The second edition of the participatory budgets is being launched, allowing city residents to decide which district projects to invest in with an overall sum of 30 million euros from the municipal budget over the next four years (2024-2027). The process will be conducted using the decidim.barcelona digital platform and last until April. The first stage, for gathering proposals and debate, will run until November, with face-to-face sessions in all city neighbourhoods.
Once the stage for putting forward projects is completed, there will be a technical assessment of the projects and their feasibility, with this stage completed in January 2025. Members of the public will then be able to vote for the initiatives they consider the most important. The 25 projects with the most backing in each district will then move into the next stage, to be worked on jointly with municipal specialists.
The voting stage for the finalists will be in April 2025, via the decidim.barcelona platform or face-to-face support points. The winning projects will be executed before 2027.
What projects can be presented?
Projects of general interest and municipal responsibility that meet a series of requisites will be accepted: able to be executed within the current term of office, with a specific purpose, following sustainability criteria and not at odds with programmes, plans or urban projects already approved. The initiatives will be distributed in three categories.
- Improvement of public space: Projects to create or improve green areas, improve or transform streets, sports facilities or urban furniture. Each project must have a minimum budget of 100,000 euros and maximum of half the budget assigned for each district.
- Improvement of municipal facilities: Improvement in accessibility, energy efficiency, provision of furniture or IT equipment, installation of shade. The minimum budget in this project category is 50,000 euros, and the maximum, half the budget assigned for each district.
- Acquisition and renovation of assets: This includes renovation projects, public housing projects or the acquisition of plots of land or premises for public use. These must have a minimum budget of 50,000 euros and maximum of half the budget assigned for each district.
The distribution of the 30 million euros earmarked for the participatory budgets has been allocated to districts and neighbourhoods on an equal basis, equally according to different criteria such as income, the number of inhabitants and the surface area of the district. Each district will receive between 2 and 3.6 million euros.
Broader and more diverse participation
The goals of this second edition are to strengthen participation at a city and district level, guarantee universal and inclusive participation throughout the process, bolster the technical response to projects and improve their execution. Around 2,000 proposals were put forward in the 2020 edition, with 72 projects chosen by citizens finally carried out.
New mechanisms have been established to foster the participation of collectives that often have less of a voice in these processes, such as people with disabilities, children and young people, with specific sessions to be organised for these. This inclusive perspective will help the final projects reflect the needs of all people, ensuring that the chosen projects also reflect the city’s diverse reality.
Full details on the process and how to take part can be found on the decidim.barcelona platform, setting out the steps to take part in the project. This platform, developed using free software and used in over 30 countries, has more than 3.5 million registered participants around the world, 115,000 of them in Barcelona.