On February 26, an “Open Space” co-creation meeting was held at the Vanadzor Technology Center, dedicated to reviewing the Action Plan of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) for the Vanadzor community. The event was initiated by the “NGO Center” Civil Society Development NGO within the framework of the “Unlocking Progress: Reflecting on the Vanadzor and Gyumri OGP Action Plan” project. Representatives from the RA Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure (MTAI), and active citizens were present at the meeting.
As noted by the President of the NGO Center, Arpine Hakobyan, this process provides residents with the opportunity to directly participate in governance. She emphasized: “Today’s goal is to voice as many problems as possible and form commitments in the context of solving those problems; which ones the municipality will take on will already be discussed by the commission”.
Ashot Giloyan, Head of the Local Self-Government Policy Department of the MTAI, also highlighted the importance of bottom-up initiatives, stating: “The idea should come from the resident and the local government. Then, naturally, we also stand by the community during the implementation phase”.
During the event, the first five commitments undertaken by Vanadzor in 2021 were summarized, which included property management, green transport, inclusivity, and participatory budgeting. Following this, participants began discussing new ideas for the 2026 Action Plan. It is important to note that all voiced proposals are currently preliminary and have not yet become official commitments.
Among the discussed proposals were the use of artificial intelligence in community management, ensuring transparent management of resources provided to NGOs from the community budget, developing an accessible budget for people with disabilities, and regulating parking issues in the city.
These ideas must still undergo a professional discussion phase to be formulated as specific commitments that will make the municipality’s activities more transparent and accountable. According to the participants, working in such a format makes community development a shared responsibility between residents and the authorities.
“Unlocking Progress: Reflecting on the Vanadzor and Gyumri OGP Action Plan” is implemented by the NGO Center Civil Society Development NGO with the support of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and with funding from the European Union.