Open Government Partnership

Are you interested in collaborating on public participation with Scottish Government?

August 13, 2026 by Open Government Team No Comments | Category Uncategorized

People should help shape decisions that affect them before they are made.

This means government should aim to:

• ask people about what they think earlier
• be clear about what can change
• listen to people who are often left out
• work with local groups and charities that people trust
• give those groups proper time, support and funding
• show people how their views made a difference

The work

As part of the Open Government Action Plan 2026-2030, we will be working in partnership with civil society to try and deliver these aims.

To do this, we are now looking for people and organisations with relevant expertise and professional experience who are interested in collaborating on work that will develop a national and strategic approach to public participation in Scotland.

The projects involved in this work will change and grow over the four years of the Action Plan. At this stage, they are likely to focus on developing public participation infrastructure within Scottish Government and across Scotland.

There are a range of roles for people to hold so please consider what works best for you and your organisation.

We want to be flexible so that both you/your organisation and Scottish Government get the most value out of this partnership.

The roles

• Thematic lead
• Thematic advisor
• Project member

Public participation will have a long-term working group. It will also have short-term project groups for more agile working.

It is possible for one person to fulfil multiple roles.

Find more detail about what is expected from these roles, including an estimated time commitment in the Open Government in Scotland Member’s Guide 2026.

Express your interest

You can express your interest in any roles on a thematic commitment, the civil society steering committee, and the communications and engagement committee by completing our expression of interest form.

If you want to discuss anything before submitting, just let us know! Contact the Open Government Team at OpenGovernment@gov.scot

After completing the expression of interest form, a member of the government or civil society team will meet with you for a short discussion. We will talk about where your skills and expertise would work best for you and/or your organisation and us.

Over-subscription to the roles will result in an election process.

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