Environmental protection, school improvement, and enhanced participation in decision-making were the focus of a schools participatory budgeting training held at Tbilisi Public School #177. The training brought together 44 participants, including 40 students aged 11 to 16, and four teachers and co-ordinators.

The School Participatory Budgeting (SPB) methodology teaches school students to create and develop ideas, elaborate projects, use critical thinking, effectively communicate, and work in teams. Importantly, this process inspires young girls and boys to participate in local public affairs.

The students exchanged on the needs in their school and elaborated ideas on how to make their school environment better, following a “learning by doing” method and using the SPB “Uchange” methodology. Working collaboratively, the students developed project proposals aimed at making their school greener, safer, and more inclusive. In the upcoming two trainings, the students will learn more on project writing and campaign development for their ideas. 

The participatory budgeting process at Tbilisi Public School #177 is part of the pilot programme launched in Georgia with Council of Europe support. It seeks to foster responsible, active citizenship from an early age, enabling students to propose, debate, and select projects that directly address their needs, while learning about human rights and participatory processes.

In the next steps, verified project proposals will be presented for student voting, and winning projects will be included in the school budget for implementation. The projects will undergo monitoring by students and the school committee, ensuring transparency and accountability at every stage.

By engaging students in shaping their environment and decision-making structures, the initiative contributes to a culture of democratic participation in schools and beyond.

The training is implemented by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe under the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2024-2027 with support from the International Partnerships Austria, in the framework of the project “Advancing Participatory and Human Rights-Based Local Democracy in Georgia”.