It is a sad but undeniable fact that post Brexit levels of hate crime have risen across some parts of the UK, most notably England and Wales. Intolerance, ignorance, prejudice and inequality have emerged as communities try to make sense…
People from across North Ayrshire are being offered the chance to stake their claim for up to £1,250 for worthy projects which will improve the lives of others. A total of £50,000 is up for grabs in the participatory budgeting…
Alan Thornton, project worker for Leeds Orchard Live, supported by the ‘Helping Britain Blossom’ programme, describes how they used participatory grant-making to distribute £3,000. Small scale funding perhaps, yet vital to promoting orchard groups in Leeds. “Leeds is a city…
There are many reason to use Participatory Budgeting. Such as to inspire citizens to take greater responsibility within their community, or to strengthen the democratic mandate of elected officials. A significant additional reason is to promote open and transparent government,…
“Should sustainability be a factor in PB” is a blog by Jez Hall, reflecting on discussions on PB at the Lived Experience workshop of Engage, Think, Do!, and the presentations from Kenya and elsewhere on PB at scale. What does…
If two heads are better than one… what about 10 heads, or 100, or 67,000. Could Universities spearhead a new form of more open democratic accountability in educational Institutions? Would your school or college trust its learners, and use Participatory…
I can hardly believe it is only two weeks since I was on a small Danish island, in the midst of the Baltic sea, taking part in the Danish Folkemoedet, or People’s Meeting. Sharing big ideas, rubbing up against national politicians,…
In June 2013, we attended yet another project’s successful PB day. Alan Budge, a Shared Future associate, had been working with the Diocese earlier in the year, supporting them in a unique PB experiment – one that used parishioners’ donations to provide…
In 2013 Durham County Council were facing some tough financial decisions. So they developed a simple interactive board game to involve citizens in these difficult debates. Using a successful round of participatory budgeting distribution days, that helped Durham win recognition…
The Academy of Urbanism is well used to reporting on the innovations that bring about an urban renaissance. In an article by Katy Hawkins the Academy now looks at participatory budgeting (PB) in the USA, the UK and more widely.…