On May 24, the Institute of Continuing Professional Education, Saratov State University, started the advanced training course in open city concept for municipal officials of Saratov Region. 30 students (deputy mayors, leading experts, and others) will get acquainted with this concept, its structure and content, and discuss citizen participation in city management. During the course, municipal officials will study the modern openness requirements of city government bodies, elicit issues, and find opportunities for implementing the Open City concept.
IoCPE Director Yurii Golub, addressing the audience, noted the importance of interaction between government officials and residents. ‘The strength of any government lies in people’s support, in close interaction between the government and citizens. Nowadays, with a wide range of media and social networks, the content of this interaction is of particular importance. The advanced training course implemented at the Institute of Continuing Professional Education is aimed at finding and studying new ways to strengthen communication links between the government and citizens.’
Associate Professor Anna Grebennikova gave a lecture on the history and meaning of the term “open city” as well as about the ideology of open management, which consists in the transparent work of government bodies and budgeting openness. In addition, methods of informing the population were considered, which include official Internet resources, PR campaigns, the Electronic Government concept of, federal and local television.
After the lecture, the audience tested their strength in the computer game titled The City Discovered by You, which is based on a system of online team games, where users have an opportunity to discuss and make management decisions in the development of their city – Aysk or Beysk. The game emphasises such issues as solidarity in society, the meaning of paying taxes, the value of local democracy, proactive budgeting, and the implementation of direct online democracy.
The developer, Vadim Voronin, spoke about a new educational element and the impact of the computer game on municipal officials and residents. ‘The game will allow municipal employees to see the processes of urban management from the outside. We tried to make game situations similar to the real ones. And we wanted to show that it is important to make decisions based not only on trends and “tested solutions” but also on the needs of residents. And for the laymen, this is an opportunity to get find out how to express their civic interests legitimately, learn about initiative budgeting, public hearings, and try themselves as employees of territorial public self-government.’
The final event of the training day was a panel discussion dedicated to the openness of city governments in social networks. Its moderators were IoCPE Deputy Director Gennadii Tashpekov and Associate Professor of the Povolzhsky Institute of Management named after P.A. Stolypin Anna Grebennikova. The discussion was attended by the Minister for Territorial Entities of Saratov Region Sergei Zyuzin, First Deputy Minister of Internal Policy and Public Relations of Saratov Region Denis Poponov, and an expert on information resources of the Centre for Regional Management of the Government Olga Avdeyeva. The participants discussed the authorities participation in social networks, tools for successful management of the authorities social accounts, reaction to criticism, and features of the style of communication in the Internet.
The attendees expressed their gratitude to SSU and the Council of Municipalities of Saratov Region for an opportunity to update their knowledge and skills in open municipality management. The professional development course will continue online.