Open Council Network for Citizens

The purpose of the Open Council Network is to improve communication between local councils and citizens.

Open government is a simple idea that governments work better for people when they are transparent, accountable, and engaging. It is the basis of a more democratic, equal, and just society.

Effective democracy requires citizens to be aware of what is going on in government so that they can exert some influence on it, be that through elections, or more frequent and softer engagement. They don't need to know all of the details - their elected representatives take that responsibility - but they need some knowledge of the activities of government in order to understand and influence it.

This idea is widely held - over 40 global nations have subscribed to various forms of charter aiming to achieve it.

Open government (and more broadly, open state) initiatives only go so far, however. They seek to open up data about the government, but large amounts of open data don't immediately produce informed citizens. That data needs to be made accessible, available, engaging and relatable to the public.

This sets up the triangle of citizens, government and journalism that is the basis of a strong democracy:

The Open Council Network's goal is to ensure that journalism fulfils its role in informing the public of the activities of local government.

To make this possible, we work towards three goals:

1. Make monitoring the activities of local authorities and providing that information to people cheap and reliable.
2. Make the information engaging and easily available so that it is widely taken up, without consuming undue amounts of citizens' time and energy.
3. Fund this process effectively so that it does not decay or become corrupted.

What can you do to help?

Sign up to our newsletters at opencouncil.network and hold your councillors to account.

If you're dissatisfied with the quality of information about your local council, send feedback to community@opencouncil.network telling us what we can do better.

If you're a software developer and would like to be involved in improving our data coverage, or a writer who would like to be involved in writing or editing our newsletters, get in touch.

If you are part of, or aware of an organisation that would like to support us in our mission, let us know. We cannot do this alone.

Together, we can make government more transparent, accountable and engaging.

Thank you for your support.

Open Council Network