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Participatory Budgeting

Is 2022 the year for more Participatory Budgeting?

Jez Hall On 16 December, 2021 / Featured, Participatory Budgeting, SFCIC Blogs

The pandemic interrupted the use of participatory budgeting (PB) programmes, but we believe there is a growing appetite to restart them post-Covid, especially grant making PB programmes. While grant making PB certainly has benefits, there are pitfalls too, says Shared Future Director Jez Hall in this end of year opinion piece. The work for Shared Future, he adds, is to suggest ways to make the transition from PB grant-making to consider the larger ‘mainstream’ budgets and reach the ideal situation where we have both.

New Directions: Evolutions in Youth Participation Blogs

Jez Hall On 26 April, 2021 / Participatory Budgeting, SFCIC Blogs, SFCIC News

The role of young people as independent actors in their own right, able to define and become architects of their future has changed over the years. In thinking this through, we might look back and reflect on how the concept of youth participation has evolved over the decades since the student led protest movements of the 1960s. Much has changed. In a series of 5 short blogs Jez Hall looks at emerging democratic innovations.

Democratic Journeys: Participatory Budgeting in a time of Covid

Jez Hall On 31 March, 2021 / Participatory Budgeting, SFCIC News, Videos and podcasts

“We need to learn from the history of building back better. That we need to enable individual citizens to define how investments for their benefits are spent”.
The podcast series Democracy Journeys, by the Association of Municipalities and Regions of Sweden(SKR) is about citizen dialogue, co-creation and democracy at local and regional level. Each episode focuses on various innovations that help to develop democracy. Episode 38 focus on the effect of COVID19.

Reasons to be Cheerful Podcast: Participatory Budgeting

Jez Hall On 20 February, 2021 / Participatory Budgeting, SFCIC News, SFCIC Resources, Videos and podcasts

The Reasons to be Cheerful podcast, hosted by Ed Miliband MP and Geoff Lloyd featured Participatory Budgeting. Ed and Geoff were talking about a BIG idea that’s transforming how towns, cities and even schools are run across the world. Participatory budgeting (PB) involves letting citizens decide how public money is spent.

Free Resources for Participatory Budgeting

Jez Hall On 16 February, 2021 / Participatory Budgeting, SFCIC News, SFCIC Resources

We have contributed to a number of free resources on participatory budgeting. We want to pull these together and share these with you. For a number of years we have been talking about participatory budgeting(PB) can empower citizens. And also providing important services to help people take action or improve their participation processes.

Erasmus+ Youth PB Accelerator Project

Jayne McFadyen On 16 February, 2021 / Participatory Budgeting, SFCIC News

We believe that young people should have a voice in shaping their future through participatory democracy. One of our current projects is a joint project funded by Erasmus+, working with colleagues in Poland, Spain and Northern Ireland, to develop a ‘toolkit’ to encourage best practice and the inclusion of Young People in local participatory budgeting(PB) processes.

Annual Review 2020 – Shared Future

Alex King On 2 February, 2021 / Citizens Inquiries, Climate Change, Participatory Budgeting, SFCIC News, SFCIC Reports

In this Annual Review of 2020, we recount our work in what was an extraordinary year. During 2020, we focussed much of our work on climate change, and we are currently supporting a number of Local Authorities in implementing Climate Emergency inquiries.

Louise O’Kane and Jez Hall interviewed for German Participatory Budgeting website

Jez Hall On 6 October, 2020 / Participatory Budgeting, SFCIC News, Videos and podcasts

Journalist Stephanie Grimm speaks with Louise O’Kane of Community Places and Jez Hall of Shared Future CIC on behalf of the Buergerhaushalt website, on the past present and future for Participatory Budgeting in the UK. Would you like to know more about the important role of voting, the involvement of young people who are far removed from politics and the effects of austerity policy? Then take a full look at the interview.

Build Back Better? Participation in public budgets tackles two pandemics

Jez Hall On 18 June, 2020 / Climate Change, Participatory Budgeting, SFCIC Blogs, SFCIC News

There are two viruses affecting our world. The Covid19 pandemic and racism. One natural, one manmade. Both affecting some more than others. People centred approaches are at the heart of building back better. Public bodies can support and enable resilient communities and tackle social injustice by putting public money at the disposal of citizens; to better serve their needs, and to rebuild trust in our government and between people.

Report on Online Webinars about Participatory Budgeting and Young People

Jez Hall On 8 April, 2020 / Participatory Budgeting, SFCIC News, SFCIC Reports

Shared Future CIC facilitated three online PB Youth Accelerator workshop sessions on 21st-22nd April 2020. The first a knowledge exchange workshop, with invited participants from Scotland based Participatory Budgeting programmes, to explore in greater depth the unique features of their work. The second, an online ‘Open Space’ considered how the Covid-19 pandemic is affecting democratic participation and youth empowerment, and the third explored Legislative Theatre, a creative way to develop a more deliberative democracy. Find out more.