Open Government Partnership

Reflections from an Open Government Climate Change Commitment Coordinator

February 11, 2025 by Open Government Team No Comments | Category Uncategorized

The Open Government team caught up with our Open Government Climate Change Commitment Coordinator to hear about his thoughts on the role he plays in the Open Government Partnership. 

“I wasn’t aware of the work of Open Government within the Scottish Government before taking on my role in the Climate Change Public Engagement Team. There’s a lot of overlap in our work focusing on public engagement and participation. One of the benefits of getting involved in Open Government was discovering that there were others that work on public participation across SG and share the same goals. 

The Open Government principles of transparency, accountability, inclusion, and participation can be understood as extensions of our values as civil servants. As these principles have been developed and agreed on with civil society, if we are really implementing these, it can create a constant productive dialogue between government and civil society that benefits everyone. Lots of different business areas can benefit from working in open ways. 

Climate Policy and Engagement Network

Joining the Open Government Action Plan 2021-2025 has pushed forward innovative projects – for example, the Climate Policy and Engagement Network (CPEN). CPEN has brought together a huge spectrum of expertise from a wide range of organisations in an environment that is agile and can deliver short, sharp engagement with stakeholders who are already prepared and engaged. The contributions to policy development combine professional and lived experience. The network provided an opportunity to work with civil society as critical friends for the Transport Just Transition Plan Consultation. They provided expertise in engaging their audiences, including some of the most marginalised in Scotland. It is also worth noting that CPEN is open to the rest of Scottish Government to support engagement and participation work that has a climate change focus.  

International engagement with Open Government

Another element of Open Government I did not expect was the opportunity for international engagement. Being a commitment coordinator enabled me to present our work on an international platform, sharing our insights and learning from governments and civil society from around the world who are dealing with similar complex challenges.” 

Get in touch

If you’re interested in learning about the Open Government Partnership you can watch this introduction to Open Government in Scotland, read more about it in our other blogs, and follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter). 

If you’re wanting to get involved as a Coordinator internally or as a member of civil society you can email the Open Government Team. 

Tags: Climate change, open government, Open Government commitment

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