Participatory Budgeting Heads to Brooklyn College

BROOKLYN COLLEGE — Brooklyn College students can begin submitting proposals on how $30,000 can best benefit the campus.

This initiative is part of participatory budgeting (PB), a democratic process that allows ordinary people (in this case, students) to decide how to allocate money that is a part of a public budget. Brooklyn College was the first college in the US to instate the budgeting process. The $30k is funded by College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) Student Government reserves, and the process occurs every year. In the past, several projects have been funded, including a renovation of a lounge in SUBO. To make PB work, students first need to get together to brainstorm ideas.

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