Governments are reframing public services as public spaces where citizens can collaborate to develop solutions, exercise civic participation and keep governments accountable for upholding democratic values, such as openness and inclusion.

Madrid applied this approach when it wanted to tackle elderly loneliness and the digital gap among its residents over 65 years old. The Spanish capital created the Voluntariado Digital programme. Home to 700,000 people over the age of 65, of whom 200,000 live alone, Madrid had noticed the low uptake of digital services in this age group, which was particularly vulnerable during COVID-19 pandemic. Building on the Madrid Digital Capital strategy and the Madrid te Acompaña, volunteer network (created during the pandemic to alleviate elderly loneliness), this initiative focuses on digital inclusion of some of Madrid’s most vulnerable citizens and helps them become more autonomous in using digital services, improving digital literacy of the elderly. Still in its first year, the programme has been implemented in 12 of 91 community centres, which give the project a strong foundation and long-term perspectives. This community-based solution using volunteering to help elderly with digital services embodies a model of continuous, close, participatory and preventive care, showcasing how governments are championing community-based approaches to public services. These efforts not only pre-emptively address people's needs but also cultivate more resilient and sustainable service frameworks.

Like Madrid, other governments are also moving away from transactional interactions and towards dynamic and collaborative partnerships. Public services are increasingly seen spaces that can be built by the people for the people, that can allow citizens to become active and that uphold democratic values. Public services are not only being built on rights-based approaches, but also happen to be enablers and activators of such rights (Voorberg and Bekkers, 2016[45]). This transforms the relationship between citizens and their government: people are no longer passive recipients of public services; they are now active contributors with the power to shape those services.

These efforts occur against a backdrop of eroding public trust, driven by perceptions of governments as inefficient, lacking integrity and transparency, and unresponsive to people’s needs, particularly among groups under vulnerable and disadvantaged conditions (OECD, 2022[46]). To address these challenges,, governments are leveraging innovation to transform service design and delivery into more inclusive, responsive and participatory processes. By building an alternative to the linear relationship between users and services, governments are putting citizens in the driver’s seat (Hardyman et al., 2021[47]).

Governments are embedding community-based approaches, participatory practices and human rights approaches in the design and delivery of public services. These innovations represent a path for broadening the meaning of public services, promoting civic values and reinforcing trust and democracy. By treating public services as public spaces, governments can strengthen democratic institutions and norms, and reinforce the link between citizens and their public institutions (Bianchi, Nasi and Rivenbark, 2021[48]). These initiatives also help to shape and protect the civic space as a whole, including civic freedoms and information environments. This creates the conditions for public service reforms: strengthening public participation in the process; and moving towards more inclusive, accessible and people-centred public service design and delivery (OECD, 2023[49]).

Governments are working with communities to understand their needs, establish relationships and local presence, and to build better public services, reinforcing trust. Governments are partnering with third-sector organisations rooted in communities to create services that are more responsive, personalised and culturally sensitive. With this approach, services address specific community issues effectively; services are not only more accessible and relevant but also empower communities, enhance trust and promote civic participation. For example, in Italy, the Social Welfare District promotes a new model of local welfare, in which public actors, businesses and third-sector organisations collaborate to respond to local needs. In France, relevant work has been conducted to augment public services through the broad engagement of stakeholders (see Case Study 5). These initiatives also showcase a sensitivity to public services as commons, spaces of collective ownership and collective responsibility. These solutions promote non-market logics and reframe power relationships, taking a territorial and local approach (Meroni and Selloni, 2022[50]), and have been able to create value in many fields, such as energy (as demonstrated by the organisation of communities in projects like REScoop.eu), and education and care (for instance through childcare associations).

Governments are increasingly adopting rights-based approaches to public service design and delivery, making efforts to integrate principles, such as non-discrimination, equality and empowerment, into how services are designed and delivered. Several countries have developed policy guidance to ensure public services actively promote core democratic values. For instance, Portugal has established Guiding principles for a Human Rights based approach on public services in Portugal, and New South Wales, Australia has implemented a Multicultural Servicing Strategy (see Box 6.1) to develop human-rights approaches to addressing changes in demographics and in users’ needs. In addition to policy guidance, some countries are focusing on training civil servants to better understand and implement these principles. For instance in Ukraine, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has organised training sessions for civil servants. These sessions aim to help officials develop the skills needed to pay attention to the rights and interests of each individual and to protect them effectively.

