Co-generation of public value: towards a more participatory, open and transparent Euskadi

The Basque Government, committed to deepening participatory democracy and leading a process of political regeneration to revitalise the principle of dialogue and transparency, elaborated in 2013 the White Paper on Democracy and Citizen Participation for Euskadi. It contains the Governments actions, as well as the commitments and domains that have been defined and agreed upon with the civil society and it enables the citizens to stay informed at all times about public policies. The project was co-created with the citizens, starting from scratch and without previous determinants, and it has allowed to create a shared action framework for the different administrations,

social agents and citizens to address common challenges, listen and share solutions. The project derives from a research carried out with the Basque Country’s University and Innobasque-Basque Agency for Innovation, untitled “The knots of participation” and that analyses the reality of various participatory processes carried out in 26 different municipalities in the Spanish State from a political, technical and civic point of view. The case submitted by the Basque Government has no precedent in the region nor in the rest of the Spanish State, so it can be taken as an example for other Autonomous Communities and regions.