Supporting inclusion experience in participatory budgeting: Case Vantaa
No Thumbnail Available
URL
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
School of Engineering |
Master's thesis
Authors
Date
2024-12-18
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Master's Programme in Spatial Planning and Transportation Engineering
Language
en
Pages
115
Series
Abstract
Adaptations of participatory budgeting (PB) are place-based conditions since regulation and promotion for the deployment of PB can happen in any layer of governance, from municipality to national in the theories. Often, cases of PB adaptation in the EU happen on a municipal scale. Development of PB is moving forward on the online platform while it seems to be hybrid methods (online and offline) of participation, to keep attracting potential participants and hold an open space for discussions across government representatives, interest groups, private entities, and ordinary individuals. Finnish major cities have been piloting PB in different ways (targeting specific districts, themes, social group, or city-wide scale of PB). The city of Vantaa has paid attention to PB and deployed small pilot PB projects in seven districts, which are seen as clusters of socio-economically vulnerable residents. The city has tended to use PB as a part of community engagement and development tools to exchange ideas and opinions within those districts. The aim of the thesis was to investigate the current challenges associated with online and offline participation methods with experience of social inclusion aspects also cross-examine the overall of PB (generation to deployment also one cycle of PB process) to provide recommendations for solving these challenges, then materializing the connection between PB and relevant frameworks at the city. This was conducted by using findings from relevant study fields, published documents, three surveys, and information collected from 15 interviewees. As the research on PB is transdisciplinary and discuss divers aspects, this these establish linkage between PB development from global to Finnish contexts, focused on social inclusion and online and offline meetings. The research on the PB has been approached in divers academic domaines. In this thesis, literature review of the theme focused political science, management science, urban planning, and technology. Ambiguity of PB in the academic field must be noted here. So that, the baseline of monitoring or evaluation of PB must be place-based and context specific. Thus, the methods used in this thesis are surveys and interviews. Three series of survey data were shown collective residents perspectives in the general aspects of the city’s affair which included the PB projects. The main survey analysis was conducted based on the Experience of Social Inclusion Scales (ESIS). Internal and external interviews, in which individuals who have being facilitator of PB and have being resident of Vantaa. Mapping relations between PB and relevant documents, as well as result of internal interview established the importance of coordination in the strategic use of PB. The result latest general ESIS mean scores showed 79.6 and the mean score has been gradually in growing trend from 2020. In the latest survey with an analysis of the ESIS mean score by socio-demographics, which pointed out that survey respondents in youngest age groups and negative healthconditions shown their ESIS mean scores lower than the general ESIS mean score. ESIS mean scores from respondetns with foreign backgrounds by mother tongue and birthplace, which shown slightly higher ESIS mean score than the general ESIS mean. But, the survey respondents with foreign background were less represented in collection of survey to general populations. Thus, external interviews result shown the potential challenges in language barrier in onsite meetings. This described the need of affirmative use of alternative PB central body as existing civic council (influencing bodies) to promote social inclusion, also quality participation and increase of participants, when the PB in Vantaa further considered to deploy in the future.Description
Supervisor
Eräranta, SusaThesis advisor
Lehtoruusu, MariKutilainen, Kaisa
Keywords
participatory budgeting, social inclusion, ePB, experience of social inclusion scale, hybrid PB, e-governance