Q&A :: Citizens have their say
PR dla Zagranicy
Alicja Baczyńska
12.03.2014 18:05
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Q&A Participatory Budget P1.mp3
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Q&A :: Citizens have their say (part 2)
Participatory budgeting, gaining ground in Poland, opens new avenues for engaging citizens in local-level governance.
Polish cities are embracing the novel concept of participatory budgeting in the country, as more and more municipalities are looking to include citizens into the decision-making process of public spending.
The scheme allows citizens to have greater say on the needs and priorities of the local community.
“Generally, in the overall budget one percent [of public funds commonly earmarked for the constituents to administer] is not much,” says sociologist Anna Kordasiewicz, co-founder of the Field for Dialogue Foundation in Warsaw.
“Our foundation views it rather as a first step and we would like very much for this process to develop and we want the citizens to be involved in the budget as such.”