Strategic Vision

In an era where democratic values are tested and trust in institutions is strained, the Municipality of Athens embraces a bold, forward-looking vision: to institutionalize transparency, participation, accountability, and inclusion as fundamental pillars of local governance. Guided by the core principles of the Open Government Partnership and the national WeOpenGov platform, our commitment is to bring decision-making closer to citizens and to embed integrity into the DNA of public administration.

To translate this vision into measurable impact, the Municipality has formed a dedicated multi-stakeholder working group responsible for the design and implementation of the Local Open Government Action Plan. This group includes both municipal officials and representatives from civil society organizations with deep expertise in transparency, political integrity, open data, and inclusive governance. Together, they co-create priorities that reflect the real needs of the community—priorities rooted not in political expediency, but in public value.

Our medium-term goal is to deliver tangible, citizen-centered reforms: participatory budgeting, accessible and actionable open data portals, and new tools for civic engagement. Over the longer term, we aspire to build a resilient city where informed citizens are active partners in policymaking, and where government is a platform—not a gatekeeper—for innovation, dialogue, and trust.

This Strategic Vision sets the tone for what we believe is possible when public purpose is shared. It is not merely a plan—it is a promise: that Athens will lead by example, and that open government will not be an ideal we pursue, but a standard we uphold.

Dr. Angelos Kaskanis, Executive Director of Transparency International Greece, Program Manager of WeOpenGov (Civil Society - Public Bodies Network for Open Government, Multi-Stakeholder Forum of the Municipality of Athens in the context of its participation in OGP Local)

The long-term vision of the Municipality of Athens for open government is to establish a participatory, transparent and inclusive city, where citizens have a meaningful role in the design and monitoring of policies that affect them. By strengthening transparency and accountability, equal access to information and digital services and the promotion of socially just solutions to issues such as energy poverty and housing, the Municipality seeks to establish a stable institutional framework for open government. The aim is to co-shape policies with the participation of civil society, empower vulnerable groups and strengthen trust between administration and citizens.

A typical example of the implementation of open governance in the Municipality of Athens is the GIS geospatial data platform (gis.cityofathens.gr), which collects and makes publicly accessible data concerning the spatial organization and functions of the city, such as greenery, public infrastructure, use zones and points of interest. Through GIS, citizens, researchers and institutions can be informed transparently, monitor the progress of interventions and use the data for studies or innovative applications. The operation of the platform has already received distinction at the national level and is recognized as a good practice in the field of open governance. In the context of the Municipality's strategic vision for OGP Local, GIS constitutes a foundation of expertise and maturity in the provision of open data, enhancing transparency and participation with practical and measurable means.

The Municipality of Athens faces challenges related to information fragmentation, limited accessibility to physical and digital services, and the difficulty of institutionally integrating citizen participation in decision-making. Public information processes are not centrally integrated and often lack transparency and interoperability. The representation of vulnerable groups remains insufficient, while the active participation of young people is institutionally non-existent. At the same time, the lack of reliable data limits the effectiveness of policies in critical areas, such as housing and energy poverty. The aim is a coherent, universally accessible and participatory framework that will integrate transparency, social justice and innovation into the functioning of local government.

In the medium term, the Municipality of Athens seeks to establish a functional open government ecosystem, based on transparency, accountability, universal accessibility and citizen participation. The aim is to create unified digital tools for access to public information, strengthen social cohesion through targeted housing policies and address energy poverty in terms of energy democracy. The Municipality aspires to make the principles of open government an integral element of its daily work, cultivating an administrative culture of transparency, social accountability and equal participation that will empower all citizens, with an emphasis on vulnerable groups.

This Action Plan translates the strategic vision of the Municipality of Athens for open government into specific, implementable interventions that promote transparency, accountability, inclusion and citizen participation. Through the creation of digital tools for accessing public information, strengthening universal accessibility and promoting energy and housing fair solutions, the plan consolidates the principles of the strategic vision in practice. It seeks to empower citizens as equal partners in the governance of the city and to create a stable framework of cooperation between the administration, civil society and local communities, so that open government is not a fragmented practice, but a continuous and cross-sectoral way of exercising policy.

The strategic vision for open government of the Municipality of Athens is fully aligned with the main axes of the municipal authority’s political program: a fair, humane, sustainable and democratic city. Open government operates as a cross-cutting priority that enhances social justice, participation and transparency in all areas of municipal policy – from accessibility and housing to climate transition and digital innovation. At the same time, the strategic vision for open government is expected to operate complementary to the Municipality’s new Operational Plan, which is under formulation and will constitute a key tool for planning municipal actions, taking into account the results of the public consultation and thematic workshops organized in the context of co-creation of the Municipality’s action plan for OGP Local.

The implementation of the OGP Local Action Plan is coordinated by the OGP Local Team, which has been established by a Mayoral Decision and functions as the main governance mechanism of the initiative. The Group is composed of elected members of the municipal authority, executives from different departments of the Municipality and its legal entities, as well as representatives of civil society, ensuring cross-sectoral representation and institutional continuity. It follows a horizontal mode of operation, facilitating coordination, exchange of know-how and avoiding administrative isolation. In addition, cooperation is sought with other existing groups, such as the Accessibility and Inclusion Working Group, whose chair is a municipal councilor in charge and at the same time a member of the OGP Local Team, strengthening the interconnection and internal coherence of open government policies.

