“Public administration partnership with citizens and civil society is necessary for the implementation of complex reform processes and the creation of an administration tailored to all of us” – this was the key message by the participants of the Conference “Partnership – the key to better solutions “, held as part of this year’s marking of the Week of Open Government Partnership.
The conference has been held on 19 May 2022, with the participation of over 120 representatives of public administration bodies, Local Self-government Units and civil society who spoke about achieving the value of open local government through cooperation between public and civil sector, and the importance of “open data” and their reuse.
“In order to improve the work of our public administration, and thus make the lives of citizens better, we all need to get involved and work together in order to achieve the desired goals. That is why I believe that partnership is the key to better solutions, and that only by engaging all available resources can we create an administration that is tailored to all of us. For that reason, this Conference is intended for each individual, to remind us how partnership can often achieve goals that otherwise seem difficult to achieve and that “good” governance is, in fact, an administration that is open to its citizens”, the National Coordinator for the Implementation of the Open Government Partnership in the Republic of Serbia, Dragana Brajović, has said while addressing the attendees on behalf of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government.
Brajović has urged all Local Self-government Units to follow the successful examples presented at the Conference and, together with citizens and civil society, undertake steps in their local communities towards achieving the values and principles of open local government.
On behalf of the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, the Secretary General, Nikola Tarbuk, addressed the attendees, emphasizing that this organization actively promotes the principles and practices of good governance in local self-governments and advocates partnership of local authorities and Civil Society Organizations in implementing development initiatives and improving the quality of life in local communities.
Through two panel discussions, successful examples of cooperation between local governments and civil society in Bečej, Čajetina, Kraljevo and Bor have been presented, while representatives of the Office for IT and eGovernment, the Association of Safe Cycling Routes Bor, and the City of Novi Pazar, which recently became the first local self-government from Serbia to join the Open Government Partnership, shared their experiences in the field of Open Data.
The conference, which was organized with the support of the EU Project “Support to Visibility and Communication of Public Administration Reform”, was moderated by Dragana Brajović and Danilo Rodić, representatives of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government.