Evaluation of GCC ‘Wee Green Grants’ Participatory Budgeting processes
/Glasgow Centre for Population Health has published a new report exploring the ‘Wee Green Grants’ PB process in Glasgow.
Delivered Glasgow City the Council, the PB process was focused on community access to and use of parks and greenspace, working as a catalyst to community involvement in climate response.
GCPH found that the the PB process was “an example of a strong, authentic and democratic PB process”. They note that:
“The ability of PB to support action and embed community capacity on priority issues such as climate adaptation for example, has perhaps been underplayed in national narratives to date. The Wee Green Grants initiative demonstrates that PB can offer what could be described as a ‘natural community cascade’ of information, awareness raising and capacity. The report concludes with recommendations to inform the overall direction and continued development of PB across Glasgow City.”
The report also includes a series of recommendations, extracted here:
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted PB development and implementation to some degree. A citywide PB consultation or learning event to inform the overall direction and PB strategy across Glasgow is highly recommended.
PB is beginning to gain recognition as a mechanism through which community climate adaptation and related green initiatives can be embedded within communities. The Wee Green Grants demonstrates the potential of PB in enabling a ‘natural community cascade’ of information, awareness raising and capacity. As per the recommendations in the Just Transitions Commission Report26 we advise that a scoping exercise be undertaken on the role of PB in climate adaptation in Glasgow city.
Diversity and representation are fundamental elements in any democratic process and must remain a priority in any citywide iteration of PB. Future PB work should directly involve expert equalities agencies as was the approach in Glasgow City Council’s 2018/19 PB pilots. For example, the inclusion of Glasgow Disability Alliance in this previous pilot supported disabled people to participate effectively within dialogue and deliberation and the design and delivery of PB processes. This enabled the PB process, its voting and funded projects to be more accessible to disabled community members.
It is recommended that future PB evaluations be commissioned at the outset of the PB process.
