2025 Award "Best Practice in Citizen Participation"

The Valongo Youth Participatory Budget allows young people to decide how €250,000 of the public budget should be invested.

It is aimed at residents or students in the Municipality, aged between 6 and 35 years old, who have the power to decide how part of the municipal public budget will be allocated. The available amount has evolved since the first edition, where the allocated amount was €10,000, to the 11th edition, where the allocated amount was €250,000, distributed among 25 winning projects, with €10,000 for each project.

There are four categories in which it is possible to participate: School, Generations, Community, and Green.

The OPJV is one of the participatory mechanisms in the region designed to encourage participation from an early age. Created in 2014, its goal is to promote youth involvement in the community so that young people feel heard and take advantage of opportunities arising from projects of this nature.

The OPJV cycle is divided into two distinct phases:

1. Decision: preparation, dissemination, submission of proposals, evaluation, pitching, campaigning, voting, and the publication of results.
2. Implementation: implementation of the most voted projects according to the pre-defined budget allocation.

This cycle culminates in the inauguration of the project, one of the moments most cherished by all those involved. A plaque is created for each project with the name of the proposer and the project title. This plaque is unveiled in the presence of a political representative, honoring the effort and dedication of the youth. For material projects, the plaque is displayed near the project; for immaterial projects, it is displayed on the exterior of the Youth House. The territory of Valongo is thus dotted with milestones of the OPJV's history.

As of this application, the OPJV has completed eleven voting cycles with progressively more ambitious budget allocations, but also with the need to frequently adapt participation rules and methods.

There have already been 147 winning projects, meaning that the Municipality has directly invested €1,470,000 (€10,000 per project). Indirectly, with the implementation of non-winning projects or the replication of winning ones, the Municipality has invested around half a million euros, always with the aim of addressing the needs expressed by young people.

• https://opjv.cm-valongo.pt/ (External link)