PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING MASTERCLASS – Partnerships and Safer Communities.

A masterclass for community safety professionals and partners, policy makers and those working within community participation and empowerment. Delivered in conjunction with the Scottish Community Safety Network.

SCSN members can get their tickets at no cost. Non SCSN members will be asked to pay a nominal fee of £15 per ticket to cover admin and venue costs, invoiced direct by SCSN after booking.

About the masterclass:
The Scottish Government is promoting Participatory Budgeting(PB) through the Community Choices programme. Over 25 Scottish Local Authorities have already begun using PB within their community engagement work, much of it reported on the PB Scotland website.

The aspiration of the Scottish Government for Community Choices is an ambitious one, and projects in Scotland so far have related to the creation of safer communities and included representatives from community planning or community safety partnerships. There is also future scope for partnerships to distribute funding using this model.

The participatory format allows for plenty of opportunity for interaction and group exercises. With a view to providing a stimulating and informative experience. It will include a review of examples of community safety and participatory budgeting, which have been numerous, both within the UK and worldwide.

Discussion at the masterclass will inform a short briefing report that will be fed back to the Scottish PB working group, and thereby inform policy development as the Community Choices programme matures and expands in coming years.

This masterclass will provide an overview of Participatory Budgeting (PB), aimed primarily at those involved in creating safer communities, with the aims of:

- Increasing participant’s knowledge of PB, including experiences in Scotland to date
- Consideration of ‘participatory small grants’ and ‘mainstream’ models of PB
- Providing guidance on practical ways to take community safety related PB forward.

Our expectation is of around 25-30 participants. It will be suitable for both those considering PB for the first time, or looking to extend their existing knowledge.

Breakdown of the masterclass:

- Session 1: PB Overview: definitions, history, case studies, video presentations
- Session 2: Group exercise on mainstreaming PB with a perspective on community safety
- Session 3: Addressing the challenges posed by PB – such as fairness, accountability, and mainstreaming PB.
- Session 4: Planning ahead: how best to develop new PB programmes with a community safety focus.