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
News
No, People Aren’t Too Dumb for Democracy: Blog by Roslyn Fuller
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
Mapping and Ideas Generation. Visualising Participatory Budgeting
In a short blog by Jez Hall, of Shared Future/PB Partners, he looks at the role of mapping and data visualisation as an innovative way to extend the reach of participatory budgeting and put communities ‘on the map’. Much debate exists in the ‘civic tech’ world about which platform or technology best supports participatory budgeting…. 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
Our Money, Our Planet Workshops, June and July 2019
PB Partners are delivering a series of free events across the UK in response to the Climate Change emergency. Participatory Budgeting is an effective way for local authorities, and other statutory bodies to respond to this existential threat, and mobilise and enable communities take action themselves. Therefore they are running 4 events over June and… 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
