Description
The Budget Game project seeks to pave the way for participatory budgeting in Lublin using social consultations in the form of a series of games inspired by Budget Games used in San Jose, USA since 2011. An effective participatory budget calls for a dialogue between citizens, authorities and NGOs. By involving residents (at least 420 people) we will ensure that the games and the monitoring of the developed recommendations will create a sense of ownership of the city budget and improve communication with the authorities and NGOs. The process will be transferrable and we will describe it in a publication (participatory budgets in other communities in Poland will also be reviewed). The Municipality of Lublin has already announced that it would implement the participatory budget. The project will be implemented in partnership with municipal authorities (local government), the Union of Polish Cities and the Citizens Foundation from Iceland.
Summary of project results
"Sometimes, participatory budgets are used instrumentally as a means to e.g. improve the image of the authorities or legitimise the already taken decisions. In such situations, the idea of the dialogue between interested parties is lost. The aim of the project was to enhance the effectiveness of communication between the inhabitants of Lublin and local authorities, and to prepare the inhabitants to take part in the development of the participatory budget. Participation in the project let the inhabitants of Lublin and Świdnik acquire the knowledge on town management and feel more responsible for the town finances. A Polish version of the Budget Games, an education game on city budget, was prepared, as well as a publication on the game and participatory budget addressed to participation practitioners. Under the project an analysis of the existing Polish participatory budgets was prepared. The American game, Budget Games, was translated into Polish and adapted to Polish realities. In Lublin and Świdnik, in all, eight games were played with participation of 434 persons. To promote the project activities and the participatory budget, an artistic competition for children was organised in cooperation with the city library. A publication presenting experiences from the implementation of the project and the results of the analysis of participatory budgets was prepared. Its copies were given away during nationwide conference ending the project that gathered 70 persons. The project recipients were the inhabitants of Lublin and Świdnik, local officers, councillors, organisations leading activities to strengthen participation. The Icelandic partner, the Citizens Foundation, shared their experiences in effective promotion of participatory budgets in Reykjavik. The municipality of Lublin offered assistance in organising and promoting the project activities, as well as a network of contacts and personnel support. The Union of Polish Cities helped in preparation of the publication and the game."
Summary of bilateral results
"The main achievements on a bilateral level were: -the publication (""Gra o Budżet. Narzędzie zwiększające partycypację w zarządzaniu miastem” with the Citizens Foundations's article: ""Increasing citizens participation: Participatory budgeting with Better Neighborhoods in Reykjavik, Iceland"") about the best practices in the field of participatory budgets in Poland, and -the national conference about participatory budgeting (01.2016). The main part of the project was a series of workshops with simulation game - Budget Game. A representant of the Citizens Foundation was present during 2 workshops using the game and gave us precious feedback which helped us to improve the tool. The bilateral partnership with Citizens Foundation surely increased the visibility of the project (having a foreign partner influence the will to participate in the activities we proposed during the project). Adding a very valuable experience of CF in a similar field had also a result of strengthening results which gained a general value. The comments (and critics) given by our partner have boosted all the innovation of the Gra o Budżet."