2025 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

Participatory Budget Istanbul" involved the creation of an innovative participatory budgeting model by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), aimed at fostering a democratic, people-centered, and transparent local governance. As emphasized by IMM's Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, this initiative ensures accountability in public spending and focuses on allocating resources that directly benefit the public and improve quality of life.

Launched in June 2021, the "Participatory Budget Istanbul" allows residents to play an active role in deciding how municipal funds are spent on public services. This inclusive approach gives citizens the opportunity to shape the city's development by directly influencing the budgeting process.

The primary objectives of the initiative are to ensure public accountability, increase transparency in resource allocation, and empower citizens to monitor public spending. By enabling residents to categorize and prioritize spending based on community needs, the program fosters greater efficiency and ensures that resources are directed where they are needed most. The initiative also emphasizes the inclusion of marginalized groups such as women, youth, the elderly, people with disabilities, migrants, and minorities, facilitating their participation in decision-making. Additionally, it promotes fair redistribution of resources, equal access to public services, and strengthens the sense of community and solidarity among citizens.

The "Participatory Budget Istanbul" process is structured in five key stages: Idea Submission and Project Applications, Preliminary and Technical Evaluation, Voting on Projects, Announcing Voting Results, and Implementation, Monitoring, and Evaluation. IMM collaborates with various departments and stakeholders, including the Strategy Development Department, Corporate Project Management Directorate, Istanbul Planning Agency, and Istanbul City Council, to ensure effective execution of the program.

This participatory budgeting model has redefined how public resources are managed, giving citizens a direct role in shaping how their city develops. Through this process, IMM has created a more inclusive, transparent, and accountable governance system, building trust between citizens and public administrators while improving the quality of life for all residents of Istanbul.

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