Please Wait For Loading

Mon-Fri: 10am to 6pm

A research presentation on participatory budgeting practices was held in Batumi

    You Here!
  • Home
  • News A research presentation on participatory budgeting practices was held in Batumi

A research presentation on participatory budgeting practices was held in Batumi

March 20, 2024 PR Comments Off

In order to strengthen the institutional capacity of the local government, a qualitative study was conducted in 11 municipalities of Georgia (Chokhatauri, Ozurgeti, Batumi, Kutaisi, Oni, Sagarejo, Keda, Akhaltsikhe, Bolnisi, Gori, Zugdidi). Effective tools and recommendations have been developed to facilitate the increase of citizens involvement in the processes, to improve the dissemination of information for the successful implementation of participatory budgeting. The study aimed at a comprehensive study of participatory budgeting practices using a multifaceted approach. As a result of the research, in the target 5 municipalities, Chokhatauri, Ozurgeti, Batumi, Kutaisi and Oni, the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the participatory budgeting process were evaluated, effective implementation models were selected.

Tengiz Shergelashvili and the invited expert of the project, Konstantine Kandelaki, presented the results to the public present at the working meeting. Emphasis was placed on the existing practices of the Batumi municipality in previous years. Speakers also drew attention to the challenges that exist in the implementation of participatory budgeting. After presenting the main findings and recommendations of the research, the working meeting was held in question-and-answer mode.

In order to study the practice of Batumi municipality, one focus group was conducted with the involvement of persons directly involved in the process, and 7 respondents were interviewed, among them were: authors of projects, representatives of non-governmental organizations, persons directly involved in the process. Members of the City Hall and City Council, as well as citizens who had experience in preparing projects in the past years, took part in the research.

In total, in 11 municipalities of Georgia, more than 100 in-depth interviews were conducted with citizens involved in the participatory budgeting process, and 11 focus groups were held with representatives of municipal mayor’s offices and city councils.

The “Georgian Development Platform” (GeoDP) project – “Support partner municipalities to effectively conduct participatory budgeting by FY2024” started in December 2023. The project is implemented within the framework of “USAID Local Governance Program”.