These initiatives reflect governments’ broader shift towards enhancing civic and democratic values through public services. Rather than viewing public services as mere transactions, governments are now using them as tools for transparency and as opportunities to build people’s trust and strengthen democracy. For example, in Chile, the government has made efforts to transparently inform citizens about public service programme monitoring. That includes Chile’s initiative to provide citizens with personalised reports on the total amount of taxes they contributed the previous year and how those taxes were spent. In Finland, the discussion on democratic encounters highlights how public services are crucial in these moments and situations when democratic values are made concrete. A principled approach should therefore be taken to develop them.

By embedding community-based methodologies, participatory practices and human rights approaches into public services, governments can foster greater civic participation, enhance service responsiveness and rebuild trust in public institutions. These innovations support the objective of the OECD Recommendation on Human-Centred Public Administrative Services to empower users and to participate in the design and delivery of services (OECD, 2024[27]). This paradigm shift promises more transparent, accountable and inclusive governance, ultimately strengthening democratic values and empowering citizens to actively shape their communities. As governments continue to innovate, the transformation of public services into dynamic public spaces holds the potential for profound societal impact, promoting a more equitable and participatory democracy. Governments seeking to implement this approach of building public services as public spaces may face several challenges. First, both public institutions and communities will have to navigate this cultural shift, embrace new participatory models, overcoming scepticism and resistance to change. Second, governments may find legal or regulatory barriers that require obstacles, requiring amendments or new policies to support novel institutional arrangements. Finally, maintaining transparency and accountability while fostering increased citizen participation is crucial to preventing potential drawbacks, such as inefficiency or decision-making delays. To fully realise this potential, policymakers should consider the useful lessons springing from these cases.

Good practices for expanding democratic spaces that build trust:

• Governments’ efforts should acknowledge that shifting organisational culture and perspective takes time and commitment. Current public service approaches are the result of decades or centuries of activity. Change must come from many different directions (e.g. trainings, incentives, engagement).

• Governments should foster a culture of co-creation and distributed ownership. They should encourage public servants to view citizens, business and organisations as partners in service design, delivery, implementation and evaluation, rather than just end-users. Recognising the important knowledge they can bring to the table is crucial.

• Transparency is of utmost importance and is essential to building citizen trust in government. This can be achieved by offering both virtual and in-person access to all relevant information about how public services are designed and delivered.

The COVID-19 crisis highlighted how citizen-led initiatives can significantly enhance public services, notably in the field of public health, where citizen-led projects often proved to be more effective than public services. Yet at the time, there was no public support system for these innovative initiatives. In France, the government wanted to strengthen cooperation between the state and people (citizens and organisations) on digital commons projects that serve the general interest and that augment public services.

In 2021, it launched the Accélérateur d'initiatives citoyennes (AIC), or Citizen Initiative Accelerator, which invites people to take a leading role in improving public services, collaborating to evaluate them and identifying opportunities for improvements. In its latest edition, the initiative selected four standout projects from civil organisations. The teams behind these projects received personalised coaching and support to navigate public administration and opportunities to develop concrete use cases within government agencies that can benefit from their digital commons.

This innovative process of engagement of the public resulted in the development of impactful solutions. For instance, Open Food Facts is an app that provides nutritional information on more than 3 million food products. Currently being developed in partnership with the French Health Ministry, the app allows consumers to scan products and receive all relevant information. Powered by consumers themselves, it is also helping researchers to understand consumption habits. Another example is Pyronear, an early fire detection technology for forest areas. Using open data, the project is training an open-source algorithm to detect an early stage fire and send a notification to local authorities. The solution is currently being tested with the French Interior Ministry and local authorities.

AIC helped promising civil projects to grow and refine their digital commons, and allowed public administration to adopt and integrate innovative digital solutions developed by the community. Innovations like AIC can have great impact and help improve service quality. The repositioning of the initiative to focus on digital commons — taking advantage of voiced political interest in the topic — has ensured its centrality and relevance, and given it a privileged position to continue thriving. This participatory approach demonstrates the government's commitment to rethinking public services as spaces where citizens can exercise their rights and voice their opinions.