Source: Polish-Ukrainian Cooperation Foundation PAUCI
The seminar “Participatory Budget: an Instrument for Securing a Dialogue within the Community” was held for Drohobych activists by professional experts of PAUCI in participatory budgeting on June 21–23.
The event was organized within the framework of the Project “Public Budgets from A to Z: Greater Civil Society Awareness, Access and Participation”. The Project is implemented by the Eastern Europe Foundation and Polish-Ukrainian Cooperation Foundation PAUCI with funding from the European Union and Partnership for Local Economic Development and Democratic Governance Project (PLEDDG Project), which is implemented by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and financed by Global Affairs Canada.
The seminar was attended by representatives of executive bodies of Drohobych City Council, project initiators, heads of OSBBs, community activists, employees of educational institutions. The seminar consisted of five theoretical and practical modules.
The trainers of the seminar (Dariusz Kraszewski, participatory budgeting expert from Warsaw, Poland, and Dzvenislava Chelepis, one of the participatory budgeting coordinators in Lviv) shared their experience of project implementation in Ukrainian and Polish cities. A separate session was devoted to reviewing the progress in participatory budgeting in Drohobych. The strengths and achievements of the process were discussed and issues to be resolved were identified. Representatives of the city of Truskavets, where participatory budgeting is set to be introduced this year, shared their relevant experience.
Day 2 of the seminar started off with a discussion on how to encourage citizens to participate in the budgeting process. The participants had an opportunity to study the cases related to organization of thematic events, interesting and effective awareness raising campaigns, as well as materials collection, which would assist in arranging and holding meetings with citizens, delivering lectures on participatory budgeting in schools, etc.
During the seminar, a special focus was put on participatory budgeting as an important element of citizen engagement and awareness-raising. Participants reviewed all stages of the participatory budgeting process and determined its key actors. The majority of attendees decided to join in and formed an action group to assist in introducing participatory budgeting. The project development exercise appeared to be very interesting.
At the end of the seminar participants were presented with certificates. The following day the action group meeting took place. Members of the group agreed on further steps in introducing participatory budgeting, particularly relating to an awareness raising campaign and involvement of citizens in the project.