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
Resources
Learning about Participatory Budgeting through best practice
Hear the Voice, Make the Change: Guide to evaluating PB processes
Released in June 2017 this comprehensive guide from PB Partners lays out 10 essential actions to record, monitor and evaluate the impact of a PB programme. This briefing has been produced in response to Scotland’s Community Choices programme and aims to support public sector organisations wishing to evaluate their ‘mainstream’ Participatory Budgeting (PB) initiatives. The… Read More
What Works in Participatory Budgeting: Taking stock and thinking ahead in Scotland
What Works Scotland (WWS) has produced a new paper presenting findings and reflections from ongoing research in the WWS Participatory Budgeting programme, and signposting future directions for inquiry and practice. Key Points from the research are: Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a democratic innovation that is becoming central to community empowerment and public service reform in… Read More
Orchard projects in Leeds are thriving through Participatory Budgeting
Leeds is a city with a growing ‘orchard-ing’ culture. Alan Thornton, project worker for Leeds Orchard Live, who are supported by Helping Britain Blossom describes how they used participatory grant-making on Saturday 14 January 2017 to distribute £3000. Small scale funding perhaps, yet vital to promoting orchard groups in Leeds . As well as handing out… Read More
Video: Participatory Budgeting in Edinburgh
Participatory budgeting (PB) allows communities to be directly involved in decisions on the priorities and spending of public budgets. In Edinburgh, PB has been implemented since 2010. As an approach it can offer significant benefits in increasing community participation, improving the effectiveness of public spending and promoting greater community cohesion.
Participatory Budgeting in Urgent Care: A case study from MutualGain
Between the 2nd and the 8th July 2015 North Tyneside CCG, in collaboration with MutualGain, held three sessions designed to enable the public to influence spending decisions on access to urgent care services. The process used was a new commissioning version of the tried and tested technique of Participatory Budgeting. As part of the exercise,… Read More
Participatory Budgeting: What are Parisians dreaming about?
The City of Paris has been running the largest scale Participatory Budgeting process in Europe. As part of an international study visit to Paris in December 2016 by representatives of Glasgow and Fife Community Planning Partnerships, enabled by What Works Scotland, a report by "Atelier Parisien d’Urbanisme"(APUR) into the types of projects proposed in 2015… Read More
Oor Bit – Places and Spaces in Fife: The results are in!
THE results of Fife Council’s “Oor Bit” consultation are in. Over 1,400 people from the Cowdenbeath area have been voting on their favourite local projects as part of a bid to involve the community in deciding local spending priorities. And now 14 projects close to people’s hearts will be funded to the tune of £250,000…. Read More
10 principles for fiscal transparency: A GIFT to open government?
There are many reason to use Participatory Budgeting. Such as to inspire citizens to take greater responsibility within their community, or to strengthen the democratic mandate of elected officials. A significant additional reason is to promote open and transparent government, at all levels. As a piece of municipal ‘graffiti’ in Brazil, the home of Participatory… Read More
Participatory funding radical grassroots groups through the Edge Fund
The Edge Fund uses a highly participatory process, evolved over 6 cycles, to make small grants to radical groups that might otherwise struggle to find funding. Like the African Rainbow Family, Manchester (who received £3,000). A group which is run by its 60 LGBTIQ asylum seekers and refugees members, with lived experiences of persecution based… Read More
