Participatory Budget 2026: Your vote counts until August 22nd in Bernau!

Participatory Budget 2026: Your vote counts until August 22nd in Bernau!

In Bernau, online voting for the 2026 participatory budget is in full swing. Since June 30, 2025, around 650 citizens have cast their votes. Voting will continue until the last ballot is counted on August 22, 2025. All participants can fill out their personal voting form on the city website in just a few minutes. There are 19 suggestions to choose from that have already been examined. Everyone has the opportunity to distribute five points to one or more suggestions.

To take part in the vote, some information must be provided, including first and last name, date of birth, email address and address. For those who prefer, there are alternatives to online voting: a paper voting form has been published in the Bernau Official Gazette and a voting day will take place on August 31st in the city park. A total of 56 proposals have been received by February 28, 2025, and citizens aged 14 and over can actively participate in the decision on the use of the city's funds, which have amounted to 100,000 euros annually since 2013.

An important process of citizen participation

Participatory budgeting, as is also practiced in Bernau, is a clear expression of citizen participation in municipal financial planning. This form of participation was developed in the late 1980s and aims to involve the public in the use of financial resources - from the proposal phase to binding decisions. The first participatory budgeting took place in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1989 and has since been used worldwide.

Typical topics in participatory budgeting concern local finances and local engagement. In Germany, this model was primarily promoted by the Local Agenda 21. Although participation has declined in many cities, Bernau shows that there is an interest in transparency and participation. The city administration has offered the opportunity to participate in participatory budgeting for the 14th time.

The challenge of citizen participation

But what is the challenge? A decline in the number of participants and the identification of barriers to participation are problems that concern many municipalities. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the number of participatory budgets fell from 37 in 2011 to just 16 in 2016. Nevertheless, the idea behind participatory budgeting - to involve citizens in decisions and thus strengthen democracy at a local level - remains constant.

In Bernau, over 900 participants have taken part in the online vote so far, which shows that there is still great interest in helping to shape their own city. Questions about the proposals or the coordination can be directed directly to the business accounting team, who are always available to help.

Details about the vote and proposals can be found on the city's official website: Bernau participatory budgeting.