The second edition of the Participatory Budgets (2024-2027) saw a significant increase in participation in the prioritisation stage. A total of 29,651 people gave 103,297 shows of support for the projects put forward, almost tripling the participation from the last edition (2021), which attracted 11,235 participants, between them backing projects in 30,367 cases. In addition, the increase in participation came in a ten-day period, compared to fifteen days last time around.

Over 700 children took part in discussion sessions

A total of 716 children between the ages of 8 and 13 took part in the 10 children’s forums in the districts. These sessions prioritised 2 of the 25 projects from each district that will go into the final vote, ensuring that the voice of children is also taken into consideration in the decision-making process.

Face-to-face support and public mobilisation

In an effort to overcome the digital divide and facilitate more includes participation, 123 face-to-face points were set up around the city’s 73 neighbourhoods, exceeding the 20 additional points initially planned. In addition, numerous organisations ran campaigns to give visibility to projects on social media and through posters and instant messaging.

As from today, the 253 projects that received the most support can be found on decidim.barcelona. Areas that stand out include projects to improve education facilities, create pedestrian zones, renew parks and gardens, enlarge sports facilities  and strengthen children’s play areas.

Technical details for these projects will be finalised in the coming weeks to facilitate the final voting stage, to be held from 12 to 17 May.

Thirty million euros to execute projects

The overall budget for this edition is 30 million euros, distributed evenly between the districts according to criteria such as income, number of inhabitants and surface area of each zone.

This process will be conducted via the decidim.barcelona platform, a tool using open-source software which has been used in more than 30 countries and has more than 3.5 million registered participants, 180,000 of them in Barcelona.

The Participatory Budgets are an opportunity for members of the public to directly decide on municipal investments in the neighbourhoods between 2025 and 2027. With the increase in participation recorded in this edition, Barcelona consolidates this mechanism as a key tool in participatory democracy.