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
Neighbourhoods
The role of Participatory Budgeting in neighbourhoods
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. Community development expert and Big Local Trust rep Gayle Wallace… 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
PB and Social Isolation: New blog by Jez Hall
A new blog by Jez Hall, published on the Shared Future CIC website outlines why he thinks PB and reducing social isolation go together. As Jez says in his blog: "Recently I’ve been coordinating a citizen inquiry on elderly care at home, where social isolation is a key emerging theme to promoting well-being and preventing… Read More
New website for PB launching this month in Northern Ireland
Interested in finding out about Participatory Budgeting (PB) in Northern Ireland? And people having a say in how public money is spent locally. Then check out a new NI resource at participatorybudgetingworks.org, launching in March 2018. The Building Change Trust has made a £50,000 award to a new collaborative project which will support Participatory Budgeting… 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
D-day for the Carrick group funding project is approaching
North Carrick groups can grab their share of an £80,000 funding pot. The £80,000 fund is awarded from the Scottish Government’s Community Choices Fund, which has been set up to support Participatory Budgeting (PB), a process which allows local people to make decisions on local spending priorities. If you live, work or volunteer in North… 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