The Municipality of Athens utilized both online and in-person collaboration actions to co-create its Action Plan within the framework of OGP Local. Online, a public electronic consultation was held (on the platform diavoulefsi.cityofathens.gr/ogp-local), where citizens had the opportunity for one month to submit suggestions and comments on the commitments. Offline, four thematic workshops were organized on 17–18 May 2025 in Serafio, with the participation of citizens, local bodies, elected officials and municipal executives, where commitments in areas such as energy democracy, housing, accessibility and transparency were analyzed and enriched. In addition, the OGP Local Team functioned as a permanent “meeting space” – with regular meetings (over 13) and cooperation with other thematic groups and bodies, ensuring continuity in the participatory process. Overall, the combined use of online consultations, thematic workshops and continuous activity of the Working Group offered a comprehensive and multidimensional framework for cooperation between the Municipality and civil society.

To ensure diversity and inclusion, the Municipality of Athens took a series of measures to enhance the participation of vulnerable or marginalized groups in co-creation spaces. In thematic workshops, the possibility of online participation via live streaming was provided, while in some of the workshops there was simultaneous interpretation in sign language, facilitating access for people with hearing impairments. At the same time, thematic targeting was sought in areas of social priority (such as accessibility, energy poverty, housing), with an active invitation to bodies representing vulnerable groups, such as E.S.A.meA. (National Confederation of People with Disabilities), the Greek Network for the Right to Housing and Residence, etc. Furthermore, the cross-sectoral composition of the OGP Local Team, with the participation of elected officials and bodies with experience in inclusion issues, constituted an additional guarantee for the formation of an open and inclusive framework for participation.

The co-creation spaces were attended by municipal employees, elected members of the municipal authority and a wide range of civil society representatives. The thematic workshops were attended by organizations active in fields such as transparency and accountability, digital and social rights, open technology, accessibility, energy poverty, social housing and youth participation. Indicatively, participating bodies included Homo Digitalis (digital rights), the Institute for Regulatory Policy Research (institutional transparency), members of energy communities (energy vulnerability), social bodies such as the United Initiative against Auctions as well as members of the academic and research community. The participation of different types of organizations, from grassroots collectives to research institutes, allowed for the integration of diverse experiences and needs in the formulation of the Action Plan.

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The collaboration between municipal services and civil society stakeholders will continue throughout the implementation of the Action Plan through the OGP Local Team, which will remain active with regular meetings, coordination and oversight roles. The Team will function as a common space for consultation and feedback, monitoring the progress of commitments, resolving problems and proposing improvements. At the same time, thematic collaborations will be activated depending on the subject of each commitment, with the participation of the respective stakeholders (e.g. groups on accessibility or housing issues). Both in-person and digital tools (e.g. dashboards, participation platforms) will be utilized, ensuring transparency, continuous dialogue and accountability, with the aim of co-creation not stopping at the design stage, but being integrated into implementation.

The Independent Monitoring Body for the City of Athens’ Action Plan under the OGP Local program is the Open Knowledge Foundation Greece (OKF Greece), the Greek chapter of the international non-profit organization Open Knowledge Foundation, active in Greece since 2012. It promotes open knowledge, open data, and transparency through actions, education, and partnerships with public and private sector stakeholders. For its role as Monitoring Body, OKF Greece is represented by Charalampos Bratsas, Assistant Professor at the International Hellenic University, founder and president of OKF Greece, and Vasilis Veskoukis, Professor at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), expert in geoinformatics and digital infrastructures, and founding member of OKF Greece. Both representatives have extensive experience in research projects as well as in open data, interoperability, and participatory governance initiatives and strategies in Greece and Europe.

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To monitor the progress of the commitments, the Municipality of Athens will organize periodic meetings of the OGP Local Team with the participation of all stakeholders, during which the implementation will be assessed, challenges will be identified and corrective interventions will be proposed. In parallel, thematic meetings will be implemented in the form of workshops or accountability meetings, where progress indicators will be presented and feedback will be collected from the stakeholders and civil society. The aim is to create a cycle of continuous consultation around the implementation of the Action Plan. In addition, digital tools (such as dashboards and participatory platforms) will be utilized for open monitoring and recording of progress, so that all stakeholders have an active role not only in the planning, but also in the implementation of the commitments.

Progress will be monitored on a regular basis through meetings of the OGP Local Team, which includes executives from the relevant municipal departments and legal entities of the Municipality responsible for the implementation of the commitments. Each department or entity will be asked to present the progress of the relevant actions, highlight any delays or obstacles and contribute to common solutions. In addition, a basic mechanism for recording progress per commitment will be developed, using tools such as digital recording of milestones, implementation indicators and information notes. The OGP Local Team will be responsible for collecting data and regularly updating stakeholders and the OGP Local Athens website, ensuring the horizontal flow of information and timely intervention where required, as well as the public recording of progress to ensure transparency and accountability.

The results of the monitoring of the implementation of the Action Plan will be made public regularly through the OGP Local Athens website (ogp.cityofathens.gr), which has been designed exclusively for the participation of the Municipality of Athens in OGP Local and is already operational in two languages (Greek and English). It will incorporate open source tools to visualize the progress of each commitment, such as implementation timelines and progress indicators per milestone. At the same time, announcements, newsletters and reporting texts with more details will be posted, where required. It is also proposed to publish articles aimed at raising awareness and activating citizens, as well as to produce research publications that will highlight the challenges and results of the implementation. The aim is to continuously, transparently and accessibly inform citizens in an understandable and documented manner, which encourages accountability and participation at all stages of the implementation.