The willingness of citizens to pay taxes must surely be a strong indicator of their trust in government. In two new reports recently released by the World Bank strong evidence emerges on the effect of citizen engagement on tax morale and tax compliance. The first examined the Brazilian case, using data from all 5,570 municipalities… Read More
Geographic
Participatory Budgeting in the UK and internationally
Participatory Budgeting Charter for Scotland
Over the last year, as participatory budgeting grows in Scotland a lot of work has gone into developing a new charter for PB. The charter was released on the 27th June 2019. It lays out the defining features that underpin high quality PB in Scotland. PB is increasingly becoming a central part of how decisions… Read More
Mapping and Ideas Generation. Visualising Participatory Budgeting
In a short blog by Jez Hall, of Shared Future/PB Partners, he looks at the role of mapping and data visualisation as an innovative way to extend the reach of participatory budgeting and put communities ‘on the map’. Much debate exists in the ‘civic tech’ world about which platform or technology best supports participatory budgeting…. Read More
Speke Up – Participatory Budgeting in Merseyside 2019
Dr Andrew Fisher connects strength based engagement and participatory budgeting. Find out what happened at Speke Up – Tackling Serious and Organised Crime Through Strengths Based Engagement in Speke Merseyside, a project led by MutualGain. “There is evidence that suggests a strong correlation between low social capital and high levels of crime and disorder. High… Read More
Stirling Council launches £700k mainstream Participatory Budget
On the 7th March 2019 Stirling Council announced the launch of its first large-scale participatory budgeting(PB) process, and its another example of the growing size of PB in Scotland. The fund will be split between 7 districts, with a total of £100,000 available in each. Alan Budge of PB Partners advised the council on its… Read More
I got goosebumps: Community Voting Day in Haringey
"I thought it was very very interesting, I was excited, I got goosebumps hearing about the projects and I thought this was an amazing thing to do." So said one of the participants in the "Community Voting day", held in Northumberland Park, Tottenham in 2017. Gayle Wallace, Director of G.W Training & Consultancy Ltd managed… Read More
Pushing at the limits: Participatory Budgeting and prisoner rehabilitation in Canada
Jez Hall writes about how PB can push the limits of empowerment to the most unusual of suspects. One of the amazing things about Participatory Budgeting(PB) is how it can push boundaries and break down walls. Even the walls around the criminal justice system? A step too far? Whether its in empowering young people by… Read More
Everyone is a winner: Blog from the Scottish Recovery Network on Participatory Budgeting
Communities working together to have a direct say in how public money is spent is important… SRN’s latest blog from Holly Hendry, Network Officer for the North of Scotland, explores her experience and input into #YouChoose3, a local funding opportunity supported by recovery themes. Between October and December 2018, along with Moray Wellbeing Hub Holly… Read More
Dundee Decides: Largest single PB in the UK in 2018
PB Partners and the Democratic Society worked with Dundee council on Dundee Decides on an innovative £1.2m PB programme that ran in 2018. PB Partners provided regular strategic advice and guidance to the delivery team and also facilitated an independent review to inform future developments. Demsoc provided advice on the digital platform that underpinned the… Read More
The growth of PB in Russia and Asia: Major report on learning to date
The PB Network are pleased to host a new report, co-authored by international participatory budgeting expert Yves Cabannes on the development of PB in Russia and Asia. This report follows up the Networking Session on Participatory Budgeting in Asian and Russian cities and regions that took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia during the World Urban… Read More