VITORIA-GASTEIZ: Citizens Open School

In 2014 the City Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz underwent a participatory process with political groups, municipal staff and citizen entities in order to prepare a new Citizen Participation Plan, which was adopted in 2015.  One of the lines of action of this Plan is to improve the participatory culture through information, communication and training.

Within this framework the Citizens Open School was set up in 2016 in order to build a citizenry that is committed to their community. It offers training in the skills necessary for people to participate in the city, and also publicizes channels of participation, and brings the City Council closer to its citizens, in order for the latter to play an ever-greater leading role in municipal management and policy.

Some activities are aimed at training, others at experimentation, research, communication, evaluation and proposing new ideas, all of which are posed as spaces for getting together and forming relationships, spaces where people can share, collaborate and reach agreements.

Thus, the school a wide range of services, offering practical workshops to work on social skills, talks, conferences to share experiences, workshops for associations in order to facilitate the management of administrative procedures, open house events and meetings with technical personnel to learn more about how the City Council works. All the activities are free of charge and sign language interpreting and day-care are available upon request.

The Citizens Open School is managed by the Citizen Participation Department of the City Council of Vitoria-Gasteiz with the help of a technical secretariat with the collaboration of more than 24 municipal services, various associations and leaders from the universities, other public institutions and the private professional sector.

Moreover, a steering committee has been set up to gather ideas, needs and suggestions in order to prepare the School’s program. This group is made up of municipal personnel from various services, associations and individual citizens.

Since the beginning of the program in October 2016 until the beginning of 2018, 1,804 people have participated in person at the Citizens Open School while 769 did so via streaming, with a high degree of satisfaction.

As a result of the contributions, the number of courses has grown and the participating public has diversified, including activities for children.

Check out the Bank of Experiences for more details on the project.

For more information: http://www.vitoria-gasteiz.org/HEI

Contact: Mr. Jose Luís Pérez Gómez, Director, Department of Citizens’ Participation and Community Centers.

E-mail: kotelo@vitoria-gasteiz.org