12th December 2017
The November meeting of Scotland’s Open Government Network – focusing on OGP Action Plan progress and network next steps – took place on Wednesday 8th November. The meeting provided an opportunity to directly interact with the Open Government Partnership’s Independent Reporting Mechanism and to shape next steps in the development of Scotland’s Open Government Network. The…
5th December 2017
I met up with Paul Nelis, Development Manager at the Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC), to get his thoughts on participatory budgeting (PB) in Scotland and what more can be done to ensure PB becomes the new norm. Should PB feature in a future open government action plan and if so, what should the focus…
30th November 2017
We’re an interesting bunch of people spread right across Scottish civil society, so it’s about time we found out a bit more about each other. Who loves Oasis or hates Parma Violets won’t open government, but through OpenGov Encounters we’ll also find out what each other do, our reasons for getting involved in the network…
24th November 2017
We invite you to comment on the Independent Reporting Mechanism’s 2017 Preliminary Review for Scotland’s OGP action plan. The two-week public comment period will close on 30 November 2017. In 2016, OGP started a pilot program for subnational participants. The program consists of 15 subnational governments who submitted action plans and signed onto the Subnational Declaration at the…
21st November 2017
Earlier this month, I caught up with Matthew Rice, Director at Open Rights Group (ORG) Scotland, to find out a little more about the development of ORG in Scotland and to hear his thoughts on our movement for more open government. Open Rights Group Scotland – tell us more! Open Rights Group are a grassroots campaigning…
14th November 2017
A few months back I blogged some reflections on my first few months in the network. I asked you to influence our work in the following months, and through individual meetings, network workshops and profiles, you have! Whilst a growing membership bodes well for the future of Scotland’s Open Government Network and any future open government action…
2nd November 2017
Last week I attended the Civil Society Global Leaders Workshop in The Hague, a meeting of 21 civil society representatives from across the world. Led by the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and hosted by Hivos, we spent three days interacting with civil society members of the OGP Steering Committee and the Civil Society Engagement team;…
17th October 2017
With the independent evaluation of Scotland’s Open Government Action Plan now underway, I spoke with the independent reporter assigned to Scotland, Andrew McDevitt, to find out what happens next with the assessment process. This includes what’s up for discussion at our next Network meeting on 8th November – you can sign up here to…
17th October 2017
This blog on why trust is needed between government and civil society to make Scotland poverty-free was written for The Poverty Alliance for this year’s Challenge Poverty Week. It becomes clear after flicking through the pages of Poverty in Scotland that the knowledge base exists to tackle poverty. We also know this simply through the everyday…
3rd October 2017
Collaboration between government and civil society is at the heart of the Open Government Partnership. Without it, trust will go wanting and success hampered by the lack of a strong guiding coalition maintaining the sense of urgency and vision we need. Success will not occur overnight, but we must work to improve this partnership. Last…