The financial crisis and PB
There is a new Interview with Sergio Baierle (of the Porto Alegre NGO CIDADE) in Lumpen Magazine, about the financial crisis and opportunities for PB: http://www.ongcidade.org/site/arquivos/noticias/lumpenbaierle4919b65903790.pdf Could PB inspire a solution for the global financial crisis? About the Author RecentAbout dev_kqmdt7PBP’s Flickr Gallery – October 13, 2015Research Series: PB in the life of Brian. – September 22, 2015PB…
Participatory Budgeting on Facebook
For those of you on Facebook, there’s now a participatory budgeting group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22229870351There are around 300 members so far! About the Author Recent About dev_kqmdt7 PBP’s Flickr Gallery – October 13, 2015 Research Series: PB in the life of Brian. – September 22, 2015 PB Research Series: A Moment with Stephanie McNulty – August 25,…
National PB Conference in UK
Coming up soon, for those interested in the rapidly increasing popularity of PB in the United Kingdom: Making Spending Count? A national conference on Participatory Budgeting and its role in Community Empowerment. Organised and hosted by the Participatory Budgeting Unit and supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government. Keynote speaker: Rt. Hon. Hazel…
Irish Government Calls for Participatory Budgeting
Last week, Ireland’s Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, John Gormley, launched a Green Paper "Stronger Local Democracy" which calls for participatory budgeting, amongst other local democracy measures. Read the paper more on the Ministry’s website. About the Author Recent About dev_kqmdt7 PBP’s Flickr Gallery – October 13, 2015 Research Series: PB in…
AFRICAN REGIONAL SEMINAR ON PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING
From 10 to 14 March 2008, 150 delegates from several Sub-Saharan Africans countries, Latin America, Asia, Europe, and North America will gather in Durban, South Africa to share views and experiences on how to improve citizens’ participation in budget setting at sub-national levels in Africa. The Seminar will be held at Ethekwini Municipal Council and…
Participatory Budgeting with Young People in the UK
The UK consulting organization The Campaign Company has been working on a project for the East Sussex County Council to help young people decide how to spend £20,000. You can read a brief report on the project here. About the Author Recent About dev_kqmdt7 PBP’s Flickr Gallery – October 13, 2015 Research Series: PB in…
PB at the Movement Vision Lab
I contributed a piece on PB for the Movement Vision Lab’s blog, which is focusing on participatory democracy this week: Money Talks: How Participatory Budgeting Can Transform PoliticsJosh LernerJanuary 28, 2008 Money may be killing democracy, but it can also bring it back to life – if we learn new ways to manage it. Progressives…
Participatory Budgeting in India
News update from India: Pune citizens to decide how the municipality spends money Pune, Oct 23 – If all goes well, Pune’s residents will become the first in India to play a major role in deciding how the city municipality should spend its budget.Read more: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/128795.html About the Author Recent About dev_kqmdt7 PBP’s Flickr Gallery…
A Football Club tries Participatory Budgeting?
In the UK, a mass of football fans has banded together to pool their money, buy a football club, and democratically decide on all major club spending and decisions. From a BBC report: "Fans’ community website MyFootballClub has agreed a deal to take over Blue Square Premier outfit Ebbsfleet United. The 20,000 MyFootballClub members have…
A couple of Resources on Participation
In response to some recent requests, I am posting here a couple of resources for thinking about participation. One is the article by myself, Patrick Heller, and Marcelo K. Silva, called Making Spaces for Civil Society.. Also, a course on participatory democracy and community development I taught last Spring at MIT. There’s also a nascent…
Conference: Learning Democracy by Doing, October 2008
This conference will have a strong focus on participatory budgeting and other emergent practices of participatory democracy: Learning Democracy by Doing: Alternative Practices in Citizenship Learning and Participatory Democracy An international conference organized by the Transformative Learning Centre (TLC)Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto (OISE/UT) October 16-18, 2008Ontario Institute for Studies in…
Global spread of PB
According to the Worldwatch Institute, roughly 1,200 cities had developed participatory budgets by 2006. This rapid growth is at least party due to the increasing number of national governments passing (if not always thoroughly implementing) laws that make participatory budgeting obligatory for local governments: Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, and now the Dominican Republic, amongst others. About…