7. Participatory Budgeting: From Experiment To Institution

Episode 7 takes us to Lisbon, Portugal.We look at what is probably the best-known participatory tool, participatory budgeting, and discuss how it helped transform Lisbon from a city in crisis into one that attracts people. For instance, the idea of co-working spaces came through participatory budgeting and proved to be key for Lisbon becoming a hub for digital nomads. Graça Fonseca, former Minister of Culture of Portugal and former Deputy Mayor of the City of Lisbon, shares how participatory budgeting helped transform the city.The program did not stop with voting on projects, it continued through shared problem-solving, through implementation, and through building a sense of collective ownership between citizens and public servants.This episode is about what happens when participation becomes a continuous process, not a one-off decision.---We’re living through a global democratic crisis, and elections around the world are sending a clear message: the system isn’t working.It Takes a City is a podcast about participation and democracy, hosted by Stefania Kapronczay, a human rights advocate working on resilient democracies from Budapest, Hungary, and Flavio Proietti Pantosti, a social innovator and entrepreneur focused on public administration from Rome, Italy.Through conversations with practitioners, we explore lesser-known stories of participation, often from communities with limited resources. Each episode unpacks real tactics, strategic dilemmas, and honest failures, with the goal of offering practical insights.Visit https://takesacity.com/ or get in touch at ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠.