Citizen Participation

Transparency, accountability, and access to justice are key operational principles recognized for good governance, thus, constituting the main pillars of democracy.

Corruption weakens public trust in government, hampers legitimate economic activity, threatens public resources and income, and negatively impacts public administration and service delivery thus poses serious and far-reaching risks to country development. In 2019, Albania was ranked 106/180 countries in the Transparency International’s Corruptions Perceptions Index. Furthermore, according to the 2019 Trust in Governance Opinion Poll, out of the 2500 Albanians surveyed, 87% perceived petty corruption to be either widespread or very widespread, meanwhile 85% perceived grand corruption to be either widespread or very widespread. As such, addressing corruption presents a significant challenge that requires measures throughout all levels of public administration.

The Albanian government has supported the multilateral initiative undertaken, such as the Open Government Partnership as one of the important tools that brings together government reformers and civil society leaders to promote increased access to justice, public services and increased accountability through accessible approaches, in order to improve the quality of information for the public.

The institutions of open policy making and public engagement are in formation process in Armenia. The Government has taken steps to reform the policy-making process to be more transparent.

All policy documents in Armenia are adopted in a form of legal acts – mostly government decision. Hence, the participatory procedures are the same to those relevant to adoption of legal acts. In 2016, the Government launched a website (www.e-draft.am) where drafts of legal acts written by governmental bodies are made available on an online platform specially designed for their publication. The website allows for the publication of draft legal acts to the public, receiving online comments from the interested parties, presenting the compiled feedback, to include justifications on proposals that are rejected.

In the past 20 years, the international community has invested significant funding in projects to promote participatory democracy. The intention of institutions from the local to the state level in Bosnia and Herzegovina to involve the interested public in policy making is evident, primarily through working groups, public hearings, online tools or other participatory mechanisms. An increasing number of public administration bodies or levels of government recognize the importance of involving the interested public in policy making. For example, the Canton of Sarajevo has established a Cantonal Development Committee to draft the Development Strategy 2021-2027, which, in addition to representatives of institutions, also includes representatives of civil society organisations, academia and the professional community.  Participation in policy-making is particularly important at the local level, where decisions are made and implemented that directly impact the daily lives of citizens. The network of civil society organisations Coalition to Work and Succeed Together, which from 2001 to 2008 conducted a broad campaign to establish cooperation of civil society with local authorities, resulted in the signing of nearly 100 Agreements between on the government side the mayor and municipal council, and on the side of civil society associations and foundations.  These agreements regulate the area of dialogue, cooperation and ultimately partnership between these two sectors of society. As a result of the same advocacy activities, in 2007 the first Agreement on Cooperation was signed between the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and non-governmental organisations. Although these agreements did not have a direct effect, they represented a significant first step in building trust between the governmental and non-governmental sectors. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, a culture of participatory democracy and the establishment of legal and institutional mechanisms for cooperation between the governmental and non-governmental sectors is increasingly developing. The development of participatory democracy reflects the very complex constitutional structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the division of competencies between different levels of government. Thus, the legal and institutional framework for participatory democracy is decentralised and fragmented, and examples from practice vary, from very successful to unsuccessful.

Open policymaking is a crucial element for transparency and democracy. The main purpose of open policymaking is to increase citizen participation in decision-making and governance, which would enhance the transparency and accountability of public authorities. Open policymaking is important during the policy development process so that citizens have a say in the creation of those policies that affect their needs and interests.

Kosovo* has created a good legal framework that promotes open policy-making and which is in compliance with European and international standards. Citizen participation is enshrined in the Constitution of Kosovo*, which obliges municipalities to encourage and ensure an active participation of all citizens in the decision-making process of municipal bodies. Open policymaking is also foreseen in the Law on Access to Official Documents, which requires all public institutions to make public their activities and publish every document that is of interest for the citizens of Kosovo*. The Law on Local Self-Government also regulates open policymaking in its Chapter IX.

As a member of the Open Government Partnership since 2012, the Republic of Moldova has been using the term open policymaking in relation to the open government agenda and the co-creation of national action plans on open government. This agenda brings a whole new culture of openness in government (both at central and local levels).

Open policymaking goes deeper than transparency and public consultation: it brings together the right tools, approaches, and techniques in order to be able to listen to a diverse group of citizens, irrespective of their age, social status, or religion, among others.

In the period 2012–2020, in the Republic of Moldova four Open Government Partnership (OGP) Action Plans were drawn up and implemented. According to the State Chancellery reports, the level of implementation of the plans was quite modest. For instance, 40% of the total planned actions in the 2012-2013 Action Plan, 54.5% of actions planned in the 2016-2018 Action Plan and 45% of actions planned in the 2019-2020 Action Plan were implemented. The following were invoked among the reasons for the non-fulfilment of these actions: insufficient financial means, specifically, for the establishment of information systems and modernisation of public services, limited personnel capacity, and insufficient involvement of certain institutions in the implementation of action plans.

In 2021, the State Chancellery drew up the Concept for the drafting of the Programme for Open Government for 2021-2024 and an Action Plan for its implementation for 2021-2022. In the document, starting from the conclusions of the self-assessment and alternative assessment reports, several priority areas for the coming years have been specified: open data, open contracting, integrity and anti-corruption, open budgets, modernisation of public services, and transparency of expenditures and procurements in the healthcare sector.

Open policymaking became a regular practice in Ukraine after the 2014 Revolution. Both local governments and public authorities set up civic councils to involve citizens in the decision-making process. 

In May 2021, the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine also introduced a powerful tool for e-government and open policymaking – the "SVOI" platform to improve the interaction between the local governments and citizens (https://toolkit.in.ua/). With the help of the SVOI platform, local governments can easily build their website, run a chat bot in Viber and Telegram to communicate with the citizens, launch their own system for electronic petitions, allow for an effective system of participatory budget and electronic consultations, as well as use an ‘Open City Geosystem’. 41 Ukrainian communities have already participated in the project. Among the largest cities using the provided toolkit, there are Odesa, Lutsk, Vinnytsia, Kamyanske, Ternopil, Khmelnytskyi and Sievierodonetsk.

