Better Reykjavík (Reykjavík - Iceland)

Better Reykjavík is an online consultation forum where the citizens of Reykjavík can share their ideas, opinions, and solutions to issues related to local and public services. The platform is managed by the City of Reykjavík in collaboration with Citizens Foundation (a non-profit organisation that operates the website), and only registered citizens can take part of the discussions to improve their local communities.

The forum works in the following manner: the user registers, accepts the terms of participation, enters and idea for discussion and then that idea – which is now considered public property of the citizens of Reykjavík – is subject to a debate by the other members of the forum, who can rate, change or suggest improvements to it. At the end of each month, the 5 top-rated ideas are reviewed by a standing committee that selects the top idea from each category (tourism, recreation and leisure, operations, planning, environment, human rights, education, art and culture, sports, welfare, transportation, various), and those ideas are then moved to a specific area of the forum to be immediately addressed (ideally, within a one-month time frame). The other ideas are useful too, as they continue open for discussion and guide city administrators and other public workers.

The main purpose of Better Reykjavík is to serve as a platform for citizens to engage and give feedback to the municipal government on topics that are of interest for the whole community. In the future, the forum is intended to become an instrument of support for public budget and policy-making processes. Currently, the forum has 20,413 registered users, 12 communities, 6,903 crowdsourced ideas, and 15,799 discussions.

Sources:

https://www.citiesdigest.com/2017/06/14/open-government-better-reykjavik/

https://betrireykjavik.is/domain/1