2025 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

Open Cabinet was the first activity organized and coordinated by PICO Lab - Public Innovation Laboratory of the City of General Pico. In this sense, the CHE Method (Communities Weaving Strategies) was used as a tool for neighborhood participation and advocacy. The implementation methodology was modified by the PICO Lab as the meetings progressed, even going so far as to develop its own neighborhood satisfaction survey and design innovative participatory specifications.

One of the main aims of this program is to ensure the presence of the Municipal Cabinet in the different neighborhood jurisdictions of the city, enabling residents and neighborhood-institutional representatives to meet with the local officials responsible for each area of government in their local area. Neighbourhood participation is the fundamental principle of this municipal program. Neighbours and neighbourhood institutions were invited to each decentralized meeting so that the participants had the opportunity to work collaboratively with the Mayor and with municipal officials.

The specially designed methodology was based on providing the opportunity for each person to contribute to the improvement of the city and their neighborhood from their own perspective; emphasizing and proclaiming that participation had a real impact on the design and decision of the actions to be developed in each neighborhood unit.

The three fundamental management principles for General Pico are Decentralization, Participation, and Innovation; with this premise, each public policy implemented has a fundamental participatory basis; which should prioritize the contributions of each neighbor for the construction of our community.

This municipal program is coordinated with other participatory and decentralized tools that the Municipality implements and carries out, such as the Pico General Participatory Budget, the Youth Participatory Budget and the Inter-neighborhood Council. During the development, it is possible to highlight how transcendental it is for the Municipality and the neighbors to decentralize this type of local program.

Achieving full territoriality of the Municipal Cabinet allows for a strengthening of the relationship between the Municipality and the members of each neighborhood jurisdiction, resulting in greater efficiency in the management and approval by citizens of planned and executed public policies.

• https://www.generalpico.gov.ar/ (External link) 
• Gabinete Abierto barrio El Molino (External link)
• Video (External link)