For students at two public schools in Georgia, having a say in school life has meant turning their own ideas into concrete projects. Through their first cycle of school participatory budgeting, students developed 12 projects, including a universal outdoor space, a media studio and a school movie club.

On 18 September 2026, students from Tbilisi Public School No. 177 and Zestaponi Public School No. 4 met in Tbilisi with teachers and school administrators to reflect on the projects and the challenges they had encountered during the process.

As they prepare for the next cycle, students also practised skills they can use when taking part in shared decisions: listening to different perspectives, communicating their ideas clearly and working with others towards common objectives.

Teachers and school administrators exchanged their experiences and learned about European practices in school participatory budgeting as they discussed how to continue the initiative. A representative of the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of Georgia underlined the importance of continuing to give young people opportunities to participate in decisions affecting their schools and communities.

In the second cycle, the two schools will take greater responsibility for organising and implementing the process independently. The next cycle will also include an expansion of the programme to new schools in Georgia. For students, this creates another opportunity to contribute their ideas and take part in decisions affecting the school environment they experience every day.

The workshop was organised as part of the project “Advancing Participatory and Human Rights-based Local Democracy in Georgia”, implemented by the Centre of Expertise for Multilevel Governance at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, as part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2024–2027, with the support of the Austrian Development Agency as part of International Partnerships Austria.