There is overwhelming evidence that we are in a climate emergency. It is of maximum importance that we move on from debating the evidence towards taking immediate action. Given the reluctance of politicians to take decisive action so far this appears to remain a very challenging task. Many people feel a sense of powerlessness, and… Read More
Themes
The central themes dealt with by Participatory Budgeting
Lisbon agrees 5m euro fund for Green PB
Lisbon City Council’s first-ever ‘green’ participatory budget, an initiative supported and managed by South Pole and EIT Climate-KIC’s City Finance Lab, has been allocated a €5 million budget to support climate change mitigation and adaptation projects selected by local citizens. The Mayor of Lisbon made the announcement in May 2019 during the ceremony for this… 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
Participatory Budgeting within Social Housing.
Housing Associations, Cooperatives, Tenant and Arm’s Length Management Organisations are uniquely well placed to initiate and lead participatory budgeting (PB), as they often already have well structured tenant engagement processes, and much of their income comes directly from rents. PB is an ideal way to take that engagement further, and respond to the interests, concerns… Read More
PB in Schools: Has its time come in the UK?
Schools play a central role in developing the life-skills and confidence of young people. Participatory budgeting (PB) is a proven deliberative process that can inspire, empower and engage young people in a cooperative, democratic and purposeful way. Bringing the two together has many positive benefits for schools, for society and for young people. In the… 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
Our Money, Our Planet. Participatory Budgeting and the Green New Deal
In a new blog featured on the Shared Future CIC’s website Alan Budge connects PB and climate change. We feature some highlights below. Participatory Budgeting(PB) enables people to make their community better, starting with issues that concern us all. The biggest concern we face as a society is climate change. In August 2018, Greta Thunberg,… 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
