Government Office to hold over €50,000 worth of public debates

The Government Office is set to hold a series of public debates dubbed "opinion treks" in various counties for €47,400.
The Government Office's strategy bureau is organizing the "Estonia 2035" opinion trek, with debates set to take place in at least ten counties. According to the Tuesday press release, 40 debate moderators had signed up by Monday.
Asked about the activity's price tag, Eili Lepik, deputy director of the strategy bureau, said that a contract for €39,500 plus VAT has been signed with OÜ Kasvulava.
Diana Lorents, press representative for the Government Office, told ERR that the procurement attracted two bidders.
Based on tender documentation, OÜ Kasvulava is tasked with developing and executing the opinion trek concept and methodology for group discussions, as well as guidelines and support materials, the trek's communication plan and awareness campaign concept. The winner must also organize the trek in terms of project management and organizational support, including registering volunteers to act as moderators and their instruction using the government's website, as well as group and systemize proposals made as a result of group discussions.
The opinion trek's staffing expenses are covered using the regular pay of strategy bureau employees Eili Lepik and Heleri Reinsalu as organizing the trek is part of their everyday work.
The trek is part of Estonia's open governance partnership activity plan that, according to the Government Office, stands for cooperation between the state and civil society and should help promote cocreational and knowledge-based policymaking. "The activity plan includes initiatives that expand on other open governance topics, next to state digital solutions, covering public sector innovation and experimentation culture, as well as development of data-driven decision-making processes," the press release reads.
The debates should yield ideas from different social groups for updating the "Estonia 2035" activity plan's strategy. The topics of discussion cover the five goals of the "Estonia 2035" strategy – people, society, living environment, economy, public administration – and various subtopics. The full list of topics in Estonian and Russian can be found here.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski