The fourth participatory budgeting idea collection initiative in Tallinn has concluded successfully, with 492 ideas submitted, out of which 149 proposals have been selected for public voting. Residents can cast their votes for their favorite proposals starting Monday, November 20, until December 3, 2023.

Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart encourages all Tallinn residents to participate in the voting process to ensure the most favored community projects in each district are selected. “It is gratifying to see the active engagement of our citizens in contributing to the city's development – this year, we received a record number of proposals,” said Kõlvart. “The submissions cover various key areas, with a significant focus on the development of an eco-friendly urban space and projects promoting sports and leisure activities. Our goal is to implement at least one community-chosen project in each district from next year's budget. However, these proposals also provide valuable input for the ongoing development of urban spaces.”

In the category of eco-friendly urban space, 140 ideas, accounting for 28.5% of all proposals, were submitted. The fields of sports, leisure, and safety also received considerable attention, garnering 129 and 83 ideas, respectively. The children and youth category had 55 submissions, while other categories totaled 85 ideas.

Nõmme district was the most active, contributing 105 proposals, followed by Kesklinn with 102, Lasnamäe with 60, Mustamäe with 48, Põhja-Tallinn with 55, Kristiine with 46, Haabersti with 40, and Pirita with 35 ideas. The first and last weeks of the idea collection saw the most participation, with 124 ideas, or 25.2% of all proposals, submitted in the final two days.

An expert committee evaluated the feasibility of implementing the collected proposals. As a result of the pre-selection, 35 ideas will go to the vote in Nõmme, 26 in Kesklinn, 20 in Kristiine, 18 in Lasnamäe, 15 in Pirita, 13 in Mustamäe, 12 in Põhja-Tallinn, and 10 in Haabersti. The shortlisted ideas, along with their descriptions, are available for review on the Tallinn participatory budget website.

Residents can support their preferred projects during the public voting from November 20 to December 3. Eligible voters are individuals aged 14 and above whose official residence is in Tallinn. Each participant can vote for up to two ideas in their respective district. Votes can be cast on the participatory budget website, at local district governments, or at the Tallinn City Office (Vabaduse väljak 7). In each district, at least one project that meets the criteria of the participatory budget and receives the most votes will be implemented.

For the implementation of this year's participatory budget results, one million euros have been allocated in the 2024 budget. Seventy-five percent of this amount will be distributed equally among the districts, and the remaining 25% will be allocated based on the population of each district as of July 1 of the current year.

The participatory budget idea collection is organized by the Tallinn Urban Environment and Public Works Department.

For more information, please visit: tallinn.ee/en/participatorybudget.