Madona Municipality Invites Residents to Submit Ideas for Participatory Budget Contest

Madona Municipality, in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, is holding its participatory budget project contest for the second consecutive year and is asking residents to get involved. A participatory budget is a mechanism in which local people propose ideas for improving their living environment, and those ideas can then be carried out with municipal support. The contest lets anyone suggest a solution for a place that needs improvement.

The municipality urges residents to consider whether there is a spot in their area that needs attention. An idea could make a parish centre more attractive, create new ways to spend free time, or benefit the wider community in another way.

An example from last year

Last year, under a participatory budget project, new play structures for children were installed in the courtyard of apartment buildings in Sauleskalns. They are described as safe and developmental.

More than funding

The municipality stresses that the value of the participatory budget cannot be measured by the money allocated alone. It is also a way to hear residents' needs, spot problems that have so far been underestimated, and look for solutions together. In its view, every idea matters because it helps show what people actually need.

The source article is fully available only to subscribers, so the contest rules, deadlines and funding amount are not covered here.