My Oulu: The citizens of Oulu came up with over 500 ideas for participatory budgeting

“Thank you to everyone who sent in their ideas. We received a ton of ideas, and they concerned a wide range of the city’s services and areas. There were familiar ideas from the earlier years, but also a welcome number of totally new ideas”, Interaction Designer Anne Kippola explains.

Ideas were collected in the Osallistu Oulu website in January. For the first time the citizens sent in ideas in English as well.

This time the ideas of Oulu’s citizens are realized with a more than tripled budget. This year the citizens will come up with ideas and decide by vote how the city will use 240 000 euros to improve the well-being and comfort in Oulu.

From ideas to voting proposals

All ideas that meet the participatory budget criteria and are realizable by the city are now further developed into voting proposals, together with city experts and other operators.

Realizability is determined based on if the idea is directed to areas or responsibility of the city. It is also estimated whether or not the idea can be realized within the budget and in schedule during the year 2024. It is also possible that the city is already working on the idea.

During development, the idea is assigned a budget and a realization plan. The city of Oulu will respond to all ideas sent in via the Osallistu Oulu website during the spring – including those that do not proceed to the vote.

Voting in May

In May, the citizens of Oulu will decide by vote which ideas will be realized. Based on the voting results, the city will realize the ideas that get the most votes and fit into the budget of 240 000 euros.

The goal of participatory budgeting is increasing the citizens’ possibilities to influence and participate and increase dialogue between the city and its citizens. Participatory budgeting is funded by the nation’s welfare and health promotion fund divided among municipalities.