A new book, detailing why Participatory Budgeting is an important innovation in citizenship education was published this month. Shared Future director Jez Hall contributed a chapter to Educating for Democracy: The Case for Participatory Budgeting in Schools, available from Edward Elgar Publishing.

The book provides a detailed examination of school participatory budgeting (SPB), a process that combines school democracy, civic engagement and citizenship education.

Presenting insights from SPB processes across the globe, it advocates for the wider rollout of programs which amplify students’ voices, their deliberative capacities and decision-making power while improving school climate and campus infrastructure.

Daniel Schugurensky and Tara Bartlett brought together international practitioners and researchers to analyse the main accomplishments, challenges and lessons learned through the design, implementation, and evaluation of SPB. Highlighting how SPB is gaining traction.

Chapter 7, titled “Everyone counts: building school and community citizenship from a Northern European perspective” was contributed by Jez. It builds on his previous involvement in the Youth PB Accelerator project, and many years advocating for PB as a powerful technique for youth empowerment.

Access the digital version of the book on the ElgarOnline Website.

If you would like a discussion on bringing PB to your school or community, feel free to contact Jez Hall.