The FLIP Project continues its educational journey and, in the lessons held on 10 December, participants had the opportunity to dive into one of the most important topics for the future of our communities: youth participation and the functioning of Youth Participatory Budgets (YPB).
Through an interactive approach, participants discovered that participation is not just about receiving information or being asked for an opinion. It means having a voice, being heard, influencing decisions and taking action to create real change.
The different dimensions and forms of participation were presented:
- informative: receiving information
- consultative: being asked for one’s views
- collaborative: working together with decision-makers
- deliberative: discussing and seeking solutions collectively
- decision-making: having direct power in decisions, as in participatory budgeting
Several examples of youth engagement were also explored: Youth Councils, youth assemblies, volunteering, Erasmus+ and ESC projects, student and environmental movements: all showing how young people can actively shape civic life.
REPRESENTATIVE VS PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY
A key part of the session focused on the distinction between representative democracy and participatory democracy.
Representative democracy is a model in which citizens elect representatives who decide on their behalf. The advantages are: efficiency, expertise,
suitability for complex society. The limitations are: distance between voters and decision-making, low participation between elections, perceived lack of representativeness.
Participatory democracy is a model that brings citizens closer to public decisions through tools such as: participatory budgeting, citizens’ assemblies, public consultations and local councils. The advantages are: closer connection between institutions and citizens, decisions aligned with real community needs, stronger trust and democratic literacy. The limitations are: requires time, engagement and skilled facilitation to ensure balanced participation.
What’s the core message? Participation doesn’t replace representative democracy: it strengthens it.
YOUTH PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING (YPB)
The final part of the session focused on how a YPB works: a tool that allows young people to propose, discuss and vote on publicly funded projects. The YPB process are:
- decision phase
- opening of the call for proposals
- consultation sessions
- pre-selection of promising ideas
- management
- technical evaluation
- creation of the final shortlist for voting
- implementation
- detailed project design
- consultation with project authors
- actual implementation of the selected proposals
During the lesson, participants explored each step and reflected on the role of moderation, evaluation, voting and transparency throughout the process.
Understanding how participatory budgeting works means learning how one’s voice can turn into concrete action, how ideas can become real projects and how democracy can be something shared, accessible and meaningful.
The FLIP project continues to grow alongside its participants, who, session after session, gain practical tools to understand society, make informed decisions and actively contribute to change.