The Global Participatory Budgeting Hub was the initial flagship program of People Powered. It aimed to improve and expand participatory budgeting (PB) around the world by addressing common challenges and opportunities faced by PB implementers and supporters.
From 2019 to 2023 it coordinated research, shared learning, and developed resources, building on the expertise of the PB community.
Background
Over the past 30 years, PB has expanded to more than 7,000 cities across the globe, becoming the most widespread model of participatory democracy. PB leaders have generated a wealth of knowledge and expertise, but these resources are often inaccessible to local implementers and advocates. And despite PB’s global growth, local PB processes still face common challenges: limited guidance for implementers, limited participation, labor-intensive coordination, empty top-down mandates, and slow implementation of winning projects.
These were the main findings of the PB Exchange, a co-design workshop facilitated by Reboot in November 2018 that gathered experts and implementers from 21 countries to assess the challenges and opportunities of PB implementation. Based on the recommendations of the PB Exchange participants, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation dedicated a two year grant to launch a global hub to coordinate PB knowledge and peer exchange around the world. The Participatory Budgeting Project, a nonprofit organization in the United States, agreed to incubate and serve as initial fiscal sponsor for this new Global PB Hub.
In 2020 the PB Hub grew into the broader organization of People Powered, with a scope that extended beyond PB, to other participatory democracy approaches. Many of the programs and resources that the PB Hub launched evolved into the core programs and resources of People Powered. In 2023, People Powered members voted to phase out the Global PB Boards, to transition from our initial focus on PB to our broader approach of supporting diverse participatory democracy methods. The new organizational governance system includes several broader committees and regional hubs that connect People Powered members with each other and with the organization’s programs.
Activities & Outcomes
The Hub is working with the global PB community to map existing knowledge and identify priorities for new PB research and resources. Its initial priorities are to:
Establish new communications and governance systems for the global PB community.
Create an online resource center to consolidate, organize, and disseminate the most useful tools, guides, and resources on PB and other participatory practices, in an accessible format.
A Participation Playbook that synthesizes global knowledge on PB and other participatory practices and makes it widely available in an accessible format
A global peer mentorship program, to help people in government and civil society launch new PB programs and other participatory practices.
Online courses focused on inclusion and climate-focused participation.
A global PB research agenda that provided priorities and supported new research addressing these priorities.
Leadership
The Hub created a Global PB Practitioner Board and a Global PB Research Board to drive its work and keep it accountable to PB leaders around the world.
The PB Practitioner Board guides the Hub's work to improve PB practice and impacts. It was responsible for advising on the needs of PB implementers and advocates, deciding on priorities for new PB resources and tools, and supporting the Hub in developing and disseminating resources and tools.
The PB Research Board coordinated global research on PB and its impacts. It was responsible for developing a global PB research agenda and supporting researchers in launching new studies that address research priorities.
