorse the Open Government Declaration
- Abide by the Scotland Civil Society Open Government Network’s principles
- Remain in good standing throughout their participation in OGN activities
Individuals join the Scotland Civil Society Open Government Network by signing up to the OpenGovScot list on the Open Government Forum.
Members of the Scotland Civil Society OGN may choose to be associated with, and act as the representative of an organisation by indicating this on their OpenGovScot list profile and in their statements in network activities, but only insofar as the stated goals of that organisation are working towards the public (rather than private) interest and are compatible with the OGN’s principles.
The Network is of the view that any individual should be able to become a member. This includes political advisors working with government or government officials, on the condition that they participate in Network activities in a personal capacity.
Membership rights include being on the OpenGovScot mailing list, attending meetings, contributing to OGN’s work on OGP, and being involved in Network related planning, outreach and communications.
5. Principles
When taking part in the activities of the Scotland Civil Society OGN, all members should abide by the Nolan principles of public life:
- Selflessness - Act solely in terms of the public interest.
- Integrity - Avoid placing yourself under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence you in your work. Do not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. Declare and resolve any interests and relationships.
- Objectivity - Act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.
- Accountability - Be accountable to the public for your decisions and actions and submit yourself to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.
- Openness - Take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.
- Honesty - Be truthful.
- Leadership - Exhibit these principles in your own behaviour. Actively promote and robustly support the principles and be willing to challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs.
In addition:
- Members of the Scotland Civil Society OGN may represent themselves as being part of the OGN, but cannot speak on its behalf
- Members should engage constructively with the activities of the Scotland Civil Society OGN
6. Structure
As the Scotland Civil Society OGN grows and becomes more active, there will be a need to formalise the structure of the network to enable it to effectively co-ordinate action.
The Network has adopted the following loose structure in the early stages of development to encourage broad participation and new energy and commitment to open government and the OGN in Scotland. This structure is experimental and is open for testing and evaluation.
- Open Steering Space
- Network Facilitators
- Mini-discussions
- Coordinator
Open Steering Space
An open steering space exists for those interested in steering the development of the open government movement and associated network in Scotland. This space is designed for individuals to play a more active role in facilitating the direction of the Scotland Civil Society OGN, but does not act as an executive group of experts.
Through adopting an open space, the Network ensures that decision making and ideas formulation is open to as diverse group of people as possible and is not restricted to a closed group. The space is open for any Network Member to participate in and serves as a platform to develop the Network’s strategy, communications and engagement plans in an open and collaborative manner.
The activity of the steering space will be communicated on the OpenGovScot Forum and a meeting open to all Network members will take place at least once every quarter. This meeting will be livestreamed here and recorded.
Individuals participating within this space are responsible for:
- Supporting and overseeing the work of the OGN Coordinator and ensuring the smooth running of the OGN
- Expanding the membership and reach of the OGN
- Deciding on areas of focus and discussion
- Deciding on necessary facilitators who host mini-discussions and/or engage with external parties
Facilitators
Facilitators exist to host mini-discussions with the Network based around a particular theme or issue (for example, participatory budgeting).
Facilitators also provide the link between external parties – such as government – and the Scotland Civil Society OGN on their particular theme or issue. In the case of government,
Facilitators act as brokers who meet and engage with government counterparts and report back to the Network.
Any Scotland Civil Society OGN member can volunteer themselves to be a facilitator of a particular theme or issue. (MORE DETAIL REQUIRED ON SELECTION)
Facilitators have a particular responsibility to abide by and exhibit the OGN’s principles. Any member that does not abide by them can be required to step down by the Network.
Mini-discussions
Mini-discussions in the Network will generally involve fewer participants than usual steering space meetings. They are hosted by Facilitators of a particular theme or issue, who are tasked with reporting into the OpenGovScot list as well as the steering space meetings that take place on a quarterly basis. Any Network member can take part in a mini-discussion and they do not need to be considered an expert to contribute.
