The project is targeted at participatory budgeting (PB) process development and focusses on insufficient citizens’ involvement in the PB process in V4 capital cities. The main challenge is to find a way to convincingly present PB as one of important factors of civic potential advancement and local sustainable development. The problem in V4 can be tackled jointly because of the common communist legacy. The political transition brought problems and new challenges not known previously. The civil society started as an anti-state opposition and it is a very long-term process to return to democratic parties to represent inhabitants. Hence people are hostile and not used to participate in democratic deliberation and decision-making. The advantages of PB are not present enough in the media and the communication is not well targeted.
The project brings together non-governmental, educational and research institutions, focusses at sharing experiences, combines different perspectives with the aim to work out the best possible communication models capable of reaching the largest number of capital cities’ inhabitants. The project helps to better understand the sociological background of the V4 region, identify the needs for sustainable development and equip participants with knowledge and customized schemes and effective methods to promote active participatory culture.
If a large part of the state’s population remains civically underdeveloped, passive and uninterested, it affects directly their attitudes towards political life and decision-making process. A comparable situation of the Visegrad countries in terms of civic engagement and trust in their societies facilitates a common approach. The international dimension of the project gives an opportunity to better promote the idea of PB and attract the attention at the importance of stronger visual communication methods.
The project Participatory budgeting for sustainable development of V4 capital cities is held in the frame of Visegrad Grants.