Q.
Most of the projects so far only use a small amount of money. Do people really bother to get involved?
A.
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So far the answer is most definitely yes! Any of the projects so far will testify to the fact that far more people turned up and participated than they expected. We think that the incentive of being able to make decisions on actual money, regardless of the amount, gets people interested. Also, whilst a few thousand pounds isn’t much in terms of a budget, it’s a lot of money to local people. Small amounts of money can be useful to educate people in understanding how budgets work and how much different services or projects cost. Through this process you can develop a more meaningful and informed relationship with communities who understand the value of things.
The Participatory Budgeting Unit is changing!
We need to move beyond the ‘Councillors know best’ approach in Edinburgh
The People's Budget workshop at TPAS conference
