Picture
13 people sitting in a circle, the library shelves and customers can be seen in the background.

Participatory budgeting is at the center of inclusion

Release
28.4.2023 14:54
The second discussion of the "My municipality" democracy project was about participatory budgeting.

A dozen curious people gathered on a sunny Thursday afternoon on April 20.4. To the main library of Imatra to discuss participatory budgeting, or osbu. At the beginning of the discussion, osbu was defined as an operating method in which residents are included in the planning of the use of common tax resources. There were municipal residents interested in the topic, city employees and trustees. The OSBU discussion was proposed and initiated by the participation coordinator Heikki Laine. The discussion was moderated by a library expert Ari Sareslahti.

- Participatory budgeting fits well with the theme of our project, comments Sareslahti.

Participatory budgeting aims to increase participation and enable the citizens of the municipality to influence the use of common money. There are different ways of implementing OSBU: for example, voting, collection of project ideas, and the joint economic game of the municipalities. The city of Imatra is committed to experimenting with different forms of participatory budgeting in its Participate and influence program. So far, the townspeople have been able to vote on bus stop locations and the selection of summer flowers, and an idea competition has been held for young people on how to use 10 euros. Village committees, residents' associations and private individuals have been allowed to apply for a development grant of 000 euros this year as well.

More than before to make an impact

The discussants found the idea of ​​participatory budgeting interesting and worth developing. The speeches relied on people's desire to directly influence the affairs of their residential area. It was believed that the consultation and participation of the townspeople would produce well-being and community with relatively little effort and light bureaucracy.

Many times, however, concerns were raised about the lack of participation: only a certain part of the residents respond to, for example, an online survey. As a practical example, it was mentioned that if 70 people in a municipality with 25000 inhabitants give their opinion, it is not enough to form a reliable result. They asked how to reach the elderly, the young and the marginalized, as well as how to motivate them to answer the ongoing surveys. Would a free pizza get young people going?

- After all, not everyone ever participates, one comment was heard.

Attention was also paid to ways of participation. Many may follow the discussion without taking a stand on it themselves.

- Activating people is a challenge. I don't know if it's an Imatra problem or a general one, stated one of the participants.

– Should we define what is the right way of participation? another asked.

Human-sized things are interesting

In one speech, it was suggested to target the osbu experiments so that people are at the center - in other words, you should think about which topics attract participants and which ones don't. Equity should also be taken into account: development projects aimed at one part of the city may cause resentment in others.

It was considered that the most expensive projects do not necessarily arouse the greatest interest in participation, but concrete and people-close topics. Along with the use of large sums of money, it was equally interesting and important to be able to vote on "easy" things, such as the color of flowers and the places of benches.

In the opinion of the discussants, the schedule of each osbu project should be opened to the municipalities; it is necessary to specify what kind of visible change in everyday life the citizens can expect and when. Towards the end of the discussion, the flip side of spending money caused by the tightening economic situation, saving and cutting back, was also taken into account. It was suggested that municipal residents be involved in thinking about savings targets in addition to investment targets.

- In municipal discussions, it is often forgotten that when more money is given to something, something else has to be cut. So it should be opened up about what is funded and what is not.

Long-term and planned work, so that OSBU projects can be prepared carefully, as well as commitment to concrete results, were highlighted as essential for the establishment of the OSBU operating method.

- Mere surveys for the sake of asking do not lead anywhere, in which case people get tired and do not participate as much as before, summed up one interlocutor.

- If the decision-makers commit to this, the people of Imatra can commit too.

Additional information:
Library expert Ari Sareslahti, tel. 020 617 6603, ari.sareslahtiatimatra.fi (ari[dot]sareslahti[at]imatra[dot]fi)

Participation coordinator Heikki Laine, tel. 020 617 2321, weak. waveatimatra.fi (heikki[dot]laine[at]imatra[dot]fi)