School Participatory Budgeting (SPB) was introduced for the first time in Georgia, engaging more than 900 students, teachers and members of school administration. It helped the members of two school communities to learn about democratic participation, community engagement, identifying community needs, designing feasible projects, developing budgets, planning communication activities, and organising elections in line with democratic principles.

Both schools demonstrated remarkable interest and enthusiasm. More than 300 students registered across the three training cycles, and participants highlighted that SPB helped them understand how decisions about school life can be made collaboratively and transparently.

As a final stage, during the MeetUp sessions, students from each school presented their project ideas to their peers and wider school communities. The proposed creative initiatives included establishing a school movie club, creating bicycle parking infrastructure, developing a healthy lifestyle app, and other ideas aimed at improving school and community life. SPB was widely promoted in both schools through visibility actions (such as videos, posters, face-to-face meetings) designed by students. As a result, more than 900 students showed up to vote to their preferred projects in both schools during elections.

Six winning projects (universal space in the school, open class - learning in an open space, media studio, improvements to the sport’s space, boardgames space and movie club) will be implemented between February and April 2026 in Tbilisi and Zestaponi schools with funding provided either by the school budget (Tbilisi) or through municipal allocation (Zestaponi).

More than 90% of participating students now consider human rights principles such as participation, equality, transparency, and non-discrimination as essential elements for community projects.

The SPB cycle also fostered behavioural change among students - they became more proactive, confident in presenting their ideas, and motivated to participate in school and community life. Next year, the project will assess behavioral changes among students, teachers and school administration more in depth.

The piloting of School Participatory Budgeting marks an important milestone for civic education in Georgia, demonstrating how empowering students with real decision-making opportunities can strengthen democratic culture in schools and communities.

This activity was organised in the framework 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 as part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2024-2027, with the support of International Partnerships Austria.