Based on the premise that location-based and design-based dialogue tools can strengthen the potential of existing digital Participatory Budgeting (PB) platforms to include voices of vulnerable groups, the COLDIGIT project run pilot projects under theme 4. The existing PB platforms used in case cities (e.g., Decidim) will be the starting point. This page briefly introduces three pilot projects in Helsinki, Gothenburg and Trondheim.
PB project in Helsinki, Finland
We conduct a digital pilot with the City of Helsinki’s PB process OmaStadi. In the first round of PB (budget €4.4 million) the Decidim platform was used in combination with the Co-creation Radar Evaluation model. In the second round, support for marginalized groups (e.g., Russian–speaking populations) will be in focus and the AI tools to evaluate the online engagement and the analysis of user-generated data (e.g., statistical network analysis, topic modelling).
PB project in Gothenburg, Sweden
This pilot in Gothenburg is led by Digidem Lab. Bostadsbolaget, one of Sweden’s largest public housing companies, in 2019 conducted a PB in one area. This was the first housing company PB in a Nordic country and in 2020 they are doing their second PB with 5000 tenants, using Consul. In 2021, Bostadsbolaget is doing their third PB in the area Biskopsgården, using Decidim for the first time. Most tenants in this area have Swedish as a second language and the poverty rate is high. Immigrants are underrepresented in decision-making, the potential of applying CI solutions to reduce the participation gap is therefore of great interest. UGOT has also ongoing cooperation with The Swedish Union of Tenants working closely with civil society including vulnerable groups, which gives the opportunity to pair digital efforts with face-to-face methods to build trust. Chalmers has also tested the CoBuilder App with residents in other areas previously, and the tool has been considered promising in research.
PB project in Trondheim, Norway
This pilot with the City of Trondheim is led by SINTEF. Borgerkraft (“citizen power”) is a Citizen participatory initiative launched in 2019, using the tool Decidim to involve residents in proposing projects within UN’s sustainability goals to be implemented. Trondheim have ambitions for a match-funding approach, where financial resources from private companies are paired with municipal funding. There is a political decision in the city supporting PB, however Trondheim is still developing an approach and further decisions will be taken end of 2021. Borgerkraft involves juries elected by inhabitants and supported by experts. The initiative combines digital tools with traditional physical events. COLDIGIT suggests to further develop the initiative, by focusing on factors influencing citizen engagement and/or developing an evaluation framework.