Fostering greater and more informed civic engagement is deemed to be an effective way to strengthen democracy and democratic values in the EU. The concept is gaining traction given the rise in populist voting patterns and the perceived democratic deficit in the EU.

Participatory budgeting, a process in which community members directly decide how to allocate a portion of a public or community budget, is an innovative solution to overcome this perceived democratic deficit and dissatisfaction among citizens. It is especially relevant when the process involves individuals who feel excluded from political and policy processes. It also serves to increase civic engagement and promote transparency and accountability.

Participatory budgeting is becoming an increasingly popular democratic tool in Europe. Globally, Europe is the region with the most participatory budgeting projects.

Whilst active citizen engagement, such as participatory budgeting, can bring democracy closer to citizens, questions remain about whether it will give a voice to the voiceless or simply amplify voices we already hear.

There are concerns about the diversity of participants such as the youth, people with migratory backgrounds, and lower-income citizens, who tend to not take part in these initiatives. Minority groups such as immigrants can struggle with language and cultural barriers.

Young people are statistically underrepresented in both national and EU parliaments. Some stakeholders argue that by letting young people decide how to spend a part of the city budget empowers them, providing a valuable lesson in civic education.

In the context of the H2020 project DEMOTEC, relisten to this EURACTIV Virtual Conference to learn the potential of participatory budgeting in the national context and at EU level. How effective are projects in fostering civic engagement and countering the democratic deficit and citizen dissatisfaction? How can participatory budgeting be inclusive for all?

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement no 962553.

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