Coordinator
The Scotland Civil Society OGN coordinator has responsibility for:
- Administering and coordinating the OGN
- Expanding the membership of the OGN
- Engaging with the relevant government policy team with responsibility for the OGP
- Publicising the work of the OGN
The coordinator is selected by and works on the behalf of the OGN. They should represent the interests of the OGN over those of their host organisation, if they have one. The coordinator has a particular responsibility to abide by and exhibit the OGN’s principles.
The coordinator role can be reviewed at the instigation of the Network. The appointment of a coordinator must be conducted in an open manner, through open nominations and a consensual process or ballot if necessary.
As the OGN is not itself a formally constituted organisation, the coordinator, with support from the wider network, is responsible for securing the necessary funding to perform their role.
7. Decision Making
The Scotland Civil Society OGN seeks to operate through a process of consensus decision making.
Any documents, public statements or positions adopted by the OGN should clearly describe the basis on which they are made.
Four main methods of decision making and public statement are proposed:
Network consensus
Where a text has been open for discussion by the network for at least two weeks, and the draft text itself has been posted to the network mailing list for not less than one week, with a clear statement to the effect that it is proposed as a network decision.
Consensus will be deemed to be reached in the event of (a) no objections or modifications to the text being suggested during that period; (b) all those who have raised objections or suggested modifications being satisfied that their views have been taken into account.
Network consensus should be used for any strategic decision making by the network.
Network signatures
Where a text has been put forward, and network members are invited to add their signatures to that statement, either as individuals, or on behalf of their organisations.
Texts of this form should be presented as coming from 'Members of the Scotland Civil Society Open Government Network'.
This process can be combined with network consensus, to allow for a text to be presented as 'A position of the Open Government Civil Society Network'
Where sub-groups or mini-discussions are formed (e.g. for conversation with specific government departments), these groups should be clear that they are speaking as a group of members of the Network, and not on behalf of the Network, unless they have a mandate through a consensus process.
Network vote
If consensus is not possible due to timescales, the Network will vote, fully taking into account any and all available evidence as to the views of Network members.
Any such decisions shall be communicated to the Network mailing list, and shall be communicated publicly as a statement 'Voted on by Members of the Scotland Civil Society Open Government Network'.
Coordinator’s statement
The Coordinator of the network may make such operational day-to-day decisions as are required for their role.
The Coordinator can represent their actions as of 'The Coordinator of the Scotland Civil Society Open Government Network'.
The Coordinator should provide a regular report, no less than annually, to the full Network, on their activities.
Network Communications
Growing and involving Open Government networks in Scotland
This note provides a summary of the meeting between Paul Bradley (SCVO) and Leah Lockhart (Demsoc) on 11th July 2017. Demsoc were asked to provide support and advice on understanding how networks can be used to extend and support drafting of the next National Action Plan. The meeting fulfils Task 2 in the Demsoc work plan to support the OGP Pioneers project.
Summary of the meeting
We met to talk about different ways to efficiently spend time growing and involving the OGP Scotland network. You’ve been staggering your workload to cover multiple strands of work to date but you’ll be focusing time on the OGP network in the next few months. PB adopted an online community/forum that has never been overseen by anyone for the purpose of keeping it active with regular content and lively discussion.
We talked about current time resource. PB said would like to spend a little time each day doing something for the network, and that can create a regular publishing calendar to give structure to work.
The options identified for building the OGP network were:
1. focus on nurturing and re-energising the current network
2. split time between the current network and outreach to new potential stakeholders.
After discussion, it was decided that focusing on the current network is the best place to aim immediate efforts. This is because:
1. they are a group of self selected and interested parties
2. there is data available to help focus outreach to the members who are most likely to engage, for example new members, most active members and occasional contributors
3. there is data available about members’ other online profiles, for example social media, that will allow for discovery of more networks
4. email addresses are available and there is a possibility they can be used for personalised outreach
5. they are a ready made group of relevant practitioners.
