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Taoyuan City: Youth Public Participation in an Airport City: Participatory Budgeting Action in Noise Control Zone High Schools

Avatar: Official proposal Official proposal

Youth Public Participation in an Airport City involved delegating airport noise rebate fund decisions to high school students in the noise control zone through civic deliberation. This nationally first initiative was launched by Taoyuan's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in 2024, engaging 4 high schools and 3,765 students and staff. 

The program addresses two governance challenges. First, the rebate fund operated through fixed channels—health insurance subsidies, scholarships, cultural grants—a formulaic model lacking community participation. Second, youth public participation in Taiwan remains insufficient: the IEA's ICCS 2022 study found Taiwanese students rank first globally in civic knowledge yet below average in actual participation, constrained by exam-oriented education. 

Taoyuan's PB experience includes a 2017 Dayuan pilot (3,994 voters, 8 projects) and the 2018 OIDP Award. Since 1979, airport noise has affected surrounding communities, yet youth were never consulted on rebate fund use. 

In 2024, the DEP selected four schools. Through promotional sessions, World Cafe proposal workshops, and public presentations, students developed 18 proposals addressing noise prevention, anti-drug advocacy, and anti-bullying. 2,710 voted (71% turnout), selecting 10 projects (NT$3 million).  

In 2025, all 10 proposals were executed autonomously: Dayuan HS organized an anti-drug concert (950 attendees), inter-school music festival, and charity bazaar; Guanyin HS led 7-month animal welfare service, anti-drug concert, and anti-bullying campaign; Daxing HS completed noise prevention concert, anti-drug campaign, and animal welfare show (900 each); Qinghua HS ran a vocational skills competition (222 students). Over 4,000 cumulative participants. 

Teachers shifted from concerns about academic disruption to supporting student-led budget management. The core value: simultaneously upgrading the rebate fund from passive compensation to a democratic governance tool, while creating civic participation opportunities for youth long denied public engagement. 

From the 2017 pilot to 2024 launch to 2025 execution, Taoyuan demonstrates that technical environmental funds can achieve citizen participation through deliberative democracy.

https://www.noise.tydep.gov.tw/MoneyBack.aspx?gid=139 


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Taoyuan City: Youth Public Participation in an Airport City: Participatory Budgeting Action in Noise Control Zone High Schools

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