City of Cambridge Participatory Budgeting

By Phoebe West 

The Participatory Budgeting (PB) Outreach Committee had its second meeting at City Hall on Tuesday, June 6th. Committee members shared how important PB is to the community, noting that it is about more than just the money; it is about civic engagement and giving everyone in Cambridge the opportunity to use their voice to say how their city can be improved. 

The Outreach Committee reviewed the evaluation of last year's PB process to identify underrepresented groups and think of new ways to engage them. With this is mind, ideas flooded in about how we can involve more people in PB, including by collaborating with religious communities, engaging high schoolers to utilize their immense social capital, working with nonprofit groups like Just-A-Start, and flyering at the T stops in Cambridge.

At the end of the meeting, the Outreach Committee was left with the homework to go out into the community and put the ideas they talked about into practice. Look out for us at Dance for World Community Festival on June 10th, at Hoops N Health on June 17th, and all over Cambridge this summer! You can also check out other people's ideas and submit your own on our interactive idea map.