Participatory budgeting is one of 10 'Big Ideas' considered by a student-led think tank focused on how Scotland can become a better place to live and a leader in innovative policy-making.

The Buchanan Institute, Scotland's first student-led think tank based at the University of Edinburgh, published the '10 Big Ideas for Scotland in 2025' earlier in the year. The aim was to highlight innovative practice and policy making around ideas from public ownership of railways and improving mental health - along with how PB can tackle health inequalities.

The report highlights how "people living in poverty are three times more likely to experience mental health problems, and the prevalence of most long-term conditions are more than twice as common in those from more deprived socio-economic groups".

One way to address this was using PB with "the key to maximising the redistributive and health equality potential of participatory budgeting is to create a 'new normal' in the funding arrangements of Scottish public health initiatives."

The report notes:

"By ensuring that all public health policy is created and implemented through the lens and goal of reducing inequality, health outcomes can improve for all in Scotland.

Participatory budgeting has the potential to directly involve the communities most impacted by health inequality in decisions being made."

You can view the report, with the section on PB starting on page 60.

PB Scotland spoke to two of the report's authors, Emma Mathews and Ella Henderson, and asked them about the report.