Citizens’ initiatives are a legal right foreseen in Article 20 of the Law No. 139/2015 “On Local Self-Government”. Each community, via its authorised representatives, or not less than 1% of the inhabitants of the municipality, has the right to propose citizens’ initiatives to the municipal council on issues under the jurisdiction of the local self-government unit. Proposals presented to the municipal council as citizens’ initiatives which have a financial impact on the municipal budget shall be considered by the council according to the agenda and shall not be approved without the opinion of the head of the local self-government unit.

The Law on Local Self-Government requires that the public be kept informed about the sessions of the community council. The Law states that at least seven days before the regular session of the community council, the head of the community should publish the draft agenda of the council meeting, indicating the venue and the scheduled date and time of the session.

In addition, the Law defines citizen participation in local governance as a major principle. According to the Law, any citizen who is above 16 years old has a right to participate in local governance. In order to ensure their participation, the head of the community has to include in the community’s five-year development programme the creation of a community-based consultative body.

The Law on Normative Legal Acts states that draft laws are subject to public consultation, except for the draft law on ratification (joining) an international treaty. Drafts of other normative legal acts may be submitted for public discussion on the initiative of the body developing the draft or the body adopting the draft. The duration of public discussions is at least 15 days. Public hearings may be convened in the National Assembly by the decision of the Chairman of the National Assembly, permanent or ad-hoc commission, or a fraction. In this case, the organisation of hearings is not compulsory.

Regulations at different levels of government define the involvement of citizens in policy making. Thus, at the state and entity level and the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, this issue is regulated by bylaws which prescribe public participation in the process of creating laws, bylaws and other strategic policies. The involvement of citizens in decision-making processes at the local level is defined by the entity laws on local self-government and the Statutes and other acts of municipalities and cities. The Law on the Principles of Local Self-Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina  and the Law on Local Self-Government of the Republika Srpska  prescribe the mechanisms of direct participation of citizens in decision-making in local self-government. Both laws state that the forms of citizen participation in decision-making are through referenda, citizens' panels civic initiatives, local communities (local neighbourhood councils) as well as other forms of participation that are in accordance with the law. Both laws provide for the direct participation of citizens through local neighbourhood councils, but this institute of participation has been neglected and underused. In addition to those provided by law, a significant number of local authorities use other modern and innovative mechanisms of citizen participation in decision making and the creation of policies important for the development of local communities.

At the central level, there is no legal framework for ensuring open policymaking; however, as mentioned above, the Local Self-Government Code of Georgia has a specific chapter, which sets framework for open policymaking.^[i] In particular, municipal public agencies and public officials are required to guarantee organisational and technical capacities that will enable citizens to meet with representatives of the municipality, to attend public hearings of municipal assemblies and to participate in the decision-making process. Some of the forms of open policymaking stipulated in the law are the establishment of the Council of Civil Advisors, participation in the formation of budgetary priorities, and access to information.

^[i] Organic Law of Georgia Local Self-Government Code, Article 85, Legislative Herald of Georgia, published on 19 February 2014.

^[ii] Organic Law of Georgia Local Self-Government Code, Article 85-88, Legislative Herald of Georgia, published on 19 February 2014.

Open policymaking in local government in Kosovo* is regulated by the Law on Local Self-Government. In order to ensure transparency, this law regulates that the Municipal Assembly and all of it committees hold meetings open to the public and all members of the public are allowed to follow and participate in them.

That said, the law also regulates exceptional cases when the public can be legally excluded from attending meetings of the Municipal Assembly or any of its committees. The public may be excluded in cases where an open meeting might lead to public disorder or violence, threatens to reveal information and documents which are classified as confidential according to the Law on Access to Official Documents, and threatens to disclose sensitive personal or commercial information or information on current or future litigation.

Chapter IX of the Law on Local Self Government defines mechanisms for citizen participation and direct democracy. This chapter foresees and regulates public information and consultation, the right to petition, citizens’ initiative, referendum, recall of the Mayor and consultative committees. All these mechanisms directly increase transparency and participation in policymaking as they foresee the engagement of citizens in the governing procedures of their municipalities.

Open policymaking is also regulated by the Law on Access to Official Documents. With this law, all public institutions are obliged to proactively publish all public documents. They should publish above all, daily data on the public activity of the local authorities which lead to keeping the citizens informed about their activities. The law also regulates the possibility for citizens to request public institutions to publish or give them access to public documents.

The Law on Transparency in Decision-Making Processes of 2008 has been modified and amended. Following this, it was supplemented by the Government Decision on Consultation Mechanisms with Civil Society on Decision-Making of 8 August 2016. The current government decision sets the framework for consultation, describing the step-by-step tasks, roles, and responsibilities of the authorities, including deadlines, consultation methods, and transparency of the adoption of decisions. It also recommends that local public administrations update their internal procedures related to the transparency of the decision-making process. Article 16/1 of the Law on Transparency in Decision-Making mentions that a person infringing this law would bear disciplinary and administrative responsibility.

Specific commitments to ensure a participative decision-making process for drafting and promoting draft normative acts and policy documents were part of National Action Plan on Open Government 2016-2018, along with a commitment on promoting the e-Legislation system as a new public consultation mechanism in order to involve citizens more actively in the drafting of normative acts. However, the completion of this commitment is limited, and the recommendation was to include it in future action plans until the commitment is fulfilled.

Several laws in Ukraine contain provisions on open policymaking, such as the Law No. 2862-VI “On Social Dialogue”, the Law No. 1160 “On Principles of Public Regulatory Policy of Economic Activity”, and the Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 996 “On Ensuring Public Participation in the Formulation and Implementation of Public Policy”. Furthermore, a more relevant draft law “On public consultations” is currently under development.

The Decree No. 996 regulates general procedures for public consultations, policy expertise and the involvement of stakeholders in advisory bodies. The resolution is not compulsory for local governments, which means they can choose whether or not to transpose such regulations into their by-laws.

The Decree No. 996 also defines typical provisions on civic councils – temporary advisory bodies established in public authorities and local governments to promote citizens participation in the policymaking. In May 2019, the Cabinet of Ministers amended Decree No. 996, updating the method and principle of forming such civic councils. Thanks to this decision, it became possible to elect the composition of the civic council by online voting. This change constitutes a useful tool to enhance the transparency of the process.

