Health, communities and resilience: Lessons from a participatory budgeting programme

Dan-Ogosi, Ifeoma

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of participatory budgeting on the health and well-being of individuals and communities in the reduction of inequalities in a community-based programme, as part of the Well London programme. Participatory budgeting allows local citizens to make decisions on a part of the public budget to pay for projects they believe will improve their lives and community. Many studies report the influence of participatory budgeting for improving democracy, governance, transparency and accountability (Cabannes, 2004; Reames, 2006; Shah, 2007; Boulding and Wampler, 2010; Cabannes and Lipietz, 2015; Brun-Martos and Lapsley, 2017; Godwin, 2018). Yet, less so of the impact on community health and Well-being (Campbell et al., 2018).
Participatory budgeting was perceived as a catalyst for empowering residents, through capacity building, by increasing self-esteem, self-confidence and self-worth, sense of belonging, including reducing isolation and unhealthy lifestyle behaviours - these in turn impact on community spirit and community participation. The insights from this London based case study reveal many participants increased their involvement in volunteering opportunities, furthering their education levels or employment prospects. These engagements which address the social determinants of health ultimately reduce inequalities and affirm circular benefits to individuals and the communities of which they are a part (O'Mara-Eves et al., 2013; Touchton and Wampler, 2014; Matosevic, 2013).
This study argues that if participatory budgeting influences the individual, then it has the potential to contribute positively to the health and well-being of the nation, which insights can be applied to broader, yet interconnected, challenges in our global community.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Cities in a Changing World: Questions of Culture, Climate and Design
• Start Date: Jun 16, 2021
• End Date: Jun 18, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jul 1, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 5, 2024
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/12101240
• Additional Information: References: ; Boulding, C. and Wampler, B. (2010) 'Voice, Votes, and Resources: Evaluating the Effect of Participatory Democracy on Well-being', World Development, 38(1), pp. 125-135.; Brun-Martos, M. I. and Lapsley, I. (2017) 'Democracy, governmentality and transparency: participatory budgeting in action', Public Management Review, 19(7), pp. 1006-1021.; Cabannes, Y. (2004) 'Participatory budgeting: a significant contribution to participatory democracy', Environment and Urbanization, 16(1), pp. 27-46.; Cabannes, Y. and Lipietz, B. (2015) 'The democratic contribution of participatory Budgeting', London School of Economics and Political Science.; Campbell, M., Escobar, O., Fenton, C. and Craig, P. (2018) 'The impact of participatory budgeting on health and wellbeing: a scoping review of evaluations', BMC public health, 18(1), pp. 822.; Godwin, M. L. (2018) 'Studying Participatory Budgeting: Democratic Innovation or Budgeting Tool?', State and Local Government Review, 50(2), pp. 132-144.; Matosevic, T., Harden, A. and Thomas, J., (2013) 'Community engagement to reduce inequalities in health: a systematic review, meta-analysis and economic analysis.', Public Health Research, 1(4).; O'Mara-Eves, A., Brunton, G., McDaid, G., Oliver, S., Kavanagh, J., Jamal, F., Matosevic, T., Harden, A. and Thomas, J. (2013) 'Community engagement to reduce inequalities in health: a systematic review, meta-analysis and economic analysis', Public Health Research, 1(4).; Reames, B. (2006) Involving Citizens in Public Budgets: Mechanisms for Transparent and Participatory Budgeting. Partners of the Americas.; Shah, A. (2007) Participatory budgeting. World Bank Publications.; Touchton, M. and Wampler, B. (2014) 'Improving Social Well-Being Through New Democratic Institutions', Comparative Political Studies, 47(10), pp. 1442-1469.