The project is implemented by Open Knowledge Sweden jointly with the “Foundation of Public Participation” in Latvia and it is funded by the EC (JUST) Rights, Equality and Citizenship Program (REC).

The OPENCIT project aims to raise awareness of the rights of foreign EU citizens and facilitate their participation in political life of their host country. The project pays particular attention to the right of mobile EU citizens to vote and stand in local elections, and to allow them to actively engage in local decision-making processes by using digital technologies.

The project envisages an awareness-raising campaign for mobile EU citizens, as well as information activities for national and local policy makers to increase their awareness of EU citizens’ rights and the need to involve EU citizens living in local decision-making. Envisaged outputs:

• Access to the civic participation platform “OpenToVote” – www.open2vote.eu – for all EU citizens living in Riga. The platform is based on the principles of the ParVaiPret.lv platform.
• Increased awareness of EU mobile citizens about their rights, including the right to vote and stand in local and European elections.
• Increased awareness of local and national decision-makers about the rights of EU citizens and the need to inform and involve citizens of other EU countries living in Latvia in political life.
• Increased awareness of policy makers in Latvia about the need to improve data collection.
• Increased awareness among policy makers and institutions in Latvia, Sweden and other EU countries about how digital tools can help inform mobile EU citizens about their rights and increase their participation in elections.

Handlingar.se

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION: Open Knowledge Sweden has also developed and launched the first Freedom of Information website in Sweden, Handlingar.se.

Previous projects

Open data for civic participation

Open Knowledge Sweden together with the NGO Mana Balss (My Voice in English) in Latvia and with Belarusian partners has implemented a project on open data for civic participation. This project received financial support from the Nordic Council of Ministers’ funding programme for NGO co-operation in the Baltic Sea Region.

The goal of the project was to exchange knowledge and experiences between the NGOs in Sweden, Latvia and Belarus about the availability and the use of the open data for civic participation, and ultimately to make civic activism more informed and effective.

Governments around the world are promoting and involved in efforts to achieve greater openness, transparency and trust in the public sector. This includes the disclosure of data, i.e. such as meteorological, geographical, statistical and legal, in order to improve the quality of public services and enhance data-based decision making. However not all data is available in open format that is easily accessible and reusable. With more emphasis on business necessities there is less awareness about data needs of citizens. Our project will improve the capacity of civic organisations to better communicate with their target groups about and with open data, and initiate learning networks between the three countries, which have different levels of data availability and maturity (see the Open Data Barometer).

The target groups of the project are:

• NGOs /CSOs working with and/or engaged in open data-related topics

• Data holders in the public sector

• Academics

• Policy-makers

The project will deliver case studies on open data readiness and use for civic participation in Sweden, Latvia and Belarus. The case studies will form the base for the Digital Transformation Handbook aimed at civic activists, public sector representatives and policy makers. We will carry out awareness-raising activities to engage stakeholders in discussions about the situation with open data and to understand their needs to enable actions towards further data openness. At the end of the project, a strategic document will be developed to map out the framework for further cooperation.

Contact: [email protected]