UIC Great Cities Institute

Participatory Budgeting in Schools

Offered by the Great Cities Institute, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago, the Participatory Budgeting in Schools toolkit provides teachers with timelines and implementation options for PB projects along with 18 suggested activities to help schools engage students in the PB process.

Adapted from the PBP guide, this toolkit provides lessons that align to Common Core standards and the Illinois Social Science Learning Standards. Our supplemental guide extends this toolkit through the FirstRoot platform.

FirstRoot makes implementing the guide fast, efficient, and easy.

Toolkit overview

The PBP Guide is organized into two main sections:

  • Planning provides guidance on how to plan your PB program, including securing the budget
  • Lessons provide 18 sessions that teachers can use to guide the execution of the program

This guide aligns to Common Core standards and the Illinois Social Science Learning Standards.

How does FirstRoot support the Great Cities Institute toolkit?

In-person Participatory Budgeting are complex, tedious, costly, and error-prone. The FirstRoot PB app makes implementing PB simple, enjoyable, and eliminates the mistakes that can happen when trying to manage such things as paper ballots and the tabulation of voting results.

  • Support PB cycles with FirstRoot app

  • Makes engaging all students easy

  • Provides teachers with data to manage engagement

We’re all part of a bigger movement!

Our solutions support the very best PB approaches from around the world!

Participatory Budgeting Project
PB in Scotland
University of Illinois at Chicago
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