Community Section

Communities are key to participatory budgeting (PB).  It was citizens who demanded greater influence and transparency over budgets in Brazil, where it all started.  Now, citizens are demanding a greater say over services in their local areas in the UK and PB can help!

PB has lots of benefits including better more responsive local services, improved social cohesion, more involvement in how public money is spent; which can all help to improve everyone's lives, particularly those who live in poverty. 

Are there things you'd like to see in your local area?  Better street lighting?  The local playground cleared up and maintained better (or having a local playground to start with!)?  Places and things for young people to do?  Better leisure services? 

PB gives people a direct say over how part of a public budget is spent.  So you could get those things you always wanted.  PB events might be deciding how a local community grants pot is spent.   These are really exciting events where local community groups present their projects and then local people decide which ones get the money.  You can see what's going on in your local area and all the people who are making it happen.

Or a PB event might be the local council, police or health service presenting different projects that could be funded (there might be an event previously where local people are asked to suggest some projects) and local people decide which projects to fund in their area. 

Sometimes PB events (and these are the kind of events that we get excited about) ask people to identify the main priorities for their local area whether that's children and young people or crime or transport or the environment (or something else) and then suggest projects to meet those priorities.  Then finally, the community decides which projects to fund from the money.  This cycle can happen every year and can grow and grow. 

The pages in this section are designed to give you more information about PB and where it might be happening near you.  And if it isn't, what you can do to make it happen.  There's also some information on how local government works (because it's very complicated) and contact information for different organisations you can lobby or get involved with to start PB in your area.