Moving toward the mainstream

A film that shows how PB in Scotland is moving to Mainstream PB, which uses voting to decide on larger public budgets.

PB in Scotland has typically taken the form of a small grants model, where pots of money are voted on and distributed at local events or online. Different to the small grants model, mainstream PB uses voting to decide on much larger, public body budgets – budgets usually decided on by local authorities, for example.

Mainstream PB has the potential to be much more transformative as, if done well, means local people can vote for things that are important to them. This means better decisions that can meet the needs of local people. Working toward mainstreaming is a challenge because it’s so new in Scotland. In the film, we see how mainstream PB builds on this by opening up the voting process to larger public body budgets. Additionally, this film seeks raise questions and share ideas about how we can further this approach.

Source: PB Scotland

Year of publication: 2018