Article 20, paragraph 1, of the Law No. 139/2015 “On Local Self-Government” stipulates that ways and forms of presentation of citizens’ initiatives, their deliberation, and approval procedures shall be laid down in the statutes for the organisation and operation of the municipal council. To improve policymaking, local authorities should design and implement local action plans in order to bring new insights, perspectives, and expertise from local actors (citizens, civil society organisations, businesses, etc.). This will allow local governments to better link policymaking with the current needs and concerns of the population, and thus to a better implementation of local action plans and policies.

In October 2019, the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) in cooperation with Transparency International Armenia published the Assessment of the civil society environment in the Eastern Partnership countries, developed on the basis of set of standards and indicators in 10 different areas that measure both law and practice.

The report recommends the Government to introduce institutional mechanisms for engaging CSOs in the policy implementation and monitoring, including through state contracting; mandatory consultation in the early stages of decision-making to allow meaningful participation of professional CSOs experienced in relevant public policy areas and increase usage of offline participation tools such as public hearings, expert discussions, and surveys.

A significant number of analyses and manuals have been developed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, emphasizing the importance of public participation in policy making. Back in 2007, the Association of Citizens for the Development of Local Initiative ALDI developed a Handbook for Policy Analysis: Introduction to the Process of Policy Making at the Local Level, in which special attention is paid to the participation of citizens, civil society organisations, media and research groups in policy making.  In 2017, the Centre for Civil Initiatives published an Analysis of Public Participation in the Programming of Work in Government Institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Citizens at the Centre of Decision Making).  This analysis provides an overview of the current state of public participation in policy-making at all levels of government, with examples of good practice and recommendations for improvement. It should be noted that in 2017 a new Agreement on Cooperation was signed between the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and non-governmental organisations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This Agreement, among other things, states that activities will continue to involve citizens and civil society organisations in all phases of creating and implementing public policies within the competence of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina.  One of the results of this Agreement is the establishment of the Advisory Body of the Council of Ministers for Cooperation with Civil Society, which consists of representatives of five civil society organisations.  Although this Agreement was signed at the state level, it can serve as an example and guide how to strategically approach the development of participatory mechanisms for cooperation between the governmental and non-governmental sectors.

Based on the Law on Local Self-Government, the Ministry of Local Government enacted the Administrative Instruction on Transparency in Municipalities. Its purpose is to increase transparency in municipalities and its bodies through the publication of normative acts, decisions and documents that are of interest for citizens. Most importantly, this administrative instruction aims to enhance public participation in decision-making.

This Administrative Instruction regulates that municipalities must hold at least two meetings per year with citizens for issues of general interest. Besides those two meetings, the law regulates that municipalities must hold other consultative meetings within the neighbourhoods, settlements or any location within the municipality to discuss issues regarding the budget, projects, local economic development, usage of municipal property or any other issues of general interest. Article 12 regulates forms of citizen participation in decision-making, allowing citizens of the municipality to participate in all phases of the drafting and implementation of local policies: planning, discussion, decision-making, implementation and monitoring. Article 13 of this Administrative Instruction adds that all acts that concern citizens should be publicly consulted before their adoption. 

There are no specific guidelines related to the implementation of the Law on Transparency in Decision-Making. However, in 2014, as part of the National Action Plan on Open Government for 2014, one of the commitments was the development of a guide on citizen engagement (fully based on the Law on Transparency in Decision-Making of 2008). It was a civil society-driven commitment and the guide is available as a Google site, which allows it to be updated at any time.

Within the project ‘Transparent cities’, the NGO Transparency International Ukraine provides guidelines for the 100 largest cities in Ukraine, based off individual assessments provided for each city.^[i] The guidelines for open policymaking encourage city councils to allow citizens to participate in their consultation and commission meetings; and to publish draft bills 20 working days before being discussed and the full agendas of the sessions 10 days ahead of the plenary session.

The “Civic Activist’s Handbook” developed by experts of the USAID project “Citizens in action” in collaboration with the Ukrainian Centre for Independent Political Research provides recommendations and an overview of mechanisms to involve citizens in open policymaking. For instance, it provides model regulations for local self-governance that allow the implementation of best practices of local democracy in line with European standards of good governance.

Participatory budgeting is a process that brings local communities closer to decision making on the allocation of the municipal or public budget. In recent years, one of the most effective mechanisms implemented by municipalities is participatory budgeting. According to the Open Budget Survey 2019 index, the Government of Albania made eight out of eight key budget documents available to the public online compared to the 2017 Survey index, where the Government made seven out of eight key budget documents available to the public online.

Barring a few exceptions, local public officials are either not very used to engaging with people on technical planning and budgeting, or find them ill-equipped to do so, or simply do not see the importance of the voice of the people.

Citizen and civil society participation in the state budget-making process was limited until 2019. There were no concrete mechanisms prescribed by the Law on State Budget to engage stakeholders in budget making. Instead, there were concrete participatory budget-making mechanisms in the Law on Local Self-Governance.

Since 2019 the citizen and civil society participation is stipulated by the Prime Minister’s decision On Starting the budgetary process for the development of the state budget for 2020 and 3-year Medium Term Expenditure Framework.

Regulations in Bosnia and Herzegovina do not explicitly regulate participatory budgeting. Still, it fits into the broader concept of citizen participation in policy-making, which is defined by laws and bylaws, depending on the level of government. A significant number of local governments have published budgets on their websites, while recently more and more local governments are publishing "Citizens' Budgets". Budget transparency and promoting an understanding of the budget process is one of the important conditions for citizen participation in the process of budgeting, and for equipping citizens with knowledge to inform their ideas and suggestions for budget financing. About 50% of local authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina – directly or through local communities – organise some kind of consultation with the interested public on draft budgets. Public hearings on the draft budget are the most common form of participation where citizens can give their ideas, suggestions and proposals for improving the budget. However, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, there is a lack of a more proactive and inclusive approach. The interested public would be able to provide ideas and proposals in the programming and budget planning phase, but there are only a few examples of local authorities that have enabled the public to submit proposals, ideas, suggestions and projects for funding through the local government budget before the budget has been drafted.

