Participatory budgets in Europe Between efficiency and growing local democracy

Over the last 6 years, the diffusion of decentralised co-operation and the efforts of the Movement for a different Globalisation to spread awareness of some experiences in the democratisation of urban management in Latin American cities have promoted the birth of the first experiences ofParticipatory Budgets (PB) in Europe. These are experiments to involve citizens in the construction of spending priorities for the local administrations through the organisation of annual cycles of public meetings (open but regulated) and the predisposition of other tools for supporting the gradual improvement of co-shared choices to be officially inserted in planning documents (Budget Plans and Public Works and Services Plans).