Go to the website of Alderman Joe Moore, of the 49th Ward in Chicago, to learn about his work on Participatory Budgeting. Alderman Moore provides $1m dollars in funding annually for residents to decide on capital projects.
Geographic
Participatory Budgeting in the UK and internationally
Video: direct democracy comes to Harlem
Last October, New York City residents took part in a historic new experiment in direct democracy. Over a six-month period, ordinary citizens young and old were given the unusual power to decide how millions of their city districts’ budgets were spent. We follow two newcomers to civic engagement — Stefan Poaches, a 27-year-old assistant college… Read More
It’s Up 2 U, £500K, Durham
Durham County Council, in partnership with 3 Towns Partnership, had £500,000 of capital funding for projects in the Crook area. The public were invited to have their say and vote for their favourite projects at Crook Primary School on Saturday 23 February between 10.30am and 2.30pm. The 12 organisations and projects that were bidding for… Read More
Surrey County Council’s TravelSMART programme – Participatory Budgeting in action
Take a look at the short film below, where you can see the difference the TravelSMART programme is making in communities across Surrey. Read more about TravelSMART on the Open Government Partnership blog
Newcastle were first in the country to do PB with Carers
In 2010 Newcastle piloted the use of a budget to support carers in the area using PB. In what is believed to be an England first, the carers themselves decided how money should best be spent to meet their needs, rather than council officers making the decisions for them. Carers from across the city met… Read More
The Children’s Fund, Newcastle
After months of preparation, 139 young people attended a participatory budgeting event in Newcastle in May 2008 to cast a 20% vote in the procurement of services for the city’s £2.25m Children’s Fund. This was one in a series of events held as part of the city’s Udecide participatory budgeting programme, which has given thousands… Read More
PB in Blaenau Gwent with Home Office funds
On Saturday 13 March 2010, 150 residents of Blaenau Gwent turned out to have their say in Safer Blaenau Gwent‘s ‘Your Voice, Your Choice’ Participatory Budgeting Event. In total £30,000 was available for local people to decide which community safety projects would be funded in their neighbourhoods. The pilot, supported by the Home Office, invited… Read More
Participatory Budgeting in Britain: the story so far
The PB Unit produced this video in 2010 to show what’s been happening with PB in Britain over the past few years, and the ambitions for the future.