Citizen participation in the budget-making process is another important factor that positively contributes to the level of transparency and accountability of governing bodies. Central and local authorities function based on the Budget of Kosovo*, which is gathered from taxes and duties as well as other forms of revenues paid by the citizens of Kosovo*. Therefore, it is important to create mechanisms that allow the citizens to be part of the budget-making processes so that they can be informed about where and how their money is spent. In the local level of government, municipal budgets have five categories: wages and salaries, goods and services, utilities, subsidies, and capital investments. That is why the budget is the most important municipal act because directly affects the quality of life of citizens.

The Law on Local Self Government regulates the participation of citizens in the budget-making process in Kosovo*. Its article 69 (Right of petition) stipulates that any person or organisation with an interest in the municipality has the right to present a petition the Municipal Assembly on matters relating to the responsibilities and powers of the municipality. While article 70 (Citizens’ Initiative) ensures that citizens can initiate a regulation within the competencies of the municipality, for adoption by assembly or by a vote of the citizens in accordance with the applicable law, article 73 (Consultative Committees) obliges Municipal Assembly to establish consultative committees within sectors for the purpose of enabling citizen participation in the decision-making process.

Based on a 2019 Report on Transparency in Local Governance by KDI, municipalities of Kosovo* have shown improvement in the publication of the budget by 19%, investment plan by 17%, quarterly expense reports by only 1%, Annual Summary Report of the municipality’s budget for the previous fiscal year by 12%, midterm budgetary framework by only 2%, and external audit report by 13%.

The Republic of Moldova participated in the latest Open Budget Survey (OBS) 2019: OBS is the world’s only independent, comparative and fact-based research instrument to assess public access to central government budget information. 

One component of the OBS measures public access to information on how the central government raises and spends public resources, scoring each country on a scale of 0 to 100. The Republic of Moldova got 57/100, and the main recommendations are related to improving budget transparency by producing and publishing a comprehensive mid-year review online in a timely manner.

The OBS also assesses formal opportunities offered to the public for meaningful participation in the different stages of the budget process, scoring each country on a scale from 0 to 100. The Republic of Moldova has a public participation score of 4 (out of 100).

While the Republic of Moldova's Ministry of Finance has established public consultations during budget formulation, to further strengthen public participation in the budget process it is important that:

• Mechanisms to monitor budget implementation are piloted;
• Mechanisms during budget formulation are expanding so as to engage any civil society organisation or member of the public who wishes to participate.
• Actively engage with vulnerable and underrepresented communities, directly or through civil society organisations representing them.

At the same time, the Republic of Moldova's Parliament should prioritise allowing members of the public or civil society organisations to testify during its hearings on budget proposals prior to their approval.  Additionally, it ought to allow members of the public or civil society organisations to testify during its hearings on the Audit Report.

Back in 2011, the Moldovan Government opened up millions of rows of government expenditure data to the public, but the information remained inaccessible to most citizens, because they did not know how to interpret large amounts of data. Raw data is used mostly by experts and policymakers in their research, while most members of the public often do not see the direct benefits of open data and how it affects their daily lives. Participatory budgeting started being more actively implemented as a mechanism for citizen engagement, transparency and accountability during the past years, particularly with the support of donor-funded projects, and evidence shows that more and more communities across the country are piloting it.

For example, through the "My School" project, implemented by Expert-Grup, between 2013 and 2018, 100 schools involved in the project published their detailed budget data and made them available to students, parents, teachers and all those interested.

In 2015 and for the first time in Ukraine, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, and Poltava introduced participatory budgeting. To date, the vast majority of and amalgamated communities are now implementing this process of democratic deliberation and decision-making. The participatory budgeting suggests that local councils allocate a certain amount of the local budget to citizens. For these purposes, cities may use their own websites or special e-platforms allowing citizens to create and vote for the projects to be funded from the local budget, for instance, “Public Project” or “E-Dem. Public Budget”.

Other ways of citizen participation in budget planning processes supplementing the participatory budget include open plenary sessions on budgeting, citizens’ written suggestions and requests on development and use of the local budget, public monitoring and effectiveness assessment of budget spending.

Articles 155 to 160 of the Constitution of the Republic of Albania and the Article 20, paragraph 2, of the Law No. 139/2015 “On Local Self-Government” state that proposals coming to the council as civic initiatives when they have a financial impact on the budget of the local self-government unit are reviewed by the council in the agenda and cannot be approved without the opinion of the mayor of the local self-government unit. Local government units are responsible to ensure that participatory budgeting is executed in accordance with the law.

According to the Law on the Budgetary System of the Republic of Armenia, the authorities should discuss budget proposals with the interested civil society organisations in their areas of competence during the development of the Draft MTEF (including State Budget 2021), and approve the results (including a summary of the acceptance or rejection of the submitted comments and suggestions) of the discussions.

The Law on Local Self-Government provides mechanisms for public participation. Article 84 of the Law states that the head of the community should ensure the participation of community members in the formation of the annual budget, and should also ensure the creation of a consultative body adjunct to the head of the community which will consist of residents, experts and other stakeholders. For the same purpose, public hearings or discussions are organised on the above-mentioned documents prior to their submission to the council meeting.

When it comes to the local level, participatory budgeting is related to the provisions of the Law on Local Self-Government of the Republika Srpska and the Law on Principles of Local Self-Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which prescribe forms of direct participation of citizens in local government decision-making. Article 111, paragraph 4, of the Law on Local Self-Government of the Republika Srpska explicitly stipulates that local authorities conduct a public debate on the draft statute, the draft decision on the budget and other acts determined by law. On the other hand, the Law on the Principles of Local Self-Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina does not prescribe such a provision. Still, it does stipulate that public hearings on various issues of interest to the work of local government be organised through local communities. Therefore, citizens and the wider interested public have the opportunity through public hearings to submit their proposals, suggestions, ideas, and projects for inclusion in the budget.

According to Article 24 of the Law on Local Self Government, the municipal budget consists of own source revenues, grants from the Government of Kosovo*, donations and other revenues. Further, it states that the budget and finances of municipalities are regulated by the Law on Local Government Finance. As per Article 52, every municipality must have its own Policy and Finances Committee, which is legally responsible for reviewing all policies, fiscal and financial documents, the annual midterm budget and any budget changes during the fiscal year.

The Law on Local Government Finance determines the financial resources that are available to municipalities in Kosovo*, including municipal own source revenues, grants and other financial resources that are necessary for the exercise of municipal competencies. According to this law, municipalities have the right to have sufficient financial resources, which they can freely dispose and are equivalent to their municipal competencies. This law regulates in detail what are the municipal taxes, rents, fines, co-payments and other municipal own source revenues and it determines other grants and transfers for delegated competencies.

