Innovative Capacity and Participatory Policymaking in Armenia

Armenia’s Government faces economic, security, political and social challenges. Addressing citizens’ needs in innovative and participatory ways can improve the public’s satisfaction, trust and confidence. The OECD’s 2024 Survey on Drivers of Trust in Government shows how satisfaction with administrative services and having a voice in local matters can help bridge the trust gap between citizens and government.

The Armenian Government has already taken bold steps to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of its public governance system, notably through the adoption of the Public Administration Reform (PAR) Strategy, which has been central to the Armenian Government’s agenda since the 2018 Velvet Revolution. Harnessing public sector innovation and participatory approaches can help fulfil the PAR Strategy’s vision for an innovative, human-centred, fair, stable, responsible and dynamic state and improve public outcomes.

• Examples of successful innovative and participatory approaches are emerging in Armenia but efforts remain fragmented across the public sector, with many public servants lacking the time and support to innovate. Innovative and participatory approaches are not systemically co-ordinated and embedded into strategic governance, policymaking and service delivery. Moreover, strategy, policy and service monitoring and evaluation are infrequent, making it difficult to know where innovation and improvement may be needed and whether efforts are effective.

• Public sector innovation in Armenia is primarily driven from the top down, with few dedicated supports (such as labs, funds, accelerators or teams) to stimulate efforts and spread best practices. This limits the potential for innovations coming from those closest to the problems facing the public. Over the last two years, only just over 40% of Armenian public servants, on average, have participated in an innovation.

• At an operational level, difficulties in understanding and addressing skills gaps make it hard to recruit and retain specialised experts in innovation and participation. Moreover, a fragmented, rather than systemic, approach to human resource management makes it difficult to incentivise and encourage public servants to contribute to innovative and participatory efforts.

• Armenia’s legal frameworks provide opportunities for stakeholders to be involved in public decision making, including the electronic platform for access to information (e-request) and for public consultations (e-draft), as well as public hearings, civic councils, and other consultative mechanisms. Nevertheless, some civil society organisations think their perspectives are not always valued in participatory processes.

• Institutional roles and responsibilities for more meaningful participation are emerging: 31% of surveyed public officials reported that their offices have a dedicated contact point for participation.

• Motivations to involve citizens and stakeholders in policymaking largely stem from obligations and compliance rather than an acknowledgement of how these perspectives can improve policy outcomes, quality and efficiency. Indeed, legal obligations are the strongest driver for involving citizens and stakeholders in policy and decision making (indicated by 76%), followed by institutional objectives (indicated by 31%).

• The public sector lacks a widespread understanding and culture of participation. While participation champions, such as designated contact points, are important, fostering a culture of participation requires involvement from all public officials. A change in culture demands shifts in the norms, values, expectations and skills to empower public servants to meaningfully engage stakeholders.

• Factors such as technology availability and skills related to evidence, data and technology are predictors of how likely civil servants are to participate in innovation design and implementation. The ongoing digital transformation could help incorporate user-centred design, inclusive participation, evidence-based decision making and evaluation into policymaking and service design.

• Introduce dedicated mandates, roles, resources and responsibilities for public sector innovation to help build buy-in from leadership across institutions, improve collaboration on cross-cutting initiatives, steer efforts to tackle strategic goals, accelerate the spread of best practices and ensure time and capacity are dedicated to innovative and participatory efforts.

• Establish a central function or unit in the centre of government to guide and oversee participation efforts across the public administration. The unit could support focal points in public institutions and nurture a network to share good practices and common challenges. Involving CSOs as part of a broader community of practice would also enable both formal and informal exchanges between public servants and stakeholders.

• Introduce explicit mechanisms for innovation in the centre of government (e.g. innovation lab, centralised expertise) and use strategic governance system reforms to embed innovative and participatory approaches into strategic planning, policy design, monitoring and evaluation.

• Develop common definitions and increase awareness of citizen and stakeholder participation and public sector innovation to enable public institutions and policymakers to work towards a shared vision.

• Involve CSOs in the early stages of agenda-setting to harness their expertise and empower them to help shape policies and services

• Ensure public institutions report back to citizens on how they use citizen and stakeholder feedback to build trust and encourage them to take part in participatory processes.

• Prioritise outreach to all social demographics when conducting participatory processes, including the vulnerable and those at risk of exclusion. This could include using online platforms and digital tools, engaging grassroots organisations, partnering with community-based organisations, and visiting rural or underserved areas to directly engage with the public.

• Increase the capacity of civil servants to engage in innovative and participatory approaches through human resource approaches that identify and address workforce needs. Embed innovative and participatory competencies into recruitment, retention, performance management and capacity building efforts including a mechanism to hire dedicated specialists.

• Introduce skill-building programmes related to innovation and participation (e.g. user research, co-creation, consultation, innovation portfolio management), and help staff apply these competencies to policymaking.

• Establish explicit support to stimulate bottom-up innovation such as dedicated teams (e.g.  innovation lab or unit) or programmes (e.g. innovation accelerator, incubator or idea contest). Introduce an innovation and/or participation network to expand the pool of innovative and participatory initiatives and empower public servants.

• Dedicate time for public servants to work in innovative and participatory ways to address public sector challenges and enhance policies. 

• Embed monitoring and evaluation into Armenia’s strategic, programme and policy cycles to help ensure that policies have a positive impact. This can help identify where change and innovation are needed to improve policies and services and to communicate the success of innovative and participatory initiatives across the public sector and to the public.