DAY 1 – May 14
The opening session introduced participants to the concept and challenges of Youth Participatory Budgeting (YPB). Discussions focused on the lacks and the needs of the youth regarding the youth participatory budget, pointing out the importance of including youth throughout the process. YPB is built on three key pillars formed into questions that we must answer successfully: Is it co-design, Is it co-management, Are young people co-deciding? Discussions focused on the absence of a unique methodology left the municipalities free on their ways to structure it and make it evolve. It still relies on three main phases: decision (decide what sort of initiative you want to see), management (a proposal analysed through the rules established), and implementation (How do we report to people? How to execute and inform young people?).
In the afternoon, we were welcomed by the municipality of Maia, which presented its experimental YPB practices, highlighting initiatives like “Sourire para a cidade”, involving 17 municipalities and local youth in co-developing solutions. A successful initiative—the “friend bench”—emerged from youth proposals after a collaborative process. With the target to implement the winning project from the youth participatory budget within the year, the municipality faced, sometimes, some issues regarding the project’s technicalities. This is not due to a lack of money but, therefore, a lack of human resources. The youth, on their side, are looking for ways to promote their project and make it known to the voters. For now, they are relying on social media, talks with youth organizations, online sessions, presentations, and direct talks with youngsters.
DAY 2 – May 15
The second day was hosted by the Municipality of Valongo, a pioneer in YPB, with 12 years of implementation. Even after all those years, the Municipality is going towards its 12th cycle to improve its YPB system. Their system currently includes 4 categories: Scholar, Communitary, Generational, and Green. Each young participant, 16 to 35 years old, can vote in each category. Valongo’s YPB also serves other audiences: employees and general citizens. Thanks to the collaboration between the different groups (youth workers, youth bringing the proposal, and the technical team, the implementation of the project is up to 100%, mostly due to the very strict technical team. To have a better understanding of the process they implemented, we had a little simulation. They emphasized the value of process over budget by saying that: “It is not about the budget but the process itself”.
In the afternoon, we had a presentation of Maison Citoyenne Mamer, a commune in Luxembourg, which implemented the participatory budget. Created in October 2020, they are organising a large range of activities, such as Mamer equalitéit, workshops on mental health, participatory budget for all, inclusion festival. Even if it is not as widely implemented throughout the country as in Portugal, it is emerging. The adoption of YPB is an ongoing process.
Taken from the youths’ testimonies, the budget is still a challenge to determine and evaluate. If the gap is partly filled by the technical committee and the youth workers’ help, financial literacy is part of our everyday life and conditions the choices we make in life. Thanks to a creative workshop that introduced the concept of financial literacy through board games, a variation of Monopoly, it left room for experiential learning among participants. This highlighted the importance of equipping youth with the tools to understand and manage budgeting in real contexts.
DAY 3 – May 16
To begin this third and last day, we went to the Municipality of Gaia to discover the inclusion house, created by a youth and taken back from the municipality. Indeed, a youth decided to make coffee and cookies. From the table to the building, rearranged by the youths, from a café to a whole inclusive house with a kitchen, a garden, and a library. Originally from a school, this building was given to the youth to develop their idea. Thanks to the municipality, the house is now active and open.
We got into the bus to explore a winning YPB project, the “Sensorial Garden”, from 2020. Hold by a young lady in 2020, this place was thought to connect people and disconnect them from social media. After the visit, we had the chance to talk with the lady ourselves, even if she could not make it physically, she made it online. She told about her own experience: how much youth learn from this process, enabling youth to think critically. Those projects are in constant evolution, as she mentioned on seeing bigger for the “Sensorial Garden”. Despite its implementation, the project is still unknown to the citizens, and she dreams of giving it a larger importance in hosting open-air activities. Meanwhile, the projects are thought up by the youth for the community.
The “Intercultural Garden”, from the 2022 edition, rooted in the COVID-19 crisis, is still in the phase of implementation. The youth, holding this project, is still believing in its implementation because every team is in contact with her, thanks to the transparent process.
In the afternoon, in Gaia Youth Center, we explored Gaia’s infrastructure dedicated to youth engagement and innovation. They implemented a large range of systems to include youth in the community. For example, the “Gaia is You” Tour, the Municipal Youth Council, and youth-targeted scholarships (e.g., Ricardo Quaresma Scholarship) were presented as tools to strengthen youth empowerment across all areas of municipal governance. Including that the conditions to identify a youth as a voter in Gaia are extended: must be born, live, work, or study in Gaia.
After those explanations and discoveries, the study visit came to its end, and it was time for a survey about those three days.
Conclusion
This study visit showcased inspiring models of youth participation in Portugal and provided both conceptual tools and practical insights. It reinforced the belief that democracy is strengthened when young people are invited to shape their futures, not only through voting but by taking part in designing and implementing public policies at the local level.
Thank you very much to our partners:
- CERC
- Caminho COOP
- Isola che c’è
- Gect go ezts go
- Citizens in Power
- Euroregion karpacki
Project co-funded by the European Union
