Open call for Participatory Budgeting Champions: Expressions of Interest Invited
Are you passionate about high quality citizen empowerment? Want to be at the forefront of democratic innovation? Inspired enough to commit your energies to make the voices of all citizens of Scotland heard? Read on.
Following the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 the Scottish Government’s community empowerment agenda is gathering pace across Scotland. In addition, the Scottish Government has invested over £2m to promote participatory budgeting, better known in Scotland as Community Choices. Over 25 local authorities are already using Community Choices with communities across Scotland directly deciding on how public money is being spent. But the journey has just begun.
PB Scotland is now seeking to create a dedicated group of PB champions, who are able to support others on their journey. People with the skills, commitment and capacity to learn, and then share that learning. Without having a group of people in Scotland who can provide good quality advice and support on PB, we risk a skills gap just as momentum is growing.
What we are looking for in a PB Champion:
- Capacity to attend at least two full days of face-to-face training in Participatory Budgeting between March and May 2017, participate in a work shadowing experience and take part in regular mentoring and learning sessions over the next year.
- Time to research and share good practice, through networking, writing blogs and undertaking interviews.
- Some practical experience of an existing Participatory Budgeting programme. This could be in an organisational role, as a participant, researcher or otherwise.
- Willingness to respond to requests for support from others in Scotland, and support from existing employers to take on this role. This could include attending conferences, facilitating workshops and accompanying new PB processes.
You may be a qualified community engagement professional, a grass roots community activist or perhaps someone who understands how commissioning and public finance works. There is no ideal candidate. What is more important is your commitment and your capacity. You’ll be working as part of a team, with the support of experienced mentors and the other PB champions. There will be a degree of financial support to cover travel and accommodation costs.
It is expected that you would go on to provide support to PB, potentially as part of your current role, and there may be the opportunity to earn income for you or your organisation from supporting new PB programmes. There is no guarantee of this, but we do know there is demand for expertise. We hope, through this initiative, to help meet this demand.
Most rewarding will be the satisfaction of taking on a new challenge, that will greatly enhance your understanding of Participatory Budgeting, build your skills and confidence, and contribute towards a fairer, more democratic Scotland.
Time is short. In order to take up this opportunity please:
- Read the FAQ here
- Fill in the form below (also available in as Word document here).
The deadline for expressions of interest is 5PM, Friday 17th March 2017.
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There will be no commitment required from you at this stage, other than to register your interest by applying. We expect that, at most, 10-15 of the best candidates will become part of this Scottish group of PB champions to help to shape and then promote a new way to engage citizens. A new model of a more participatory democracy. One that has the potential to transform the relationship between people and government, locally and across Scotland.
For any further information contact info@pbscotland.scot
