Oulu’s citizens will get to decide how the city will spend half a million euros in Participatory Budgeting in 2026
The implementations of the winning ideas of Oulu’s 2025 Participatory Budgeting have progressed into the final stretch.
The implementations of the winning ideas of Oulu’s 2025 Participatory Budgeting have progressed into the final stretch.
Citizens of Oulu have chosen nine proposals to which the city budgeted 240 000 €. A total of 61 proposals were up for the vote.
This year, the winning proposals focused on outdoor activities, exercise, events, and comfort of the living environment.
Winning proposals:
Sport hobbies for low-income families
Spring flowers in city parks
Music performances in nursing homes
Renovating the Kuivasjärvi and Pyykkösjärvi Beaches
New outdoor fitness gym in Nallikari
Fitness equipment have been procured. They will be installed in the spring when the ground melts.
The Dudesons visits at schools
Forest path in Hietasaari
Children’s events and concerts in libraries
Gig evening for youth during the fall break
The budget for implementing ideas next year is half a million €
During Oulu’s year as the European Capital of Culture 2026, Participatory Budgeting is larger than ever. Oulu’s citizens’ ideas will be implemented with 500 000 €.
Simultaneously, Participatory Budgeting is revised into a two-year process. In 2026, citizens will come up with and vote on ideas to be implemented. The year 2027 is reserved for implementing the winning proposals.
“With a two-year process, Participatory Budgeting can implement even larger proposals. And we will have full year to implement the ideas as well. In the previous one-year process, all implementations have been done late in the year, and all ideas that would take place early in the year had to be rejected”, Interaction Designer Anne Kippola-Rinne explains.
Participatory Budgeting’s ideation period begins on January 26, 2026, and will last for three weeks, until February 15. Ideas to improve the city of Oulu and comfort of its citizens can be given on the Osallistu Oulu website during the ideation period.
The goal of Participatory Budgeting is to increase the influencing and participation opportunities of citizens as well as increase dialogue between the city and its citizens.