Voting for Tallinn's participatory budget has started today, with everyone in Tallinn aged 14 or over able to vote for up to two ideas of their choice in their neighborhood.

According to Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart, residents are welcome to actively participate in the discussion of city development.”With a participatory budget, every resident has the opportunity to make a difference to urban development and see their ideas realized. At the same time, the results of a participatory budget also help city leaders to better understand the expectations and visions of the residents. The visions of our residents are important parts in our decision making," said Kõlvart. "Our ambition is to be a green city, where people think about the future of their environment while valuing our city's heritage. The only way we can achieve this is by developing the city's environment together with our residents”

A total of 114 ideas for a participatory budget are on the ballot in eight city districts. Nõmme has the highest number of initiatives on the ballot, with 18 ideas to choose from. In Kristiine, 17 ideas can be voted on, in Kesklinn 16, in Mustamäe 14, in Põhja-Tallinn 14, in Haabersti 12, in Pirita 12 and in Lasnamäe 11. 
You can view all the ideas and vote for your favorites until 4 December on the website https://www.tallinn.ee/en/participatorybudget. 

For the idea to become a reality 500 votes must be reached in Kristiine, Nõmme and Pirita districts. In Haabersti, Kesklinn, Mustamäe and Põhja-Tallinn 1000 votes must be reached. In Lasnamäe 1500 votes must be reached in order for the proposed idea to become a reality.

Each resident who is at least 14 years old can take part in the vote and vote for two ideas of their choice in their area. Everyone can vote in the district where they live according to the population register.

The project with the most votes in each district will receive funding from the city's 2023 annual budget and will be implemented the following year. With a participatory budget, at least one project per year will be implemented in each district, proposed and selected by the district's residents.

One million euros is planned for the implementation of the participatory budget projects in 2023. The total amount of the participatory budget will be confirmed by Tallinn City Council when adopting the 2023 budget. Three quarters of the total amount will be distributed equally between the districts, and one quarter will be distributed taking into account the number of inhabitants in the district on 1 July of the current year.

This year 414 ideas were submitted of which 114 proposals qualified for the vote. The feasibility of the ideas was assessed by a panel of experts. Among the proposals submitted, those that are already planned with the support of another funding source or cannot be realized within 2023 were cut. In addition ideas which did not fit into the financial limits of the participatory budget and proposals that did not meet Tallinn's overall developmental objectives or are not investment projects were also excluded.

More info about the participatory budget is available on the following link: https://www.tallinn.ee/en/participatorybudget.