Even though there are no specific regulatory frameworks in place which would regiment the implementation of participatory budgeting in the Republic of Moldova, it fits within the existing framework and does not require additional legal adjustments.

More specifically, Law No. 436 of 28 December 2006 on Local Public Administration stipulates that citizens should be consulted: (1) about issues of primary importance for the community (it can be done through a referendum), (2) about the local/specific issues that preoccupy most of the population (through consultations, public hearings, and discussions/debates, under the existent legal framework), (3) on the decisions of the local councils. Article 43 (v) of the same law stipulates that public consultations will be organised for draft decisions of local interest that can have an economic, environmental or social impact, as well as on other problems of importance to the local population.

At the local level, several public authorities approved their own regulatory framework for participatory budgeting. In 2017 at the initiative of several activists, the Chișinău City Hall approved a regulation on the civil budget in the municipality, and in August 2020 a revised version was approved. It establishes a general and procedural framework for the submission, evaluation, selection, implementation and monitoring of projects of public interest, initiated by citizens and financed from the municipal budget through the civil budget of Chișinău. Later, in December 2020 the Leova City Hall also approved a regulation regarding participatory budgeting.

No specific legislative acts on participatory budgeting were adopted at the national level. Article 9 of the Law No. 280/97-VR “On Local Self-government” allows citizens to submit their own initiatives to the local council. Article 26, paragraph 20, states that, at plenary sessions of a city, town or village council, the council can provide self-organised citizens with specific powers of self-governance and transfer funds for the realisation of their initiatives. In practice, each city, town or village that introduces participatory budgeting provides the necessary local regulations for the subsequent implementation of projects.

For example, in its Regulation on the Public Budget, Ternopil City provides for the specific procedures for projects submission, review and consideration, further voting for the projects and determination of the winning ideas, as well as for the subsequent realization of those projects. It is defined that to be funded at the expense of the public budget, projects should be aimed at improving community infrastructure (for example, streets, parks, roads, sports or children's playgrounds, institutions: schools, clinics, kindergartens, etc.). The submission of the projects, as well as voting for them, can be conducted online or in paper form. The result of the project must be publicly available, and all residents of the community should have free access to it.

Even though there is a positive trend in Albanian municipalities towards implementing participatory budgeting at local level, better implementation and harmonisation with the Participatory Budgeting Toolkit for Local Governments in Albania would enable more transparent and accountable local governments. In addition, this toolkit, which builds on international practices and tested participatory budgeting methodologies, provides tailored mechanisms to fit Albanian local government budget law and practices.

The 2015 report on Strengthening Local Democracy in Armenia prepared within the project “Support for the consolidation of local democracy in Armenia” in cooperation with the European Association of Local Democracy, gives guidelines on how to engage citizens and civil society organisations in the priorities identified in the community budget and how they can have a role in the allocation of resources. It teaches taxpayers to work with the government to help contribute towards making budget decisions that affect their lives. According to the guidelines, the public benefits of local authorities and civil society organisations working together are that local authorities are able to collect good ideas and suggestions for better solutions, and citizens develop a sense of responsibility towards public goods and the community.

In 2007, the Centre for Civil Initiatives published a guide, Small School of Budget, intended for the general public, for example those who directly or indirectly participate in budgeting in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2021, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre published a Guide to Improving Budget Transparency. Although the Guide is intended for the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, its guidance can be applied at the local level, mainly in the part related to citizen participation in the budget process and the contribution citizens can make to the phase of budget preparation, adoption, and execution. Most of the available manuals and guidelines on public participation in budgeting have been developed by civil society organisations.

The Administrative Instruction on Transparency in Municipalities obliges the municipalities to provide for transparency in their spending. Each municipality is required to publish on its official website the approved Budget Plan, Quarterly Budget Reports, the Midterm Budget Expenditure Framework and a Financial Summary Report of the previous fiscal year. Moreover, the Ministry of Finance issues the Budget Circular, which is the guiding document that the Ministry of Finance sends to the municipality for the preparation of the budget proposal and other budget allocation requests.

The budgeting process in Kosovo* includes some steps which require the participation of citizens. On 15 May of each year, the First Budget Circular is issued. During May and June, municipalities hold open hearings with citizens. The aim of these hearings is to identify citizens' needs for future investment planning. On 30 June, the Midterm Budget Expenditure Framework is approved and published online. On 1 September, the Mayor approves the Budget Proposal and sends it to the Assembly of Kosovo*. The Municipal Assembly is required to hold at least one public hearing before approving the budget proposal. The purpose of holding public hearings is to ensure that the planned investments are in line with the needs and requirements of citizens. By 30 September, the municipal budget proposal is approved by the Municipal Assembly. After its approval, the Municipal Assembly sends it to the Ministry of Finance. The next step includes the approval of the budget proposal by the Government of Kosovo* by 31 October and sent to the Assembly of Kosovo*. Finally, the budget of Kosovo* should be approved by 31 December by the Assembly of Kosovo*.

A methodology of participatory budgeting was developed in 2020 by IDIS Viitorul. It provides practical guidance on how to prepare the participatory budget, how to achieve it and what to look for when implementing voted initiatives.

Although there are not many guidelines on participatory budgeting, there is a general acknowledgment that the quality of life and comfort of the ordinary citizens depends on the quality of budgeting processes (planning, public consultations, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation), be it at central or local levels. Given the importance of the local budget document, its development, preparation, and execution should be done ensuring maximum transparency.

All local authorities should make their draft budgets publicly available for consultation, by publishing them on the municipal websites, posting them on other local platforms, organising local discussions/debates and presentations. Another important aspect for local authorities is to publish the updated budget document and indicate the feedback received during the consultations. This will generate more trust and more engagement of the population in the long run. It is equally important to publish reports about the execution of the budgets (i.e. progress reports).

In the course of implementation of the Strategy for reforming the public financial management system for 2017-2020, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Ministry of Finance issued “Guidelines on mechanisms for public participation in the budget process at the local level”. These Guidelines provide the recommendations for the local governments on the development of their local regulations on participatory budgeting.

