Osasco: Public Planning Olympics

The Planning Olympics in Osasco reinvented the way the city plans its future by transforming the preparation of the Multi-Year Plan into a large-scale citizen mobilization. Inspired by the language of sport, the initiative invited residents to "step onto the field" to collectively reflect on the future of the municipality, bringing the population closer to a traditionally technical and inaccessible process, while mobilizing all neighborhoods of the city.

The practice was structured around six fundamental principles: equity, territorial focus, simple and playful language, intersectorality, and digital innovation. Based on these principles, participation circuits were created using accessible methodologies and interactive dynamics carried out in different "arenas" throughout the city, such as public facilities and community spaces. This format encouraged the engagement of diverse groups and brought citizens closer to discussions about public planning and budgeting.

The Multi-Year Plan (PPA) is the main instrument for medium-term strategic and budgetary planning in public administration in Brazil, responsible for defining the government's guidelines, objectives, and goals for a four-year period. In Osasco, this instrument gains even more relevance as it guides the application of approximately R$ 20 billion between 2026 and 2029 (approximately R$ 5 billion per year) — a volume of resources whose allocation was directly influenced by the process of social participation.

The process of developing the 2026–2029 Multi-Year Plan (PPA) was structured by combining different stages and methodologies of citizen participation, designed to ensure qualified, pluralistic, and representative listening, considering diverse audiences and life experiences. This represents a huge opportunity, but also a great challenge: how to communicate with and involve the population in the construction of a highly technical, often difficult-to-understand, intersectoral, medium-term municipal law?

In response to this challenge, the "Planning Olympics" initiative emerged, transforming the participation process into an accessible, engaging, and innovative experience. Through different methodologies, translated into "modalities" of participation, the initiative broadened public engagement and enhanced citizen contribution to defining municipal priorities.

The result was impressive: 60 neighborhoods reached (100% of the municipality), more than 5,000 contributions from civil society, 3,457 direct participations, and 34,000 interactions on the digital portal. More than just numbers, these data reflect a process in which social participation has ceased to be merely advisory and has begun to concretely influence the direction of billions of reais invested in the future of Osasco.

Workshop with the Mayor, Secretaries and decision-makers;

Workshop with public servants;

Participatory workshops "Counting the Accounts" in territories with civil society;

"Territories in Focus" mini-publics for climate resilience;

Planning Marathon (public hearings);

Public consultation using artificial intelligence;

Ideas for Osasco: the social network for participation;

"Citizens of Tomorrow" program.

The process involved 18 municipal departments, civil society organizations, universities, and participatory councils. As a result, citizen contributions led to the creation of 20 strategic programs that structure the 2026–2029 Multi-Year Plan, reflecting real territorial needs and strengthening democratic culture and citizen participation in municipal decision-making.

Learn more about: 

https://participa.osasco.sp.gov.br/PPA/ 

https://www.oidp.net/docs/repo/doc1957.pdf