Items where Author is "Harkins, Chris"

1 of 7 films on the theme of 'Taking forward the Thriving Places Approach - Learning from Elsewhere. Chris Harkins presents Participatory Budgeting and the Govanhill Project, Glasgow. He describes Participatory Budgeting (PB), communities holding budgets and democratically deciding how to spend those funds, transferring responsibility from the state to communities, deepening democracy by engaging local people to participate in the political process at a local level. He talks about the origins of PB (Brazil) and the positive developments experienced through improved infrastructure and schools, today 40% of public sector budgets are decided by Participatory Budgeting whereas, in the UK, PB tends to be limited to small community based projects. He discusses the Govanhill Project, how using the PB model the group wanted to have a deeper impact rather than the usual community engagement and consultation. The forming of the Govanhill Community Action Group from existing community groups, the support from Community Health Partnerships (CHPs) and facilitation from Oxfam Poverty UK. He discusses the processes, findings from the pilot and the three projects which were then awarded funding - Govanhill Addictions Family Support Group, Govanhill Community Justice Group, Govanhill Baths Fund. He concludes with a summary of the learning themes and key practical challenges which evolved from the process.