From Innovation to Festivalisation? Idea and Practice of School Participatory Budgeting in Poland and Finland

In recent years, particularly at the local level, there has been a noticeable increase in interest toward more direct and inclusive governance. On one hand, public authorities are increasingly recognizing the need for more direct forms of governance that rely on participatory and deliberative mechanisms, ensuring constant and substantial citizen involvement in public decision-making (Radzik-Maruszak, Haveri 2020). On the other hand, citizens are seeking new, more innovative ways of engagement that not only transcend representative democracy but also offer quicker and more direct involvement (Bartocci, Grossi, Ebdon, & Mauro 2022). One such form is participatory budgeting (PB). The PB concept is rooted in participatory democracy, where citizens directly influence public policy by participating in the decision-making process (Ganuza and Baiocchi 2012; Sintomer, Herzberg, and Röcke 2008). Although the idea of PB originated from the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, it has now spread globally. Currently, there are various types and forms of PB, some of which are tailored to specific, often hard-to-reach, groups. An exemplary model is School Participatory Budgeting (SPB), which targets children and youth. In the proposed paper based on theory of participatory governance and power relations, we analyze the motivations for introduction, functioning, and outcomes of school participatory budgeting (SPB) in selected cities in Poland and Finland — countries with distinct democratic histories, local governance models as well as various approaches to children and youth inclusion. Our intention is to answer the following questions: 1) What is the nature and architecture of children's and youths' engagement at the local level? 2) What motivates local actors to introduce SPB? 3) Who are the main stakeholders involved in SPB implementation? 4) What is the real goal of SPB? 5) What are the opportunities and challenges associated with SPB? The paper presents partial outcomes from the research project Silent witnesses or active participants? Patterns of children's and youth engagement in local governance in Poland and Finland funded by the National Science Centre Poland (2022-2025). Our analysis is based on qualitative data gathered from interviews conducted in six cities (3 in Poland and 3 in Finland) with a) local politicians responsible for shaping the participative agenda; b) local officers who have constructed the participatory framework; c) NGO members who perform and coordinate projects for children and youth; d) teachers who collaborate with children and youth on PB projects; and e) young people themselves. The research findings indicate that while SPB can be a democratic innovation providing a real 'school of democracy' for children and young people, it simultaneously risks ‘festivalizing participation’ which serves to enhance solely its visibility and attractiveness. In the line with that the analysis suggests that SPB is often relegated to the selection of ideas to be funded, which positions the concept closer to a plebiscite for the most popular project rather than a genuine decision-making tool (cf. Sroka et al., 2022).