Participatory Budgeting

Participatory budgeting (PB) is a process of democratic deliberation and shared decision-making. It has been used to allocate part of a municipal or public budget, allowing citizens to identify, discuss, and prioritize public spending projects, and giving them the power to make real decisions about how money is spent.

Learn more:

• Participatory Budgeting (Wikipedia)
• Participatorybudgeting.org 

Example Projects

Stone Center associates and affiliates have submitted participatory budgeting proposals on a wide range of projects and ideas. Some PB proposals have resulted in ongoing CID programming, such as our monthly writing retreats, the CID Book Club, happy hours, and other social events. Successfully funded projects include:

• copy-editing services
• data visualization and graphics consultants
• team building activities such as attending a Tigers game
• Stone Center jackets and crewnecks
• and more

CID solicits a call for proposals every fall. If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Bora.

Why do we do it?

Participatory budgeting (PB) is one component to the Stone Center’s pursuit to be an inclusive community and democratic organization. PB underlines the commitment to the organization’s egalitarian goals (putting the money to where the mouth is). PB’s intended effects are to give all CID members a voice in deciding on the functioning and direction of the organization, to increase engagement and integration, and to foster continuous innovation to meet the changing needs of CID members.