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Description
9 out of 10 Lithuanian residents have never participated in public consultations, while 1 out 9 municipalities do not publicly consult with citizens. In 2020, the Index of the perception of civic influence on decision-making decreased from 61.2 to 55.7 points out of 100. With the help of this project TI Lithuania addresses the problem of low citizen participation and their engagement in local decision-making. TI Lithuania together with its partners will promote active citizen participation and inclusion in decision-making through participatory budgets (PBs). The project target groups are (1) members of local communities, (2) representatives of local public administrations, associations, national and local decision-makers.
Planned results: (1) Increased citizen participation in decision-making (engaging at least 150 citizens in at least 10 public consultations, at least 16,000 citizens in at least 6 municipalities in PB initiatives; strengthening civic education of at least 36,200 citizens); (2) Encouraging citizen participation in civic activities (at least 50 percent more municipalities implementing PBs; TI Lithuania implementing at least 3 awareness-raising campaigns); (3) Established and strengthened partnerships between CSOs and public entities (involving at least 11 partners; at least 50 municipal representatives in the exchanges of PB experiences; at least 280 representatives from national and local public administrations, communities in Lithuania and abroad); (4) Strengthened inclusion of vulnerable groups (involving at least 20 municipal representatives in trainings on how to include diverse social groups); (5) Increased transparency of public institutions (at least 6 municipalities publishing more information on PB-related expenditure); (6) Proposals to improve public policy (by submitting information requests to 60 municipalities and at least 5 proposals to public institutions to strengthen citizens‘ engagement in decision-making
Summary of project results
Every second resident believes the decision-making process in Lithuania is opaque, 6 out of 10 - that the government is run by few private interests. 9 out of 10 have never participated in public consultations, while 1 out 9 municipalities does not publicly consult with citizens. In 2020, the Index of the perception of civic influence on decision-making decreased from 61.2 to 55.7 points out of 100. With the help of this project TI Lithuania aimed to addresses the problem of low citizen participation and their engagement in local decision-making.
The solution: TI Lithuania together with its partners promoted active citizen participation and inclusion in decision-making through participatory budgets (PBs). The project target groups were (1) members of local communities, (2) representatives of local public administrations, associations, national and local decision-makers.
Project results: (1) Increased citizen participation in decision-making (engaging over 280 people during 4 public consultations, strengthening civic education of at least 36,000 citizens in 6 municipalities); (2) Encouraged citizen participation in civic activities (over 70 percent of all municipalities in Lithuania are implementing PBs; TI Lithuania implemented at least 3 awareness-raising campaigns; its online tool www.dalyvaujamasisbiudzetas.lt has been visited more than 4,3 thousand times); (3) Established and strengthened partnerships between CSOs and public entities (involving at least 11 partners; 88 municipal representatives in the exchanges of PB experiences; over 300 representatives from national and local public administrations, communities in Lithuania and abroad); (4) Strengthened inclusion of vulnerable groups (involving 31 municipal representatives in trainings on how to include diverse social groups); (6) Proposals to improve public policy (by submitting information requests to 60 municipalities and 12 proposals to public institutions (both, national and local level) to strengthen citizens‘ engagement in decision-making).
Summary of bilateral results
During the implementation of the project, Transparency International Lithuania consulted with Citizens Foundation on issues related to the participatory budgeting (PB) platform, as well as the sustainability of PBs in municipalities. The open source tool that the Citizen Foundation has developed is often cited as one of the best examples in the field, and is also used by the municipality of Tartu in Estonia. Thus, colleagues from the Citizens Foundation were sharing their knowledge and expertise with TI Lithuania’s staff members during the implementation of this project.