The Portuguese city of Braga has worked long and hard to engage residents in local decisions from economic development and youth policies to sustainability, senior issues, and social affairs. Braga's participatory budgets (including a bespoke budget for youth) stand out as pioneering efforts in Portugal that empower citizens to have a direct say in the allocation of public resources. However, Braga cannot be content to rest on its laurels. The city must continue to explore new frontiers in citizen participation, building on past successes and generating new innovations to connect with its residents. This will help enhance our democracy and build trust in institutions at a time when citizens in many parts of the world are losing faith in them.
Convening citizens
Braga's councils, such as the Mobility Council, Tourism Council or Culture Strategic Council, have been instrumental in ensuring that diverse voices are heard – and their needs are addressed. These councils provide structured platforms for different demographics and interest groups to express their opinions, propose ideas, and influence decision-making processes.
Alongside these more conventional forums, Braga has been building its presence online by expanding its digital platforms for citizen engagement. By developing more sophisticated e-government tools, the city can facilitate easier and more frequent interaction between citizens and policymakers. We already had developed some initiatives in this field and we believe these platforms will expand to include online forums, mobile apps, and interactive digital platforms where citizens can submit ideas, provide feedback, and vote on proposals. The use of new technologies like blockchain can further enhance transparency and trust in these digital platforms, ensuring that citizens feel confident in the security and integrity of their contributions. I would also like to use these tools to convene regular virtual town halls to make it easier for a more of the population to participate in discussions. This approach could particularly be effective in engaging younger citizens who are more comfortable with digital communication.
Informing citizens
Leveraging data for informed participation is another crucial step for Braga. Open data initiatives can empower citizens by making more municipal data available to the public, allowing them to make more informed contributions to policy discussions. Real-time information on budget allocations, project progress, and performance metrics for various public services can be shared openly. Implementing tools that allow citizens to visualise and analyse data can help them understand the implications of different policy options. Interactive dashboards and data visualisation tools can make complex information more accessible and engaging, enabling citizens to participate more effectively in decision-making processes. We are working now on strategic planning to advance this in Braga.
Citizens’ budgets
Building on the success of the existing participatory budget and the youth participatory budget, Braga can further strengthen participatory budgeting by expanding these programs to cover more areas and increasing the allocated funds. We already developed some pilot programs to promote specialised budgets for small neighbourhoods or thematic areas such as green spaces, cultural initiatives, and sports projects. Establishing citizen budget committees can give residents a more hands-on role in the participatory budgeting process. These committees can work alongside municipal officials to review proposals, conduct feasibility studies, and oversee project implementation, ensuring that the projects funded through participatory budgeting reflect the community's priorities and are delivered effectively.
Embracing diversity
Inclusivity and diversity are critical components of effective citizen participation. To ensure that all segments of the population are represented, Braga developed the Social Innovation Centre, Human Power Hub, to implement targeted outreach programs aimed at underrepresented groups. At this centre, we develop programs that can include workshops, focus groups, and community meetings designed to engage minorities, low-income residents, and individuals with disabilities. Providing information and engagement opportunities in multiple languages and ensuring that all digital and physical participation platforms are accessible to people with disabilities is crucial. This helps us to remove barriers and make participation more inclusive, ensuring that everyone in the community can contribute to the policy-making process.
Focus groups
Encouraging collaborative policymaking is another important step for Braga. We already have some ideas to implement new programs, as citizen panels or juries, where a representative group of citizens is selected to deliberate on specific issues and make recommendations, can provide valuable insights and foster a sense of ownership among participants. Co-creation workshops that bring together citizens, experts, and municipal officials to collaboratively design policies and projects can lead to more innovative and widely accepted solutions. These collaborative approaches ensure that policies are not only informed by expert knowledge but also by the lived experiences and perspectives of community members.
Citizens of the future
We also believe that fostering a culture of continuous engagement is essential for sustaining citizen participation over the long term. Therefore we introduced comprehensive civic education programs in schools to help to foster a culture of active citizenship from a young age. But we must do more. These programs should be expanded to cover topics such as the importance of civic participation, how local government works, and the various ways citizens can get involved. Offering incentives for participation can also motivate more citizens to get involved. These incentives can include recognition programmes, small financial rewards, or opportunities for citizens to present their ideas at major municipal events.
Our democracy
As an OECD Champion Mayor for Inclusive Growth, I am deeply committed to opening up new opportunities of all forms for all our citizens – including opportunities to share in our democracy. I strongly believe that Braga’s existing initiatives provide a strong foundation for future advancements. And as Braga continues to innovate and deepen its commitment to inclusive, responsive governance, we hope Braga’s beacon for democracy can set a powerful example for other cities looking to connect with their citizens.
2024 OECD Global Forum on Building Trust and Reinforcing Democracy
This blog is part of a collection of opinion pieces that showcases diverse perspectives on the new frontiers of citizen participation, from thought leaders and practitioners across national and local government, academia, business, trade unions, and civil society. It offers insights and inspiration for discussions at the 2024 Global Forum on Building Trust and Reinforcing Democracy, and future multidisciplinary work at the OECD.
The Global Forum takes place in Milan, Italy, 21-22 October 2024. Register to follow the discussions online: https://www.oecd-events.org/global-forum-on-democracy/en
This blog article should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its Member countries. The opinions expressed and arguments employed are those of the authors.
