It’s democracy in action from next week when Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Regional Council opens public voting on who gets funding from its School Sustainability & Resilience Fund.

For the first time the Regional Council will use participatory budgeting, a process where the public decides how a fixed amount of council funds are spent.

Regional Council Director Strategic Engagement Kataraina O’Brien said participatory budgeting is a more inclusive way of deciding where funding goes, and can make communities feel more empowered to get involved in the democratic system.

“Handing the funding assessment process over to the public means our community can decide what matters most to them,” said Ms O’Brien.

“Around the world people are trialing participatory budgeting as a way of deepening democracy. We’re excited to see how this plays out with the School Sustainability and Resilience Fund.”

The Regional Council has received a whopping 46 applications from schools across the Bay of Plenty, which led to it increasing the total funding available, from $35,000 to $50,000.

“It’s clear that building more resilient schools and educating our rangatahi on climate change is a top priority across the rohe,” she said. “It was important to us that we reflected that and so increased the total amount available to be contested.”

Voters will receive $35,000 in virtual funds to allocate to their favourite projects online. The schools who receive the most ‘dollars’ (votes) will then be given actual funds to kickstart their projects.

The projects which aren’t successful in the first round of funding will take part in a second chance opportunity, where the Bay of Plenty Regional Council Youth Involvement Project team will allocate $15,000.

A wide range of projects have been submitted, including a walking school bus, an eco-friendly swimming pool, and a shade for children to keep out of the sun.

The public voting round is open from Monday 18 April to Saturday 14 May and voting is open to anyone in the Bay of Plenty or elsewhere.

To vote visit www.participate.boprc.govt.nz and scroll down to the fund's tile.

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