A handbook “Implementation and Improvement of the Participatory Budget: Practical Advice” drafted by the experts of the Polish-Ukrainian Foundation PAUCI within the Partnership for Local Economic Development and Democratic Governance Project implemented by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities  describes step-by-step algorithms by which communities can implement the participatory budget independently and successfully. It provides recommendations for seven stages of participatory budgeting:

1. Preparatory stage
2. Information and educational campaign
3. Discussion, preparation and submission of projects
4. Review of the projects
5. Selection of the projects through an open and public voting procedure
6. Projects’ realisation
7. Assessment and improvement

No doubt, effective participatory budgeting is impossible without active citizens who possess enough knowledge and skills to prepare and submit projects. To improve the awareness of local communities, some cities choose to run special education and training programs. For such purposes, Odesa City prepared helpful “Guidelines for organisation and conduct of training of community residents on the submission of projects under the “Public Budget” tool”.

A recent study by the centre “Res Publica” on public consultation shows that there is a very limited number of draft acts published on the official webpage of public institutions. In the report, it is also stated that only 18% of the monitored institutions have a register for the publication of draft acts, in compliance with the Law No. 146/2014 “On Notification and Public Consultation”. This is reinforced by civil society organisations’ experience, where more than half of them do not fully agree that draft and approved laws and policies are publicly available (59%) and that draft laws, policies and laws are published in a timely manner (54%). Two main concerns raised by civil society organisations relate to the quality of the consultation processes themselves. Firstly, the institutions do not take into consideration the recommendations provided by civil society organisations, and secondly, there is a lack of argumentation regarding this issue. In addition, the latter is in violation with the Law No. 146/2014 “On Notification and Public Consultation”.

Public participation in the law-making process in Armenia is a “growing but ineffective” process. The ministries publish draft laws on the official website for public consultations (www.e-draft.am), but the suggestions are not usually taken into serious consideration. Effective consultation would help policy makers to engage citizens in the policy-making process, to increase the capacity of implementation and to gain public trust, which is crucial for policy making.

The most comprehensive approach to conducting public consultations in Bosnia and Herzegovina is at the state level. The Rules for Consultations in the Drafting of Legal Regulations of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina have been adopted, and an online platform for conducting public consultations has been established.  No regulation or other act (strategy, action plan) can be considered at a Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina session unless public consultations have been conducted. Although regulations govern the implementation of public consultations at the level of the entities and the Brčko District of Bosnia and Herzegovina, their impact is limited. Public consultations depend solely on the willingness and decision of the competent public institution to conduct public consultations. The European Commission states in the Report on Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2021 that the legal framework for public consultations is uneven and necessary to ensure purposeful and systematic public consultations. The Strategic Framework for Public Administration Reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2018-2022 envisages activities on a more inclusive approach and public involvement in creating, implementing and monitoring strategic plans, public policies and regulations. At the city and municipal level, there is no legal obligation to conduct public consultations. Still, there are examples of local authorities that consult with the interested public on specific issues within their competence.

Public consultation is considered as a form of communication between the governing bodies and the citizens. The public consultation process is a vital element of a transparent government, due to the fact that it enables citizens to discuss and monitor the work of the local government.

Kosovo*’s framework is well defined and regulates public consultation at both central and local levels of governance. At the central level, public consultation is regulated by the Regulation on Minimum Standards for the Public Consultation Process, which defines the standards, principles and procedures of the public consultation process between public authorities and interested parties in the policymaking and decision-making process. At the local level, it is regulated by the Law on Local Self-Government, the Administrative Instruction on Minimum Standards of Public Consultation in Municipalities and the Administrative Instruction on Transparency in Municipalities.

KDI’s Transparency Index in Municipal Governance 2019 shows that 29 out of 38 municipalities have published their draft decisions and agendas for public consultation. Also, 28 municipalities published the draft budget for public consultation. In general, municipalities have been very active with regard to public hearings relating to budget approval.

Citizens’ trust in administration is one of the core aspects of democracy. It depends on people’s personal experiences of fairness of administration, but also on opportunities to take part in and influence decision-making processes. The quality of citizen engagement depends hugely on the quality of public administration and the capacity of public servants to engage with citizens meaningfully (e.g. on public policy reforms, innovations in different sectors, strategies, etc.). The key pillars of this new engagement paradigm are: being citizen-centred, open, transparent, and collaborative; acting as an enabler of innovation and technology, and being accountable to citizens. Citizen consultation processes should comply with both national legislations dealing with this issue and internationally recommended practices.

The platform www.particip.gov.md was developed to increase the efficiency of participants in the process of elaboration and public consultation of normative acts and to provide a mechanism for real-time monitoring and administration of consultation processes. On this platform public authorities publish for consultations normative acts.

The 2019 IDIS “Viitorul” Report on the Transparency of Local Public Administrations in the Republic of Moldova states that public consultation with citizens on key decisions is sporadic and riddled with deficiencies. The results show that 41% of the districts and 58% of the towns and villages monitored as part of the report have not held any public consultations during 2019. When consultations are being organised, the results of these processes are not being communicated to or shared with citizens.

The practice of public consultations evolved significantly as part of the Ukraine’s Open Government Partnership action plans. In line with recommendations from the European Parliament Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, an online platform for public consultation of the Parliament (itd.rada.gov.ua) of Ukraine was created and duly incorporated into national legislation. The Government of Ukraine also launched a thematic web platform for communication with civil society and public consultations (kmu.gov.ua/gromadskosti). Among the other functions, this web platform features indicative schedules for public consultations organised by the executive authorities. At local level, the Kyiv City Council regularly uses public consultations to involve citizens in the decision-making process.

Multiple electronic platforms, such as a platform for online public consultations "Electronic Democracy. Public Consultations" (consult.e-dem.ua) and a system for public opinion polls "Your opinion" (vdmk.org) that can be used during offline public consultations and hearings, bring open policy-making to the fore by providing diverse tools for interaction between citizens and public authorities.

