PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING RESOURCE TOOLKIT
We hope to renew a sense of belief that every individual has something positive to contribute to the design process, and that everyone can be collaborators, not just consumers. Page 1
We believe that design should start with people Participate in Design (P!D) is a registered non-profit design, planning and educational organisation that was founded in 2013 to expand on the participatory design work that its founders, Jan Lim and Mizah Rahman, have been doing since 2010. With over 9 years of community design experience, we have since partnered with grassroots organisations, educational institutions and statutory boards in various initiatives to build engaged and empowered communities.
Our Mission We help neighbourhoods and public institutions design with people, and not just for people. We are dedicated to facilitating public engagement through engaging and empowering our partners and ensuring that everyone is given the right to participate in, and influence the design outcome and planning processes that affects them.
Participate in Design @participateindesign www. participateindesign.org lets@participateindesign.org
Our Vision We hope to build a Singapore where socially just and inclusive methods of public engagement are adopted in the design and planning of spaces/ policies, while promoting the integration of participatory design in design education and practice.
Table of Contents When a collaborative design process is done right, it doesn’t just achieve a good design—more importantly, it celebrates the stories and voices of communities, and demonstrates their power to effect change.
01
Overview of Participatory Budgeting Origins of Participatory Budgeting
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The emergence of Participatory Budgeting processes in Singapore
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02 The Participatory Budgeting Process Overview of the Participatory Budgeting process according to P!D’s participatory approach framework
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03
Resources for Participatory Budgeting Framework guide to allocating ideas and resources
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The Participatory Budgeting Checklist
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The Participatory Budgeting Action Plan
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Overview of Participatory Origins of Participatory Budgeting 1989, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Photo by Occupy.com of a Participatory Budgeting process in Porto Alegre, Brazil, 2019.
The Progressive Worker’s Party won the local elections with a campaign based on participatory democracy and introduced a participatory budget for non-elected citizens to decide on how to allocate public money. It was so successful that by 2010, 900 out of 16,000 Brazilian cities had a participatory budgeting project.
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y Budgeting Why Participatory Budgeting?
A historically authoritarian state, Brazil’s civic society demanded transparency and openness, as well as greater citizen participation in policy making when the military dictatorship ended in the late 1980s. Participatory budgeting therefore emerged as a tool to achieve this.
Ingredients for a successful Participatory Budgeting
1. A supportive political environment.
2. Well-established networks of social movements, community & voluntary organisations to foster experimentation.
3. Active citizen participation, which helps to legitimise the budget.
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Overview of Participatory The emergence of Participatory Budgeting processes in Singapore Cooling Singapore, 2018 Participate in Design (P!D)
Back in 2018, Participate in Design partnered Cooling Singapore to engage residents in Punggol to understand thermal comfort in the neighbourhood. Participants brainstormed new and exciting ideas on how to make their neighbourhoods more comfortable and enjoyable, and performed a participatory budgeting exercise where they had to prioritise spending between different options for improving outdoor thermal comfort.
Scan the QR code to find out more about the Cooling Singapore project.
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y Budgeting
Neighbourhood Renewal Programmes, 2019 Participate in Design (P!D)
In 2019, P!D further developed the idea of participatory budgeting and explored ways to include it in Neighbourhood Renewal Programmes. Residents of Woodgrove and Limbang were given an approximate budget to select and prioritise ideas and facilities they wish to see implemented. This helped them understand the challenges and limitations to implementing their suggestions. It also boosted their sense of ownership, as they considered ways to care for and maintain the space.
Scan the QR code to find out more about the NRP project.
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Overview of Participatory
Youth Conversations, 2019 National Youth Council
Youth Conversations is a platform for youths to discuss various issues of concern. It allows them to gain diverse perspectives, and co-create with their peers as well as the government on topics such as mental health. As part of the SG Youth Action Plan by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, the Youth Conversations dialogue series will continue to reach more young people via a digital platform. Possible additions to this platform include the function of participatory budgeting, which allows youths to vote for ideas—like those under the National Youth Fund—and allocate virtual budgets to projects they support.
Scan the QR code to find out more about Youth Conversations.
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y Budgeting
How would you incorporate Participatory Budgeting in your project? What topics would you explore?
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The Participatory Budgeti 01
3 QUESTIONS
to answer before embarking on a Participatory Budgeting process
1
Is my project suitable for a participatory process approach?
2
Is my project suitable for a Participatory Budgeting approach?
A participatory process should only be executed when the person in power is willing to distribute the power to the people.
In the ‘Budget Boleh’ game, a workgroup representing citizens was tasked with deciding how to use a given state budget to make the fictional city more liveable and loveable. However, participatory budgeting need not be used solely for that purpose. Level: Participatory budgeting can be used at the community, neighbourhood, regional, city, national or even international level. Project: Participatory budgeting can be used for any project involving public funds, be it housing, infrastructure, technology or even policy making.
