Participatory budgeting in Vantaa will start in November

This amount will be divided on a per capita basis among Vantaa’s seven major regions: Aviapolis, Hakunila, Kivistö, Koivukylä, Korso, Myyrmäki and Tikkurila. 

• Aviapolis €105,000    
• Hakunila €155,000    
• Kivistö €90,000    
• Koivukylä €160,000    
• Korso €150,000    
• Myyrmäki €300,000    
• Tikkurila €240,000   

Start by brainstorming  

Participatory budgeting begins by giving residents a chance to think about what could be achieved with it. In Vantaa, the brainstorming will start at the beginning of November. Ideas will be given a loose framework in order to obtain as many viable ideas as possible.   

“In participatory budgeting, an idea must be related to an activity of the city or a site managed by the city. The idea should increase comfort, well-being, joy of life or sense of community. We are looking for ideas that can be implemented within two calendar years. A single idea may cost a maximum of €100,000,” says inclusion expert Kaisa Kutilainen.   

Pekka Timonen, Mayor of Vantaa, is pleased that after an experiment, Vantaa decided to make participatory budgeting a regular practice.  

“Participatory budgeting is a good way to involve residents in city planning. It is great that all Vantaa residents are now able to participate. After all, the city is made for the residents. Vantaa residents themselves have a lot of information about the development targets in their residential area, so it makes sense to ask them about these. Participatory budgeting increases the culture of doing things together in Vantaa,” says Timonen.  

Riikka Åstrand, Deputy Mayor of the Urban Culture and Wellbeing Department, is delighted that Vantaa’s participatory budgeting offers a wide range of opportunities for participation.   

“What is special about participatory budgeting in Vantaa is that the Influential Day participation event for schools and educational institutions has been combined with participatory budgeting. This way, children and young people can participate in it at schools as part of teaching,” Åstrand says.  

Ideas are collected in many ways 

You can submit your idea online in November at vantaa.fi/osbu. The city also organises idea workshops and pop-up advice all over Vantaa with its partners. More information about the events can be found in the Vantaa Event Calendar.   

You can also submit your idea on paper at community centres and libraries, for example. In addition, you can submit your idea by calling and leaving a voice message on the city number 09 8395 0160 (local network charge).

What happens after the brainstorming stage?   

After the brainstorming, the city will review all the ideas and estimate their costs. In the processing, ideas can be combined and modified, or rejected if they do not meet the criteria for participatory budgeting.  

Vote in April 2024  

In April 2024, the best ideas will be voted for implementation. Vantaa residents can freely choose one major region and vote for their favourite idea for that region online or on paper at libraries. Each major region has one library where paper voting is possible.

Digital support for voting is available at Vantaa Info and community centres. All Vantaa residents who turn 13 in 2024 or are older than that can participate in the vote.   

After the confirmation of the voting result, the chosen projects will be developed together by the residents and the city in a co-creation process before their implementation.

The city will implement the participatory budgeting projects in 2024–2025.  

Schedule for participatory budgeting in Vantaa    

1–30 November 2023: Brainstorming   

1 December 2023–31 March 2024:  Reviewing  of proposals     

1 April –21 April 2024: Voting    

2 May–30 June 2024: Co-development    

Summer 2024–December 2025: Project implementation