In 2018 Newry Mourne and Down District Council in Northern Ireland had their first experience with Participatory Budgeting and it went really well. They ran two processes under the banner of Communities Leading Change. One for adults, and one focussed especially on young people. Funding was sourced by a partnership including Newry, Mourne and Down… Read More
Going Global: Report of the Participatory Budgeting Scotland Conference
On the 23rd October 2019 over 100 people gathered in Edinburgh for this years Scottish Participatory Budgeting Conference. This conference brought together people involved in PB in Scotland to share and learn about each other’s practice, to help improve our impact and prioritise future plans. A chance to explore insights into PB activities and approaches… Read More
Does Participatory Budgeting always require a vote? Blog by Jez Hall
There is a very real desire to make Participatory Budgeting more deliberative and thoughtful. One of the concerns about voting is that it doesn’t force people to think through the options. That PB needs more deliberation. Nevertheless Jez Hall of PB Partners/Shared Future CIC argues that the vote is crucial for legitimacy and trust within… Read More
Share your news and views on Participatory Budgeting
The Participatory Budgeting Network is one of the key sources for information on what is happening in the world of PB. We want it make it even more participatory. We are actively inviting guest contributions in the form of blogs, videos, resources or news items. We will put items onto the website and share them… Read More
Our Money Our Planet: New report on using PB to tackle the Climate Crisis
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
No, People Aren’t Too Dumb for Democracy: Blog by Roslyn Fuller
In the latest in our series of guest blogs Dr Roslyn Fuller, of the Solonian Democracy Institute considers whether we have misread the public’s ability to make decisions. She argues in defence of democracy and trusting ‘ordinary’ people. I have been researching democracy for over a dozen years. During that time one of the… Read More
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
What is Democracy Anyway: Why voting systems matter in Participatory Budgeting
In a world seemingly dominated by elections and talk of confirmatory referenda, and when we are so used to ‘first past the post’, probably quite a lot of people were confused as to how the EU election voting process worked. Was it fair? Did my vote count? Did the right outcome result? It feels timely… Read More
Participatory Governance & Tax Compliance: Two New World Bank Studies
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
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
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