3
Can participatory budgeting projects only work for public funds? No. Both the public (government) and private (commercial) sectors can adopt participatory budgeting to allocate available funds. The key is in how much those who have power over the funds are willing to distribute this power to the people.
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ing Process 02
CONNECT Build relationships with the community Roles and Agenda Think about the different roles present in the community that you are working with. Each of these roles have an agenda in mind.
What are the motivations for the different roles to participate in the budgeting process? Local governments, citizens, voluntary organisations, NGOs, and the business community have different reasons for supporting and/or opposing participatory budgeting. Their incentives for participating are also often, quite distinct. And it is usually the case that they participate to fulfil several agendas. By understanding everyone’s agendas, you are able to better develop win-win situations for everyone.
How would you connect and build relationships with the community? Page 12
The Participatory Budgeti 02
UNDERSTAND Find out the community’s needs and resources
Money and Time How much money does the community have for their neighbourhood’s needs?
Why is money and time given in stages? In a typical project, you will be given a fixed budget and tasked to complete it within a certain time frame. As these are public money, you need to be accountable for how (and how long) they are used. As such, there will be Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) agreed upon with the funding agency before the project begins. More often than not, these KPIs are structured over time in several stages (depending on the scale of the project), and money will only be disbursed at the end of each stage, upon meeting the KPIs. This also meets the criteria of prudence in dealing with public spending.
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ing Process
Why is money only given for engagements at the start of each stage?
20% Public engagement
+
70% Execution of ideas
+
10% Contingency
The rule of thumb for the allocation of funds in a participatory budgeting process is 20% for public engagement, 70% for execution of ideas and 10% for contingency. While the game attempts to simulate this, in reality funds are usually disbursed in one lump-sum. Therefore, it is important to plan and allocate your budget carefully.
What would you do to understand the community’s needs and resources?
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The Participatory Budgeti 02
UNDERSTAND Find out the community’s needs and resources
Challenges, Opportunities and Limitations Prepare and plan for the challenges ahead by setting aside enough time and money to execute contingency plans.
Why do we need to prepare for challenges and opportunities? A project will never go completely according to your plan. Challenges will always be met, which you will have to spend time or money to deal with, or you may end up learning that a very good idea you got from engagements is not feasible. As a rule of thumb, you should allocate 10% of your budget for such contingencies. On the opposite end of the scale, your project may get an unexpected sponsor, or you may get help from kind volunteers. As you get to know the community better, you may get ideas through informal networks as well. These are positive factors that will help you in your project.
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10%
of budget
Time
ing Process
Is this the only way to implement a Participatory Budgeting process?
As long as the public is involved in planning and deciding how to use the public budget!
The participatory budgeting format introduced in this game is just one of many possibilities. Some participatory budgeting projects involve having citizens vote for the proposed budget, or involve more members of the public than just those in the workgroup. The key is to have the public involved in planning and deciding how to use public budget, so be creative in how you want to get the community you are working with involved.
What challenges do you foresee your project will face?
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The Participatory Budgeti 03
CREATE Brainstorm, test and refine ideas with the community Engagement and Negotiation Think about the different roles present in the community that you are working with. Each of these roles have an agenda in mind.
What are the ways that citizens can be incorporated into the Participatory process? The rules of the game are similar, but not identical in the majority of participatory budgeting programmes. The rules tend to be designed by the elected government with input from citizens. While the rules vary from city to city, from state to state, here is the proposed participatory budgeting process in Singapore:
01 Selecting your workgroup Who are the citizens-delegates that you would like to rally, to be a part of your workgroup to effect change? What are the roles, strengths and talents needed to shape your project? Page 17
ing Process
02 CONNECT Converse with the government and stakeholders to determine the amount of funding that is allotted to the Participatory Budgeting process through several engagements, Expert interviews
Online tools/social media
Kopi talk
Makan party Collation of data and analysis
03 UNDERSTAND Converse with the public and understand the ground sentiment, Walking conversation
Pop-up ideas market
Community notice board Collation of data and analysis
04 CREATE Co-create solutions and ideas and have in-depth discussions with the workgroup and public about the issue through several engagements, Online workshop
Community design workshop
Stakeholder workshop Collation of data and analysis
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The Participatory Budgeti 03
CREATE Brainstorm, test and refine ideas with the community Engagement and Negotiation Think about the different roles present in the community that you are working with. Each of these roles have an agenda in mind.
How does engagement solve the problem of under-budget? While keeping within the budget is of utmost importance, a common problem with managing public funds is that a significant portion of it ends up being unused near the end of the project. The manager will be forced to either spend on unnecessary items or provide an explanation which may result in future budget cuts. Adopting a participatory approach will generate so many ideas which a limited group will never be able to, and these ideas are more likely to benefit that particular community. As such, the above situation can be avoided.
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ing Process
Why is there a need for negotiation? Resources are limited and wants are unlimited. In a participatory budgeting scenario, citizens get a chance to communicate their preferences and understand the needs of others while working within limited public funds. This forces them to prioritise ideas and consider what are truly feasible for implementation. In this process, they have to rationalise why they want certain ideas vis-à-vis what is beneficial for the community.
