Participatory Budgeting Cologne

Using information technology in participatory budgeting: The case of the city of cologne Matthias Trénel & Oliver Märker Zebralog cross media dialogues Berlin / Germany trenel@zebralog.de http://www.zebralog.de/en International Conference “Participatory Budgeting in Asia and Europe: Key Challenges of Participation” August 17-19, 2009, University of Zhejiang, Hangzhou, China

Context: The city

Context: The city  Population of 1 million  City council with 16.000 employees  Annual budget of €4 billion (≈ ¥40 billion)  History of corruption scandals („Kölner Klüngel“)  approx. two thirds of population use internet

Context: Timeline  2002: Local Agenda 21 group called for PB  2004: Political parties incorporated idea into election programs  2005: local council asked finance administration to plan PB  2006: budget department set up steering committee, hosted symposium on PB and comissioned representative survey of citizens  2007: 4 weeks active PB phase  2008: local council adopted proposals  2009: next active PB phase coming up  ...

Context: Aims of PB  Develop a citizen-oriented local authority  Optimize processes through IT  Present municipal budget in transparent and comprehendable form  Receive good spending and saving suggestions concerning - Roads, paths, squares - Green spaces - Sports  Making proposals should be as easy as possible for all citizens  Create an attractive multi-channel communication platform with low barriers to access

Methodology: Outreach  Mailing to every household  Billboards  Radio spots  City web site  Information event

Methodology: Channels of participation  Information event  Paper form  Call center  Internet  NO local meetings

Methodology: Making proposals online  Users were asked to submit proposals on first page  Users categorized their own proposals  Anonymous participation was tolerated  All proposals were visible on platform  Other users commented on proposals  Meta-forum for discussion of PB  Moderators kept rules of civility and responded to questions and complaints

Methodology: Making proposals online

Methodology: Selecting proposals  All proposals received support or disagreement on the online-platform through votings by users  Those proposals receiving most support were selected for further examination by the administration - Top 100 proposals for roads, paths and squares - Top 100 proposals for green spaces - Top 100 proposals for sports

Methodology: Selecting proposals

Methodology: Examining proposals 1. Screening by finance administration during PB: Team of 16 employees working in shifts 2. Feasability check by relevant administrative departments 3. Review by relevant council committees 4. Review by finance comittee 5. Decision by council 6. Public feedback to citizens 7. Monitoring of proposal enactment

Results: Participation 4.937 Proposals 9.171 Comments 52.534 Votings 11.744 Registered participants (60% were male) 120.000 Unique visitors

Results: Proposals by participation channel E-Mail Call-Center Paper Form Online-Plattform 103 148 448 4.238 2% 4% 9% 85%

Results: Proposals over time 5.11. Press Conference

Results: Type of proposals Saving Spending Other Total.......... Roads, paths, squares.. Green spaces ... Sports .... Other issues....

Results: Media coverage  PB received extensive media coverage, daily updates, also in tabloid press  High participation rates created interest  PB was well documented online  Competition between proposals was entertaining

Results: Policy impact  Local council adopted proposals measuring €17 million (≈ ¥170 million)  Local council has decided to continue PB  Administration plans to utilize participation platform in other policy areas

Results: Main lessons learned  Online-platform is leading participation channel, but should not be the only one  Online-platform is ideal for documenting and monitoring PB from the planning stage to the enactment of proposals  Online-platform allows efficient processing of proposals in the administration  Involving as many citizens as possible is a good strategy to faciliate political impact of PB

谢谢 Thank you for your attention!

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Participatory Budgeting Cologne

by Matthias Trénel on Oct 02, 2009

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