What are the participatory budgets? (with video)

There are more and more municipalities with participatory budgets, and this is a great news for the connection of the constituents to the activity local Executive, but also to promote areas of society which are not priority of local power, such as culture and environment.

Is this the example of participatory budget Lisbon, the first to be implemented by a European capital in 2008. "The OP de Lisboa distinguishes itself from other experience (...) because it is a truly deliberative process, giving effective decision-making to citizens to submit proposals for their city and vote for the projects they consider priorities ", can be read on the website of the initiative. Unfortunately, often the money delay himself.

This year, the participatory budget Lisbon will distribute €2,4 million for 13 projects â€" seven of them are directly linked with sustainable development. One of those who sat out for the third consecutive year, was the project "Give wings to the Heritage", conceived by SPEA (Portuguese society for the study of birds) to rehabilitate the Palacete da Quinta das Conchas. With 2,357 votes, the project was the third most votes among those who cost € 150,000 and € 500,000, becoming once more to be accomplished.

According to Luis Costa, executive director of the SPEA, the aim is to rehabilitate the historic mansion and makes it an environmental centre devoted to birds. "As association dedicated to bird conservation, we hope to contribute and help make educational programs and an environmental education center to show the birds and nature [that surround the Villa]," explained the charge to green economy.

In 2008, only a thousand people voted in the projects. Last year, that number grew to 37,000 â€" insufficient, however, to reach the number of participatory budgeting of Cascais, which this year led the vote of 41,005 citizens.

Currently there are 57 Portuguese authorities (municipalities and Parish Councils) with participatory budgets, involving about €14 million. Since the country began to take the first steps in this model of participatory democracy, in 2002, the citizens decided the fate of €54 million, through a hundred OP, according to the public.

Foto: Yiannis Chatzitheodorou/Creative Commons

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