That’s the question we’re asking Boston residents this month as the city continues to develop its first-ever city-wide participatory budgeting process. But first, what is participatory budgeting?

When Mayor Michelle Wu created the Office of Participatory Budgeting in late 2022, she called it an opportunity for “direct civic engagement to shape our budget.” The office was set up following a ballot initiative calling for a new way for residents’ voices and ideas to be represented in city governance.

Originally developed in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1989, participatory budgeting is a civic engagement process that empowers community members to decide how to spend part of a city’s budget. The Brazilians’ idea was to “democratize democracy” by bringing more equitable participation to bear on public spending, particularly for marginalized communities. 

This comes to Boston at a time when record numbers of people nationwide report feeling distrust toward the government. According to the Harvard Kennedy School’s 2024 Youth Poll, trust in major public institutions has fallen by up to 50 percent over the past decade. 

Participatory budgeting can provide an opportunity to combat this mistrust as residents come together and connect with local government in a meaningful way. Since its development, the process has been adopted by more than 1,500 cities worldwide, including by our neighbors in Somerville and Cambridge. 

Now in their tenth year doing participatory budgeting, Cambridge residents recently voted to fund projects ranging from free menstrual care dispensers, to smart recycling compactors, to public toilet upgrades. 

While these are not the massive government programs that we are used to seeing come up in budget talks, they are practical ideas that come from the community and benefit people at a grassroots level.

I am honored to be named the first director of the Office of Participatory Budgeting for Boston by Mayor Wu and look forward to administering our first $2 million engagement in the process in concert with our External Oversight Board. Our mission is to help create accessible spaces for civic engagement, collect ideas, and, ultimately, put these ideas in action.

As a native of Ecuador who made Boston my home several years ago, I understand the challenges many immigrants and newcomers face in accessing government due to mistrust in public institutions, civic apathy, and language and cultural barriers. That’s why we are ensuring that this engagement is done in partnership with local community groups and is multilingual and accessible to people from all walks of life.

Boston’s ‘Youth Lead the Change’ initiative has been running a youth participatory budgeting process since 2014. Building on that, we will also include the opportunities for youth to participate in the citywide process, which can plant the seeds for lifelong civic engagement.

This is Idea Collection Month, and the city is co-hosting a series of public forums in collaboration with non-profit partner organizations where people can propose and discuss their ideas for projects. The ideas can also come from an online portal, a phone line, and via participatory budgeting corners at Boston Public Library branches.

Eligible ideas could include funding for programs to strengthen mental health among Boston youth, digital literacy classes for older adults, or workforce training for those reentering society after incarceration. Infrastructure projects are also eligible, such as expanding the city’s free Wi-Fi networks or enhancing public art and green spaces.

Our office will work with residents to develop the ideas into a 15-proposal ballot. Then next January, we will open up the process for voting, and next spring, we’ll begin implementation of the winning proposals.

As we embark upon our inaugural year of this process, I invite all residents to join us this month by visiting boston.gov/departments/participatory-budgeting/ideas-action to share your project ideas online or to find an Idea Collection Workshop near where you live. Participants may also call the Participatory Budgeting (PB) phone line, 617-635-3059, or visit a PB corner at your BPL branch.

We look forward to putting your ideas in action and helping to inform our city’s future budget investments.

Renato Castelo is director of the Office of Participatory Budgeting in Boston. He holds a master’s degree in education policy from Harvard University and has had nearly 15 years of experience in civic engagement.