The ceaseless advances in digital technology are breathing new life into an old concept. Across Europe, a growing number of cities are adopting a form of citizen engagement that was first trialled in the 1980s in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Participatory budgeting encourages citizens to decide how a pre-defined portion of their local budget is spent. By doing so, it puts decision-making power in the hands of residents.
While offline interaction is still a vital part of participatory budgeting, the internet has allowed for city officials to reach out to residents in a way that wasn’t possible before. And while each city has their own approach, the core tenets remain the same.
“The most basic form [of participatory budgeting] is that there is a portion of the municipal budget that the city decides to hand over to the citizens, so that they can decide how it is spent,” says Ania Rok, Coordinator at ICLEI Europe and an expert in urban governance. “The ideas are submitted by local residents in an open, participatory process and the final decision is usually made through some kind of online voting.
“Cities really want to engage with citizens and money is an incentive for people to take part. It flips the usual script where people bring in ideas only to find out there is no money available to make them a reality. With a budget set from the beginning, people can trust that this process will produce tangible outcomes and feel motivated to shape them. On the other hand, cities are also realising that good ideas are not so easy to come by and local administrations don’t have a monopoly on them.
“People from different groups, different walks of life, see the city from multiple perspectives and, as residents, have a better understanding of local needs.”
For local governments, there are significant benefits to inviting citizens in the decision-making process.
“I think more and more local governments are recognising that there are different types of knowledge and expertise,” says Ania. “Working in a particular department does not make you the only person capable of providing valuable input on a topic. Involving people makes the process more effective and successful. By developing it together with users, it makes it easier to create a better solution.
“Participatory budgeting also has the benefit of giving people a better understanding of how the city works, meaning it can improve the trust in local government and the feeling of ownership. It’s interesting for people to see how much things cost – if you realise how much maintaining green spaces costs, you will perhaps appreciate them more.”
While cities are afforded an attractive opportunity through participatory budgeting, there is a need to ensure a balance between online and offline interaction. The internet may allow cities to reach larger numbers of people than before, but it is important that outreach is complemented with offline activities, ensuring those without IT knowledge are not left out entirely.
“Digital exclusion is a common criticism, but many cities provide the opportunity to vote via publicly accessible terminals or through offline means. A good participatory budgeting process should have a significant offline public engagement, such as face-to-face meetings and campaigns to make it visible in public spaces across the city,” says Ania.
To be successful, cities must be certain that they can take on board the suggestions that they are getting from citizens. “The biggest risk is that the city is not able to follow through and implement the projects selected” says Ania, noting that if mutual trust is broken, it is very difficult to regain.
“Most participatory budgets run every year, and can be adjusted every year. It’s a cyclical process that has learning built in, both for the local government and the public. I think it’s important to design the process in such a way that you don’t allow full ideas to emerge that cannot be implemented. You need a co-creation process where people say this is what I need, and experts help them to translate it into regulations, budgets, and so on. These processes can also inspire changes in regulations where existing frameworks are not working anymore.”
Another concern regarding participatory budgeting is that it is more suited to larger cities with a larger budget. Some contend that smaller cities will struggle to raise the capital needed for interesting public works or services. Ania says that it’s not the case.
“[Participatory budgeting] is good for all cities. Cities that have little money should invest more time in thinking how to spend it wisely, and in educating people about how they come to decisions regarding spending this money. Having a limited budget may not be a barrier, quite the opposite.
“It’s also about the attitude of the administration: it requires a certain openness to deal with the ideas of citizens and to have confidence that you are able to organise such a process and make these ideas happen.”
In the end, Ania says that it is just another method for cities to interact with citizens, and that having an open mentality is more important for creating an positive and vibrant city than adherence to any one mode of engagement.
“I can understand that some cities are hesitant to try it, or they prefer different forms of civic engagement, and that’s fine. But it can be an interesting instrument. It’s the one that requires a certain commitment. It makes sense once you start to do it annually: you need to be open and have resources to organise online and offline engagement. It’s not like one local workshop, it’s a more complex process that requires a greater commitment. In principle though, it is possible for every city to do it.”
For cities that are keen to try participatory budgeting, Ania stresses the importance of promoting the results of citizen participation.
“It’s important to make the contribution of participatory budgeting visible, to mark the things that were funded thanks to this, to communicate it. If people see that something happened as a result of participatory budgeting, they will be keener to take part next year.”
ICLEI held a session to explore the potential of participatory budgeting in Brussels (Belgium) earlier this year as part of its long-running Breakfast at Sustainability’s series. The session saw a lively discussion on how tools such as participatory budgeting and civic crowdfunding can create a new culture of co-creation, and featured input from co-organiser the City of Wrocław (Poland), as well as the City of Antwerp (Belgium).
For more information on the event (including the presentations given), click here.