Please Forward! ------------------- **
*International Conference: * *Participatory Budgeting in the US and Canada * *March 30-31, 2012, New York City* www.pbconference.wordpress.com *Join us in New York City to learn about a new type of democracy! *After spreading around the world for over 20 years, “Participatory Budgeting” is making waves in the United States and Canada. It is giving people the power to make real decisions over the budgets that affect their lives--and it may soon be coming to a city near you! Participatory Budgeting (PB) is a democratic process in which community members *directly decide *how to spend part of a public budget. It was first developed in Brazil in 1989, and there are now over 3,000 participatory budgets around the world. Most are for city budgets, but counties, states, towns, housing authorities, schools, and other institutions have also used PB to open up public spending to public participation. PB is common in Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa--but it has only recently appeared on the radar in the US and Canada, with a few Canadian processes starting in 2001 and some initial US experiments starting in 2009. This first regional conference on PB will be a space for participants and organizers of the initial processes in the US and Canada to share and reflect on their experiences so far, alongside interested activists, practitioners, and scholars. Participants will also have the opportunity to observe and celebrate the closing of New York City’s first PB cycle. *A taste of what to expect:* - *Site Visits to Observe PB Voting in NYC* - *Presentations on PB processes in New York, Chicago, Toronto Community Housing, Guelph, Montreal, Porto Alegre, the UK, and elsewhere* - *Sessions on e-Participatory Budgeting & Digital Media, Community Organizing, Arts & Culture, Public Housing, and Youth Engagement* - *Focused discussions for elected officials, practitioners, and community organizations* *Speakers Include:* - *New York City Council Member Brad Lander* - *New York City Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito* - *New York City Council Member Eric Ulrich* - *New York City Council Member Jumaane Williams* - *Chicago Alderman Joe Moore* - *Erik Olin Wright, *University of Wisconsin, Madison - *Cezar Busatto, *Municipal Secretary for Political Coordination and Local Governance, City of Porto Alegre, Brazil - *Yves Cabannes, *University College London - *Gianpaolo Baiocchi,* Brown University - *Giovanni Allegretti, *University of Coimbra, Portugal - *Jez Hall,* The PB Unit, UK - *Josh Lerner*, The Participatory Budgeting Project - *Rachel LaForest,* The Right to the City Alliance - *Sondra Youdelman*, Community Voices Heard - *Caron Atlas*, Arts & Democracy Project *Organizers:* Pratt Institute, Programs for Sustainable Planning and Development <http://www.pratt.edu/academics/architecture/sustainable_planning/> The Participatory Budgeting Project <http://www.participatorybudgeting.org/> Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College (CUNY)<http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/about/about-hunter-ssw.html> *Co-Sponsors:* The Right to the City Alliance <http://www.righttothecity.org/> The National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation <http://ncdd.org/> The Public Philosophy Network <http://publicphilosophynetwork.ning.com/> Planners Network <http://www.plannersnetwork.org/> Arts & Democracy Project <http://www.statevoices.org/artsdem> *Locations:* New York City: Pratt Institute (Brooklyn), Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, and other locations throughout the city *Registration* Registration is now open on our website<http://pbconference.wordpress.com/registration/>--and *space is limited,* so please reserve your spot soon! There is a sliding scale conference fee, from $10 for low-income people to $50 for full registration. For more details please visit www.pbconference.wordpress.com, or email pbconference.i...@gmail.com
