Participatory Budgeting 2026 Begins in Porvoo – Target Group: Young People
The 2026 round of participatory budgeting is starting again. Participatory budgeting has been carried out in Porvoo three times, and in previous years the target group has included all residents of Porvoo. This year, the target group is young people living in Porvoo.
Ideas will be collected from 2 to 22 February, and all Porvoo residents may submit ideas, but the ideas must be aimed at young people aged 13–18. Young people in particular are encouraged to participate actively in the ideation process.
Young people can submit ideas in three different ways:
- through the electronic system available on the city’s website
- in workshops organized by the city’s youth services
- during ideation sessions held in schools
After the ideation phase, experts from different sectors of the city and young people will evaluate the ideas together. Voting will take place in April, and the ideas selected in the vote will be implemented during the latter part of the year. A budget of 50,000 euros has been reserved for the 2026 participatory budgeting projects.
Propose an Idea for Implementation 2–22 February 2026
The ideation phase for the 2026 participatory budgeting begins on 2 February and ends on 22 February. Ideas can be submitted on the City of Porvoo website. Ideas can also be submitted on paper in Porvoo’s libraries and at Porvoo Info, located at Lundinkatu 8A.
– It’s fantastic that we were able to implement participatory budgeting specifically for young people. Youth participatory budgeting is an excellent tool for civic education: it gives 13–18-year-old young people in Porvoo a concrete opportunity to influence the development of a youth-friendly Porvoo, strengthens dialogue between young people and adults, and reaches a wide range of young people. All young people in the target group are welcome to participate, says Tanja Lehtikuusi, Lead Youth Work Coordinator for the City of Porvoo.
Proposed Ideas Must:
- be aimed at young people aged 13–18
- comply with Finnish law and align with the City of Porvoo’s values and strategy
- fall within the city’s scope of authority
- be feasible in Porvoo and benefit multiple people
- increase opportunities for cooperation between different actors
- be implementable with the 50,000-euro participatory budgeting allocation
- be intended for a non-profit, public-interest purpose
- be implementable during the year 2026
