Participatory Budgeting is gaining momentum in Scotland, with new processes developing across the country and over 20 local authority areas undertaking capacity-building programmes.
There was a commitment in the Scottish National Party manifesto for the May 2016 elections:
“Setting Councils a target of having at least 1 per cent of their budget subject to Community Choices budgeting. This will be backed by the Community Choices Fund to help public bodies and community groups build on examples of best practice.”
Giovanni Allegretti speaking in Edinburgh
This seminar, hosted by Oliver Escobar from What Works Scotland, was an opportunity to hear about international participatory budgeting experiences and the comparisons with current developments in Scotland.
Giovanni Allegretti, Senior Researcher, Centre for Social Studies at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, presented on International Experiences in Participatory Budgeting.
Kathleen Glazik, participatory budgeting lead at the Scottish Government, provided reaction to Giovanni’s presentation as well as reflections about the future of participatory budgeting in Scotland.
There was also the opportunity to discuss of the principles and practicalities of participatory budgeting, including emerging challenges and exciting prospects.
Date: 13 June 2016
Location: University of Edinburgh
Resources
Presentations
- Presentation by Kathleen Glazik on Participatory Budgeting in Scotland (PDF) with introduction from Oliver Escobar
- Presentation by Giovanni Allegretti on International Experiences in Participatory Budgeting (PDF)
Reflections
Read a follow-up blog post by Giovanni Allegretti entitled ‘Scotland and international experiences of scaling-up participatory budgeting ‘ on the What Works Scotland blog.
