The Uist and Barra Public Bus Service Redesign project has used innovative methods to improve service outcomes for rural communities through procuring services in a new way. By using participatory budgeting methodology the community has had the opportunity to be fully involved in the design and procurement of their bus services. Together with the use… Read More
Case studies
Brief overviews of experiences of Participatory Budgeting
Small is beautiful: Buckfastleigh builds Participatory Budgeting from the ground up
In October 2016 Buckfastleigh Town Council held the first open deliberation in their Participatory Budgeting inspired process for engaging residents in the work of the Town Council. Often PB starts with a funding pot and a request for bids, which then go to a public vote. Yet too often these participatory grant making processes, which… Read More
67,000 people vote in PB New York 2016
Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and the New York City Council announced the voting results and winning proposals of the 2015-2016 Participatory Budgeting cycle. During the voting period of March 26th through April 3rd, over 67,000 New Yorkers voted to allocate $38 million dollars for locally developed capital projects across 28 Council Districts in New York City…. Read More
UCL Sustainability Team wins Award for Innovation with PB online platform
The Sustainability Team at University College London has received an award from UCL’s President and Provost Professor Michael Arthur for its innovative approach to academic collaboration and communicating the University’s carbon reduction challenge. Building on research from Deputy Director of the UCL Transport Institute Dr Tom Cohen, the Sustainability Team led the development of a… Read More
Miles Platting groups get a share of £25,000
£25k worth of funding from Adactus Housing Association will be split between nine community groups operating in Miles Platting, East Manchester. The groups offer a wide cross section of activities, events and equipment that local East Manchester residents will benefit from. 16 groups originally applied for and after a voting process where Adactus Housing Association… Read More
Iceland adopts participatory democracy over austerity as its solution to the banking crisis… and it works
Iceland was one of the worst hit countries of the international banking crisis of 2008, with many of its major banks bankrupted. Since then, whilst going through some hard times it has been recognised as bouncing back. Participatory democracy, including forms of participatory budgeting, has been at the core of its strategy to re-engage citizens… Read More
Rochdale Residents celebrate with another £47,000 of Our Choice funding
This spring Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) once again rolled out their award-winning “Our Choice” project, which gives residents control of how money is spent improving their neighbourhoods. £47,000 of funding to thirteen neighbourhoods was up for grabs and only local people could decide how it was spent. Since 2013 more than £120,000 has been distributed… Read More
Thinkpiece on democratic innovation published by Foreign Affairs website
In an article published on the 11th March 2015 on the respected Foreign Affairs website, Paolo Spada and Hollie Russon Gilman provide a overview of the development of participatory budgeting (PB) in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil since the late 1980’s. They consider what’s been achieved in the birthplace of PB, as it evolves… Read More
Tower Hamlets “You Decide!”
In Tower Hamlets, a Participatory Budgeting project known as “You Decide!” was carried out across the whole Borough in 2009 and 2010. The Cabinet allocated £2.38 million per year for a two year period (total of £4.76 million) with £300,000 added by the local Primary Care Trust (PCT) in year two. A total of over… Read More
Dulverton Council and Devon and Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service combine forces on Our Place
Partnership working is at the heart of successful Participatory Budgeting and this is nowhere more true in Dulverton, that has been pathfinding an ‘Our Place‘ approach to PB for many years. By combining forces with agencies like Devon and Somerset Fire Service, Dulverton was recently awarded Our Place status and is looking to develop it… Read More