The National Crosscutting Strategy for Decentralisation and Local Governance 2015-2020 stipulates that all decisions at the local level will be aimed to be taken with the participation of citizens and following equal, inclusive and transparent principles. In addition, the Law No. 146/2014 “On Notification and Public Consultation” specifies that local authorities should take all necessary measures to facilitate public consultation, including:

• publication of the draft act, the notification of consultation and the information related to the consultation on the draft act on the electronic register;
• publication in the transparency programme of the annual planning related to policy making, pursuant to the Law No. 119/014 “On the Right to Information”;
• provision of information related to all stages of the notification and public consultation process, beginning with the publication of the draft act, and continuing with the review of the comments and recommendations for its improvement, the organisation of public debates and the adoption of the act.

The same law obligates public institutions to publish all draft and adopted laws and policy documents. To this effect, an electronic register (www.konsultimipublik.gov.al) permits citizens and experts to consult draft laws and give their recommendations. The law’s requirements guarantee sufficient time (20 days) for civil society organisations to provide their opinion on the draft laws and policies. Also, the law stipulates that a summary of collected opinions should be made public and be part of the draft law package for approval. On the contrary, if the recommendations are not accepted, a summary of the reasons for non-acceptance should be made public.

Moreover, this law provides options for complaints in cases where the provisions for consultations are not respected, based on the claims by interest groups. However, the law does not foresee any administrative sanction against the public institution or the responsible person for notification and public consultation; and it does not foresee any procedure for appealing the decision of the public authority either.

The Law on Normative Legal Acts (Article 3) states that draft laws are subject to public consultation, except for the draft law on ratification (joining) an international treaty. Drafts of other normative legal acts may be submitted for public discussion on the initiative of the body developing the draft or the body adopting the draft. The duration of public discussions is at least 15 days. The Law also establishes that the procedure for organizing and conducting public hearings shall be established by the Government.

According to the Procedure of organising and conducting public consultations approved in 2018 by the government decision, it is mandatory to conduct a public consultation of a draft normative legal act developed by a government agency through its publication on the official website of the given agency as well as on the Unified Website for Publication of Draft Legal Acts maintained by the RA Ministry of Justice.

Though the existing Law on Normative Legal Acts sets mandatory public consultations for all legislative drafts, it mentions exceptions for the drafts developed by parliament deputies or factions (article 1, part 3). According to the Procedure of organising and conducting public consultations, public consultations shall also be conducted through public hearings or public inquiries. In the National Assembly, according to article 125 of the Constitutional Law on Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, public hearings may be convened by the decision of the Chairman of the National Assembly, permanent or ad-hoc commission, or a fraction. In this case, the organisation of hearings is not compulsory either.

The Law on Local Self-Government provides a number of opportunities for public participation at the local level. Sessions in the community council are open, and in communities with more than 3000 residents sessions should be broadcasted online at the community’s official website. Residents of the community should be informed on the local self-governance activities without any discrimination and can directly or indirectly influence the community decisions, either on individual level or through associations and civil initiatives. Community residents can also initiate the inclusion of an item on the session agenda if necessary number of signatures is presented.

The obligation to conduct public consultations is regulated at the state, entity and Brčko District levels of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A legal framework for public consultations has been established and public consultations are systematically and centrally conducted at the state level through a web platform for public consultations https://ekonsultacije.gov.ba. The Rules for Consultations in the Drafting of Legal Regulations of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina prescribe the obligation of all institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina to conduct public consultations with the interested public in the drafting of legal regulations and other acts. To ensure the implementation of public consultations, Articles 22 and 25 of the Rules stipulate the obligation of institutions to submit, in addition to the material they submit to the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a Statement that public consultations have been conducted and an explanation of possible additional consultations. Also, each institution is required to submit the Report on Conducted Consultations. If this Statement and the Report are not part of the material, the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall return the draft or proposed regulation or any other act to the institution of Bosnia and Herzegovina and set a deadline for public consultations. At the local level, no regulations have been adopted that explicitly regulate conducting public consultations with the interested public. Although not a legal obligation, there are examples of local authorities conducting public consultations with the interested public on various issues within their jurisdiction.

There is no national or local legislation that would outline procedural requirements and principles for conducting public consultations. Nevertheless, there is a specific instance, which set requirements for conducting public consultations in cases of developing Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA). According to Article 32 of the Georgian Law on the Environmental Impact Code, public consultations are a mandatory component for conducting EIA and its findings should be annexed to the report. On the local level, the Local Self-Government Code mentions the Council of Civil Advisors, a consultative commission composed of at least 10 representatives of local civil society, businesses and residents of the local municipality. The composition of the Council of Civil Advisors is determined by the mayor and should include at least one third female candidates. The mayor of the municipality is formally required to submit to the Council of Civil Advisors spatial planning documents, municipal budget draft, projects of important legal acts related to infrastructural development and social affairs. 

The right to public consultation is regulated and protected by the Law on Local Self-Government. According to Article 68 “Each municipality shall hold periodically, at least twice a year, a public meeting at which any person or organisation with an interest in the municipality may participate.” The purpose of these open meetings is to inform citizens of the activity of the municipality and to give participants the chance to ask questions and make proposals to local elected representatives. Municipalities are obliged to inform citizens about any important plans or programmes of public interest.

According to Article 3 (4) of the Law on Transparency in Decision-Making, public authorities will consult citizens, associations, and concerned parties about drafts of legislative and administrative acts. The law is applicable to both central and local authorities, including local public administration authorities: local councils (of village, commune, town, municipality, district significance), mayors of villages (communes), towns (municipalities), chairpersons of districts, decentralised public services, and institutions of local significance.

The Government Decision No. 188 of 3 April 2012 on the Official Websites of Public Administration Authorities requires an increase in the level of transparency of public authorities and access to public information through official websites, and establishes mandatory minimum requirements for the official websites of public authorities. Moreover, individual ministries’ websites should have a page dedicated to decisional transparency, where draft laws are published for consultation. From the date of their publication, there is a deadline of 10-15 days for comments on draft legislation.

At local level, Law No. 436 on Local Public Administration regulates transparency in decision-making (Article 8). Law No. 100 on Normative Acts provide rules for public authorities to consult with interested authorities, agencies and civil society representatives on draft laws. All draft laws and decisions of the government are subject to mandatory anti-corruption expert examination by the National Anti-Corruption Centre.

Article 20 of the Law on Integrity (2017) stipulates the requirements for ensuring transparency in the decision-making process. The rules related to the procedures for ensuring transparency in the decision-making process of the public entity and the derogations from such rules are set forth in the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, the Law No. 239/2008 on Transparency in the Decision-Making Process, and the normative acts of the government.