Channels
● Forum
● Twitter - @opengovscot
● Wiki - public facing information about the project is developing collaboratively: https://opengovpioneers.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page
Next steps
Content
- Using a combination of curated and unique content, create a fresh approach to bringing the network together and populate the forum and social media with immediate value to new members.
- About community members/member profiles - Issues pulled out from conversations amongst community members that are worth highlighting for further debate or discussion
- Idea: Member profiles taking from TFN’s Chief Encounters model to make visible to the whole network an individual fellow community member, their work and interests. Collecting this information ties in nicely with meetings that are already planned. Where meetings haven’t been planned, approaching a community member for a call or meeting for the purpose of publishing a profile is a nice introduction with incentive. Profiling can also act as a ‘reward’ to members, hopefully making them more likely to link their friends and colleagues to OGP forum or social media thus growing the community of interest.
- Idea: A monthly email newsletter bringing together the most interesting or most responded to pieces published in the forum and social media over a month. Note to word and link it creatively so it does not act as an alternative to interacting on the forum or social media but rather leads them to those places.
- Not community related but relevant or interesting to OGP Scotland - Curated content from around the web and other online networks
- Idea: Consider playing with the tone of curated information to find a good balance for the diverse membership. Play with media types and try to include video, audio, images, gifs.
- Idea: Set aside time for listening. Continue to join other online groups that will create information or give you intelligence that you can repurpose for OGP audience.
Plan/schedule
- Choose a theme each week and publish content related to that. It’s not about strictly adhering to the action plan points but widening out a bit. For instance, with a focus one week on person centred services, a practitioner or specialist could do a hot seat, or someone from the forum could write an opinion piece.
- Start the process of working out loud, blogging work, who meeting, etc. For instance a lot of work taking place with young people around SDGs and this can be reflected on and used as a framework for discussions of interest to OGP members.
- Re-visit offers of guest posts/blogs from people
- Draft a kind of membership ‘package’: If you join, this is what you can expect in return.
- Bank content on days when there is more opportunity to write in high volume.
OpenGov Hot Seats
| Name | Organisation | Theme | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tom Youll | Shelter Scotland | Use of technology in charity | July 2017 |
| Keira Oliver | Ingage Scotland (Scottish Government) | Participation and Ulab | August 2017 |
| Carole Ewart | Campaign for Freedom of Information (Scotland) | Freedom of Information and Open Data | September 2017 |
| Fiona Garven | Scottish Community Development Centre | Participatory Budgeting | October 2017 |
| TBC | November 2017 | ||
| TBC | December 2017 |
OpenGov Encounters
| Name | Organisation | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Elric Honore | Fife Centre for Equalities | August 2017 |
| Susan Scott | PLUS Perth Kinross | August 2017 |
| Lorraine Gillies | Audit Scotland | August 2017 |
| Leah Lockhart | Democratic Society | August 2017 |
| Chloe Clemmons | Scottish Churches | September 2017 |
| Ruth Boyle | Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations | September 2017 |
| Lisa Mackenzie | Howard League Scotland | September 2017 |
| Cameron Reid | Wick Community Centre | October 2017 |
| Anne Kidd | Voluntary Action East Renfrewshire | October 2017 |
| Fiona Savage | Collaborative Futures and Nordic Enterprise Trust | October 2017 |
| Dougla Clark | University of Edinburgh Q-Step Centre | October 2017 |
| Fiona Garven | Scottish Community Development Centre | November 2017 |
| Toluwa Oyeleye | UN Scotland | November 2017 |
| November 2017 |
OpenGov Newsletters
| Month | Date sent | Topics covered |
|---|---|---|
| August 2017 | 24 August |
|
| September 2017 | ||
| October 2017 | ||
| November 2017 | ||
| December 2017 | ||
| January 2018 |