Green Participatory Budgeting: Lisbon, Portugal

This case study analyzes the use of participatory budgeting to address climate change in Lisbon.

In 2008, Lisbon was the first European capital to adopt participatory budgeting at municipal scale, empowering its citizens to use parts of the Council’s budget each year for projects that benefit their community.

In line with Lisbon’s increasing interest in environmental goals, and following its recent win of the European Green Capital Award in 2020, Lisbon decided to transform its participatory budget into a green participatory budget which would focus exclusively on proposals for a more sustainable, resilient and environmentally-friendly city.

The Lisbon Green participatory budget uses a hybrid model of citizen engagement, focusing on in-person engagement for discussion and debate and web-based platforms for voting and proposal submission. The annual process culminates with the integration of the winning projects in the City Council’s Plan of Activities and Budget, which are approved by the City Council and the Municipal Assembly, and subsequently implemented.

Source: Centre for Public Impact

Year of publication: 2021