Participatory Budgeting in the U.S. and Canada Conference

Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. The process was first developed in Brazil in 1989, and there are now over 1,000 participatory budgets around the world. It is now common in Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa and in some cases even required by law.
Yet it has only recently appeared on the radar in the US and Canada, with a few Canadian processes starting in 2001 and some initial US experiments starting in 2009. This conference will provide a space for participants and organizers of these initial processes to share and reflect on their experiences so far, alongside interested activists, practitioners, and scholars.
The Conference has seven main goals:
* Encourage critical reflection on the PB processes and campaigns in the US and Canada
* Exchange best practices from these processes and campaigns, and from experiences elsewhere
* Connect PB practitioners, activists, scholars, and funders from different regions
* Create new networks and collaboration, such as resource and information exchanges, mentoring relationships, joint promotional efforts, and research projects
* Generate greater media coverage of PB in New York and elsewhere
* Build broader interest in PB amongst community members, elected officials, funders, and other stakeholders.
* Inspire new PB processes
As the home of the newest and largest PB process in the US, New York City is an ideal location for this conference. The conference will coincide with the final vote of the first PB cycle in New York, allowing attendees to observe PB in action.
Content:
The conference will involve a mix of panel discussions, workshops, presentations, field excursions, and videos. Presenters are welcome to suggest other formats.
The conference will focus on, among other issues, the following core questions:
* What is the current state of PB practice in the United States and Canada? How are current experiments progressing and what efforts to establish new PB processes are underway?
* What common themes or conditions underlie PB experiences in the US and Canada?
* How do experiences in these countries differ from PB in other parts of the world?
* How do PB experiences in the US and Canada inform key ongoing debates on PB worldwide?
* How can PB practitioners, activists, and participants in the US and Canada support each others' efforts?