The legal basis for public consultations is evolving. In fact, the draft Law “On public consultations”, which aims to provide a legally binding procedure for public consultations, is currently being developed. Herewith, legislative acts in different fields may require public authorities to organise public hearings in some specific cases.

General procedures for public consultation are set out in two Decrees of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine: No. 996 “On the Procedure for Consulting the General Public on Establishing and Implementing the Public Policy and No. 976 “On the Procedure of Civic Expertise of the Activities of the Executive Bodies”. The Decree No. 996 regulates general procedures for public consultations. However, the Decree is not compulsory for local governments, which means they can choose whether or not to follow such regulation on a local level.

According to this Decree, public consultations are announced and conducted by the executive authorities responsible for drafting acts. They can take place in the form of offline public discussions, e-consultations and surveys, as indicated in paragraph 11 of the Decree No. 996.

There are particular fields where public authorities are obliged to organise public consultations and take propositions into consideration, such as in the course of regulatory impact assessment in the field of economic activity, when considering the urban development and environmental issues. The complete list of such fields is defined in paragraph 12 of the Decree No. 996.

As relates to the local level, the Law of Ukraine No. 280/97-VR “On Local Self-government” allows citizens to arrange public hearings where they can discuss urgent issues and submit their propositions to public authorities (Article 13).

To meaningfully increase citizen participation at local level, local authorities should develop a clear process of notification and public consultation in compliance with the Law No. 146/2014 “On Notification and Public Consultation”, including the review and consideration of recommendations provided by citizens and the reasons why any of the recommendations have been dismissed.

In 2018 the Government of Armenia approved the procedure of organising and conducting public consultations. It is mandatory to conduct a public consultation of a draft normative legal act developed by a government agency through its publication on the official website of the given agency as well as on the Unified Website for Publication of Draft Legal Acts maintained by the RA Ministry of Justice e-draft.am. According to the Procedure the summary, protocols and revised drafts are posted on the official website of the body organising public consultation, as well as on the e-draft.am website. Based on the analysis and summary of the received proposals, the body carrying out public consultation makes the necessary adjustments to the draft.

Public consultations represent an organised and systematic approach to involving the interested public in the processes of creating, adopting and implementing public policies. Back in 2010, a comprehensive Handbook for the Development of Public Policies for Civil Servants in Bosnia and Herzegovina was published, which in practical terms provides all levels of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina, among other things, with guidelines for public consultations and methods of consultation in public policy making. In November 2017, Western Balkan ministers in charge of public administration reform endorsed the Recommendations for Public Participation in the Western Balkans Decision-Making Process, which set out a series of steps that countries should take to ensure the highest level of citizen participation in public consultations. The 2019-2021 OGP Action Plan of Bosnia and Herzegovina envisages the improvement of the public consultation process by raising the capacity of civil society organisations to engage in public consultation processes.

Public consultation is also regulated with the Administrative Instruction on Transparency in Municipalities. Article 13 of this Administrative Instruction establishes that “municipal acts of benefit to citizens are subject to public discussion prior to adoption, including the organisation of debates in rural areas.” This article also instructs that municipalities should act in compliance with Administrative Instruction on Minimum Standards of Public Consultation in Municipalities when it comes to public consultations, which aims to promote and ensure the participation of citizens and other stakeholders in the policymaking and decision-making process at the local level. This Administrative Instruction “defines the rules, principles, forms, procedures and minimum standards of public consultation in municipalities during the drafting of municipal policies and by-laws”.

The Government of Kosovo* has created a platform (konsultimet.rks-gov.net) which is used by all public bodies for the development of public consultation. The Administrative Instruction on Minimum Standards of Public Consultation in Municipalities requires the municipalities to publish project proposals on their official websites and on the Public Consultation Platform at the central level. Each municipality should have a unit/officer for public communication responsible for co-ordinating the public consultation process.

As per the Administrative Instruction on Minimum Standards of Public Consultation in Municipalities, the municipality must hold public consultations for all local policy documents and by-laws. It also sets out the forms and techniques of public consultation, which should include public consultative meetings, written and electronic public consultation, publication on the municipal website and relevant platforms, and other forms of public consultation like conferences, interviews, consultations with certain group of interests, opinion surveys, panels with citizens, stands on the streets, meetings with councils of villages, neighbourhoods and urban settlements. This Administrative Instruction, which works as a guideline, also regulates the standards, stages and deadlines of public consultations.

Although some government agencies provide online guidelines on transparency in the decision-making process or develop internal rules concerning the provision of transparency in the decision-making process, there is not a government manual outlining the participatory process in the review of draft laws and policies

In line with this, one of the commitments of the National Action Plan on Open Government for 2014 related to the elaboration of guidelines (available in Romanian and English) that could help any public servant follow the main stages of the decision-making preparation processes based on the Law on Transparency in Decision-Making (2008). Given that there is no one-size-fits-all model for citizen engagement, these guidelines also serve as a concise and practical reference tool for the successful implementation of citizen engagement by both central and local public administration authorities. The guide provides nine stages of the decision-making preparation process, guiding principles for each stage and what this means in practical terms.

Based on the Council of Europe analysis of civil participation in decision making, it is recommended that local public authorities conduct public consultations on a regular basis in the form of online consultations, expert working groups and public hearings, in order to give citizens, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders a sense of ownership in decision making. Public authorities have to ensure that public consultations participants have at least 30 days to provide their comments at each stage of the review process. As a result, public consultations also enhance impact assessment exercises, and improve the quality and sustainability of the resulting decisions and laws.

Two online courses were developed by the public authorities and leading NGOs in the field, explaining how to effectively organise public consultations. One is available on the Diia platform and provides helpful guidance on online public consultations. The second is published by open courses provider “EdEra” and focuses more on the offline format. EdEra also presented a handbook “Public consultations: step by step” that contains not only general explanations on the matter but also practical advice, templates, tools, checklists and additional online resources.

Experts of the USAID project “Citizens in action”, in collaboration with the Ukrainian Centre for Independent Political Research, developed model regulations for local self-governance that allow the implementation of best practices of local democracy in line with European standards of good governance, including the model regulation on public consultation.