2021 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

15th Edition 2021

Phase 3 of 3

Result of the vote 01/06/2021 - 02/06/2021

Process phases

Supports are subject to the following rules:

You can support up to 5 proposals.

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Youth Participatory Budget (Massamá and Monte Abraão)

Official proposal

14/05/2021 17:11

The Youth Participatory Budget (OPJ in Portuguese) was launched in November 2019, aimed at young people aged between 11 and 22 and with an endowment of €20,000, it emerged with the main objective of empowering young people, bringing them closer to decision-making power. This approach has been observed in the participation of young people in this project, specifically through the presentation and voting of proposals for improvement for the parish. Gamification has been associated with this participatory democracy project, since by participating (submitting and voting on proposals; receiving votes; making constructive comments on the proposals...) young people accumulate points, visible in the participation ranking and obtain prizes.

The strategy designed for the Youth Participatory Budget has always counted on the constant participation of young people, who are an integral part of the construction of the whole process. Through a working group with students representing the 5 schools of the parish (2nd cycle, 3rd cycle and high school), in October 2019, 30 young people participated in 4 co-creation sessions and defined the main rules of the Participation Regulations of the Youth Participatory Budget. Between January and March 2020, 13 "Points of the Parish" (participation sessions in which young people, in teams of 2 to 5 elements, present and discuss proposals for the Parish) were held in the 5 schools, gathering the participation of 458 young people, resulting in the presentation of 102 proposals.

After the interregnum caused by the pandemic, the OPJresumed its activity in September, with the technical analysis team (students, teachers, representatives of the school councils and the Parish Union) analysing the proposals on the basis of the rules of participation, deciding on the passage of 28 proposals to the voting phase. This phase took place between 28 September and 16 November, both online and in the classroom, and 1251 young people voted. Given the pandemic situation, the final results were presented live on the Parish Council's Facebook page. In March 2021, we started the 2nd edition of this project, namely with the realisation of 20 Points of the Parish, in which 441 young people participated and submitted 130 proposals that will be analysed by a technical team, composed of students, teachers and representatives of the school management.

In short, the OPJhas been a constant challenge for all those involved in these two editions and the participation of young people has been very fruitful.

Here are some links that may shed some light on the Youth Participatory Budget:

https://www.facebook.com/uf.massamamabraao/posts/1405114453003023

https://www.facebook.com/210593109121836/videos/680137212797028

https://www.facebook.com/210593109121836/videos/3559004114121542

https://www.facebook.com/uf.massamamabraao/videos/396196578481106

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEFYloKsR3o/

https://www.uf-massamamabraao.pt/uniao-das-freguesias/noticias/noticia/orcamento-participativo-op-jovem-resultados-finais-39