On October 25-27, 2007 there will be an international seminar
in Porto Alegre, Brazil, on participatory democracy and participatory budgeting in particular. The seminar is titled "The Future of Participatory Democracy: Technical Fix or Popular Sovereignty" and its aims are:

a. To analyze and debate the place of the state and the urban popular classes in the emerging urban landscape of the 21st century.
b. To evaluate the limits and possibilities of:
(1) participatory budgeting experiences;
(2) community-based organizations’ direct management of social policies; and
(3) sectoral councils for co-management of public policies.
c. To provide a space for analyses and discussion of existing alternatives around the theme of participatory democracy as social emancipation and social transformation.
d. To raise suggestions and guidelines for building an international network of grassroots-based participatory democracy activists.

For more information in Portuguese, Spanish, English, and French see:
http://www.ongcidade.org/site/php/seminario/arquivos/folder.pdf

and

http://www.ongcidade.org/site/php/seminario/seminario.php