Open government strategies and initiatives aim to support democracy and inclusive growth. They are an important tool to increase transparency, accountability and integrity, whilst building stronger relationships between government and citizens allowing them to participate in policy-making. As the OECD Recommendation of the Council on Open Government underlines, open government and stakeholder participation initiatives should include specific efforts “dedicated to reaching out to the most relevant, vulnerable, underrepresented, or marginalised groups in society”. Although youth are a highly heterogeneous group with different backgrounds, skills and capacities, they often find it more difficult than other segments in society to make their voices heard. Youth can be considered as one of the groups that requires specific efforts.
Public communication is an essential tool to promote an open government culture. The OECD Recommendation calls upon adherents to “actively communicate on open government strategies and initiatives, as well as on their outputs, outcomes and impacts, in order to ensure that they are well-known within and outside government, to favour their uptake, as well as to stimulate stakeholder buy-in”. Accordingly, tailored efforts to inform and communicate with youth are needed to promote an open government culture and include youth as active actors in open government strategies and initiatives.