Infoparticipa Seal awarded to 140 institutions in recognition for their information transparency

The UAB's ComSET group conducts the assessment with 54 indicators, notes that despite the positive evolution throughout these 13 editions, less than 20% of the city councils in Catalonia have been awarded the seal.

The event took place in the Rectorat building of the UAB campus, and included a speech by UAB professor Armand Balsebre, director of the ComSET group, who said that "Infoparticipa has become a necessary tool today to be transparent". He also expressed a wish for the future, "for the communicative dimension that our research group initiated a few years ago to take root in all institutions."

He was followed by Miquel Brugat, mayor of Peralada, one of the town councils distinguished with the excellence award, who said that "transparency cannot depend solely on the capacity of a town council, but also on its will."

And finally, UAB Rector Javier Lafuente thanked everyone involved for the work done and stressed that Infoparticipa is becoming a very useful thermometer for measuring public communication. He also pointed out that it is necessary to ensure that the country benefit from this research that emerges from the university. "It is an excellent collaboration between the university and the local world", he said.

Distinguished entities

In this 13th edition, of the 947 municipalities of Catalonia, 125 city councils reached the score needed to receive an Infoparticipa Seal. Of these 125 city councils, 22 received a score of 100%. In comparison to last year's edition, the number of city councils receiving the seal went down by eight, from the 133 that were awarded last year (and of which 26 obtained a score of 100%).

In this edition, a total of 209 city councils passed, seven more than last year, when the number was 202. Of these, 133 city councils received a score of 75% (vs 142 in last year's edition).

Twenty-two city councils scored 100% in the positive indicators: L’Aldea, Arenys de Mar, Barcelona, Calafell, Deltebre, Esponellà, Esplugues de Llobregat, Fonollosa, Hostalric, Llinars del Vallès, Manresa, Mataró, Olesa de Montserrat, Peralada, Premià de Dalt, Premià de Mar, Salou, Sallent, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Sant Quirze del Vallès, Vic and Viladecavalls. From the three city councils in the first edition of the Infoparticipa Seal in 2013 to a total of 22 in 2026.

With regard to the provincial councils of Catalonia, all four passed, but only three of them received an Infoparticipa Seal: Barcelona, Tarragona and Girona.

With regard to county councils, of the 41 in Catalonia only 15 pass and 12 were awarded a seal: Anoia, Alt Penedès, Bages, Baix Ebre, Baix Llobregat, Baix Penedès, Berguedà, Gironès, Maresme, Moianès, Vallès Occidental and Vallès Oriental, of which L’Anoia and Vallès Oriental obtained a score of 100%.

The role of female mayors is highlighted once again. In Catalonia, according to the results of the municipal elections of May 2023, there are 27% of female mayors in town councils. And, of the town councils that receive the Infoparticipa Seal, 31% has a female mayor (39 in absolute numbers). In other words, town councils presided over by women obtain, proportionally, more awards.

This year, in addition, extraordinary awards have been given to recognise the town councils that have offered mentorship to others, giving them support to achieve a better score and a better presentation of institutional information and documentation to citizens. Thus, four town councils were chosen to receive the Extraordinary Award:

• Calafell City Council for mentoring the Baix Penedès County Council.

• Llinars del Vallès for mentoring the Sant Pere de Vilamajor City Council.

• Salou City Council for mentoring the Ampolla City Council.

• Peralada City Council for mentoring the Cabanes City Council.

A total of 54 indicators

The Infoparticipa Seal awarded for transparency and quality in local public communication is a certification issued by the UAB and includes 54 different indicators, as explained in the Infoparticipa Map: https://www.infoparticipa.info/maps

The indicators, prepared in the form of questions, focus on five basic areas: who the political representatives are, how they manage collective resources, how they manage economic resources, what information they provide about the municipality and the management of collective resources, and what tools they offer for citizen participation.

Once again, quality in information and the overall level of transparency of all 54 indicators was imperative; particularly in the first 11 indicators on elected officials, in the institutional and activities agenda, and in hiring and graphic representations. In this edition, the emphasis was placed on the anonymisation of all documents.

This year, researchers also requested that the remuneration and declarations of assets and activities of elected officials be shown individually and in the space of each political leader.

“We want to continue to insist on the irregular frequency of content updates, the unintuitive design of the menus, and the difficulty in understanding the information”, UAB researchers point out.

Scores to obtain the Infoparticipa Seal

To obtain the Infoparticipa Seal, in the case of municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, a minimum of 95% of positive indicators is required; in those with 10,001 to 50,000 inhabitants, a minimum of 90% is required; in those between 5,001 and 10,000 inhabitants, 85%; in those between 1,001 and 5,000 inhabitants, 80% and, finally, in the case of municipalities with less than 1,000 inhabitants, the seal is granted when 75% of positive indicators is reached.

Regarding county councils and provincial councils, the Infoparticipa Seal is awarded to institutions that achieve a minimum of 85% of positive indicators, regardless of the size of the population.

Infoparticipa was born in 2012 as a research project of the Laboratory of Journalism and Communication for Plural Citizenship group, directed by UAB Professor Amparo Moreno Sardà. In 2020 it passed to the research group in Sound, Strategic and Transparency Communication (ComSET), under the direction of UAB Audiovisual Communication and Advertising Professor Armand Balsebre and coordinated by Dr Marta Corcoy.