Event

The introduction of various tools of participatory democracy around the world brought hope for including diverse voices of urban residents, with their needs, demands, and ideas for solutions, and, consequently, being a step towards reclaiming power over decision-making processes. In this context, we would like to propose a discussion about the tools of participatory urban governance based on the documentary film about participatory budgeting we directed in 2013 in Medellín. 'La Comuna 9. Reclaiming a City' is a documentary about people who create their surroundings, and about the participatory process that enables them to do so. The movie aims at showing what happened when the people of Comuna 9 – a district in Medellín, Colombia, were allowed to take control of the resources available through participatory budgeting. Between 2015-2016 we used the movie to spark a discussion about the idea of participatory budgeting in Poland. With the screenings and discussions in more than ten Polish cities, we wanted to create a bigger debate about how to reclaim power over our cities. Almost ten years later we want to ask similar questions again: what happened with the potential(s) of civic participation in various regions of the world? Has the goal of creating more just cities been even partially achieved? What are the lessons we have learned as researchers and as activists? In the context of multiple crises, what is the future of participatory democracy?