futures insights: Participatory Budgeting.
futures insights: by insight & foresight looks at trends, weak signals, and emerging change that could impact for-purpose organisations 5 to 10 years from now. The content is design fiction written from a futures viewpoint about possibilities that may or may not eventuate and should not be read as fact. It is designed to support creative, exploratory thinking about futures and what might happen next. Enjoy!
In a world not far from today...
"We did it!" Georgie shouted, throwing her arms in the air as the celebratory bubbles floated around them.
After years of campaigning and hard work, participatory budgeting had finally become mainstream. Governments were now actively engaging community consultants to workshop solutions and agree on budget allocations for a range of social issues. For-purpose organisations were funded based on what the community decided, which forced them to significantly change their operations.
It was a new era for social justice and Georgie was proud to be a part of it. She had spent countless hours organising meetings, attending forums, and writing submissions. But it was all worth it now that they could see the impact that their work was having.
The community centre where she volunteered was one of the biggest winners of the participatory budgeting process. They had been able to get funding for a new roof, as well as air conditioning and heating. This was vital for the running of their programs, which helped some of the most vulnerable members of the community.
Georgie was confident that participatory budgeting was here to stay. It was a more democratic way of allocating resources and ensured that everyone had a say in how their taxes were spent. It was also a more efficient way of doing things, as it saved on the costs of running traditional consultation processes.
There were still some challenges, of course. Getting everyone to participate was sometimes difficult, and there were always going to be people who disagreed with the decisions that were made. But overall, Georgie was optimistic about the future. She knew that participatory budgeting was making a difference!
The journey to this future.
The shift toward participatory budgeting had begun years earlier. Governments, facing declining revenue and large deficits after the COVID pandemic, had started to look for ways that resulted in improved social outcomes from the smaller pools of funding available. They soon realised that by engaging the community in the budgeting process, they could get a better sense of what was important to citizens and make more targeted investments.
Participatory budgeting focuses on allocating funds based on need and importance, rather than political gain. This means that decisions are made based on what will have the most positive impact on the community, rather than what is topical, in-vogue or a favorite of politicians.
The first few years were rocky, with a lot of trial and error as they worked out the kinks. The for-purpose sector was split on whether or not participatory budgeting was a good thing. Some, those that had strong community relations and robust impact measurement thrived, whilst others who had failed to change their operations for many years began to struggle.
Advocates of participatory budgeting spoke of the benefits as being twofold. Firstly, it ensured that limited resources were spent on areas that the community deemed important. Secondly, it forced organisations to be more accountable and transparent in their operations, as they now had to justify their services and programs to the people who would benefit from them.
Critics stated the problems as being that the process was open to manipulation by special interest groups and that it was often hard to get people to participate. They also said that it was a waste of time and resources because it required a significant amount of consultation with the community to ensure that all voices are heard and that everyone has a fair say in the decision-making process.
Overall the impact of participatory budgeting seemed positive. It resulted in better-targeted investments and improved accountability from the for-purpose sector. The process was not perfect, but it was a step in the right direction.
How could the emergence of participatory budgeting impact your organisation?
Learn more about participatory budgeting.
https://www.participatorybudgeting.org/what-is-pb/
https://www.bettertogether.sa.gov.au/planning-tools/engage/participatory-budgeting
https://www.newdemocracy.com.au/2020/04/08/participatory-budgeting-the-australian-way/
https://ausi.anu.edu.au/news/why-act-needs-participatory-budget-post-covid
https://organizingengagement.org/models/participatory-budgeting/
https://www.internationalbudget.org/wp-content/uploads/A-Guide-to-Participatory-Budgeting.pdf
Acknowledgement
The identification of these emerging change concepts started with the Futures Platform™ database of trends, signals and emerging change. You can read more about the Futures Platform™ here . insight & foresight is a paying customer of the Futures Platform™ and we use the data to support our clients think and plan for their futures.
