Participatory Budgeting in Chicago

Lecture in English, free of charge

Library of Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, Tuesday, September 18th 2018 at 5pm

Teresa Córdova will discuss Participatory Budgeting (PB) in the city of Chicago and describe the role of the Great Cities Institute (GCI) in facilitating this democratic process of determining public spending. The presentation will include a history of participatory budgeting and describe the process and partnerships for making this process a success. In addition, the lecturer will also discuss the challenges of PB and strategies for overcoming them.

PB is a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. It offers people a fundamentally different way to engage with government. The United Nations has promoted PB as a best practice of democratic governance. In February 2012 GCI partnered with The PB Project and a broad coalition of aldermen, city-wide institutions, and community-based organizations to launch PB Chicago. PB Chicago aims to implement and expand PB processes and direct democracy throughout Chicago. GCI is the lead university partner on PB Chicago, responsible for providing overall project management, community engagement, and evaluation. Since 2012, PB Chicago has engaged over 13,000 residents in twelve different communities in directly deciding how to spend over $18 million in public dollars.

Teresa Córdova is the Director of the Great Cities Institute (GCI) at the University of Illinois in Chicago. She is also Professor of Urban Planning and Policy in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA) and an affiliate faculty of UIC’s Departments of Sociology, Gender and Women Studies, and Latino and Latin American Studies. Prof. Córdova received her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley. She has received multiple recognitions for academic achievement and leadership including recognition of her role in infrastructure planning and in developing a small business incubator and commercial kitchen.

You are kindly invited to the lecture and the discussion that will follow. More info at info@uirs.si.