The Travelling Assembly

[Please note this latest version was made public on 25 May 2025, after the final meeting (External link) of the 2024/25 pilot Assembly]

Steps?

We recommend concrete actions in four areas:

• Education: People need the tools for a better understanding of public finances. Therefore, educational systems need to integrate classes on public budgets in school curriculums and offer voluntary courses for adults (both online and offline). These should include gamified approaches and also be integrated in people’s workplaces.
• Information: People need to be better informed about budget spending. This includes online platforms with accessible information (in easy language) and targeted information campaigns for different target groups (using traditional and new media). Public authorities should send annual budget information via different communication channels and organize localised information events. Information should be curated by (scientific) expert bodies.
• Transparency: People need transparency in public budget spending. Hence, it needs to be clear how public money is spent by whom and why. This information needs to be standardized and easily accessible across Europe. Moreover, there should be regular evaluations about the impact of past budget spendings by independent experts. These reviews should also include feedback by citizens and affected groups as well as recommendations on how to adapt spending strategies.

Participation: Participatory budgeting processes should rely on randomly selected volunteers who have no conflict of interests and be transparent. Moreover, citizen budget committees should regularly inform and meet with the general public for feedback. This can be done in physical public spaces that exist at all levels (e.g., libraries). Additionally, governments should regularly conduct representative surveys on budget priorities and offer vouchers (e.g. as part of the income taxation) which individuals can use to distribute budget to NGOs and other good causes.