A total of 415 ideas for improving city life in the coming year were submitted by Tallinn citizens to the Tallinn participatory budget call for ideas, with the highest number of proposals intended to improve the areas of youth, sports and leisure.

Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart extended his gratitude to all the citizens who shared their thoughts and visions for the development of their city. "The number of proposals received in the call for ideas shows how attentive and caring our people are about their community and its future. Just as it takes time, cooperation and involvement to build and maintain one's own home, it also takes time and involvement to create an urban space and environment. But this is how we can create a home for ourselves and the next generation that starts on the street," said Kõlvart. "As Tallinn will be the European Green Capital next year, this year for the first time, people were able to submit ideas for developing an environmentally friendly urban space. Seeing the large number of proposals received in this area – a total of 121 ideas - I am pleased that this topic is close to the hearts of our people."

The highest number of ideas was received for improving the youth, sports and leisure sectors, with 173 out of the total. 121 ideas were received regarding environmentally friendly urban space, while 56 ideas were received concerning security and altogether 65 in other areas.

For the third year in a row, the Kesklinn district was the most active, with 77 proposals. This was followed by Nõmme with 73, Lasnamäe 56, Kristiine 55, Põhja-Tallinn 53, Haabersti 38, Mustamäe 35 and Pirita 28 proposals. A total of 326 ideas were submitted in Estonian, 71 in Russian and 18 in English. The overwhelming majority of ideas were submitted digitally.

Money from the participatory budget can only be used for facilities that are meant for public use and that are free to access. In October and November, the feasibility of the ideas submitted to the call for ideas will be assessed by an expert committee, after which the selected ideas will be introduced, discussed and put up for public vote, running from 21 November to 4 December.

The total amount of the participatory budget for 2023 is €1 million, but the exact amount will be confirmed by Tallinn City Council when it adopts the City of Tallinn's 2023 budget. The €1 million will be divided between the districts, with each district receiving roughly €100,000 for the implementation of the participatory budget project.

The number of ideas received for the 2021 participatory budget  was 420, of which 99 went to the public vote. The total of proposals for the 2022 participatory budget was 389, of which 132 were put up for the public vote.

Read more about the participatory budget at tallinn.ee/en/participatorybudget.