Are expensive ideas necessarily better? Negotiation
+
Dialogue
+
Engagement
= Avoiding costly mistakes! Large-scale infrastructure projects tend to cost a lot of money. However, it may not necessarily be what the community wants. It can be the case that a small-scale, inexpensive event is sufficient to fulfil the aspirations of a part of the community. Therefore, negotiation, dialogue and engagement is important to find out what exactly citizens want, and crucially, why. Are there cheaper alternatives which can leave more budget to fulfil the desires of others in the community? A participatory budgeting process can therefore help the community to avoid costly mistakes.
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The Participatory Budgeti 04
DELIVER Implement solutions and build the community’s capacity to maintain it Implement and Empower The end goal is in sight! Prepare for a smooth implementation of ideas and handover the project to the community to maintain it.
Report the data and facts After compiling the data and analysing them, report them to everyone (government, stakeholders and the public). There should be open conversations and discussions about what can or cannot be done, as well as narrowing down what can be implemented.
Close the loop Keep everyone informed of the timeline of idea implementation and when it is estimated to be ready. Close the loop with everyone by thanking them for their time. Page 21
ing Process
What are the promising results from active citizenship or participation in Participatory Budgeting processes? Participation in participatory budgeting programmes tends to increase over time. Participation rises more quickly when the government commits significant support and resources to the participatory budgeting process. Participation appears to rise because citizens realise that there is a direct connection between the time they dedicate to participatory budgeting and changes in policy outcomes. People are empowered when they see their actions and decisions create real-life change.
Why must everyone fulfil at least one agenda? A participatory project cannot end up satisfying only a few people’s desires. The more people in the community the project can benefit, the better it is.
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Resources for Participator
01
Framework guide to allocating ideas and resources Idea
$ allocation
Why and where would it be implemented?
Duplicate the framework above for each ranked idea.
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allocation
ry Budgeting
Idea
List down all the ideas generated and rank them according to the votes each idea received. Will this idea benefit most residents? Why should this idea be implemented? Where would it be implemented?
$
Allocation of money Allocate the cost of implementing the ideas accordingly. Is the most expensive idea the most useful idea to implement?
Allocation of time Apportion the duration of implementing the ideas accordingly. Is this a quick win or a long-term project that takes time to implement? Does it map back to the needs of the residents?
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Resources for Participator
02
The Participatory Budgeting Checklist
Do we know the budget amount, what it is to be used for and why we want the public to be involved? Are we involving the public to decide or to simply provide advise on the budget?
Have we built relationships in the community? You need to think about which stakeholders in the community will be affected by your intervention, and you need to get them involved in the dialogue. Begin with the smallest possible unit. Instead of organising a party for the whole block, start with the people staying on your floor. It is often easier to get to know others in a smaller group.
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ry Budgeting
Did we tap on existing networks in the community? Find a local partner that is already embedded within and trusted by the community. This could be the appointed grassroots leader, or someone who volunteers at the senior activity centre.
Have we made the budgeting exercise accessible to different groups? Can a 12 year-old child understand what you put out there? Allow more people to understand it. Break down complex information with simpler words; communicate ideas visually or tangibly. Let’s keep it simple! Always go back to your objectives and goals!
Have we gone back to the community to share the outcome of the budgeting exercise? In a participatory process, it is important to keep things open and transparent. Inform the public of the possibilities and limitations of the participatory budgeting process. The public is your collaborators.
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Resources for Participator
03
The Participatory Budgeting Action Plan 1
Is my project suitable for a participatory process approach?
2
Is my project suitable for a Participatory Budgeting approach?
A participatory process should only be executed when the person in power is willing to distribute the power to the people.
In the ‘Budget Boleh’ game, a workgroup representing citizens was tasked with deciding how to use a given state budget to make the fictional city more liveable and loveable. However, participatory budgeting need not be used solely for that purpose. Scale: Participatory budgeting can be used at the community, neighbourhood, regional, city, national or even international scale. Project: Participatory budgeting can be used for any project involving public funds, be it housing, infrastructure, technology or even policy making.
3
Can participatory budgeting projects only work for public funding? No. Both the public (government) and private (commercial) sectors can adopt participatory budgeting to allocate available funds. The key is in how much those who have power over the funds are willing to distribute this power to the people.
ry Budgeting The Budgeting Scope What is the budget amount? What is the budget for? Are we getting the public to be involved in deciding or advising on the budget? Have we allocated some budget for engagements and contingencies?
CONNECT What is the objective?
How can we connect with the community for the budgeting exercise?
What challenges might we face?
How can we get the community involved in the budgeting exercise?
What challenges might we face?
How can we get the community involved in deciding the budgeting?
What challenges might we face?
How can we close the loop with the community on the budgeting outcome?
What challenges might we face?
UNDERSTAND What is the objective?
CREATE What is the objective?
DELIVER What is the objective?
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Pen down your notes here