Helsinki Participatory Budgeting – OmaStadi’s Climate Applications

OmaStadi is Helsinki’s participatory budgeting (PB) initiative, allowing residents to propose, refine, and vote on projects funded by the city. A key innovation is the OmaStadi card game, which gamifies the process, making participation more accessible and engaging. Through this initiative, citizens directly shape their city's future while learning about budgeting and decision-making in an interactive way.

The OmaStadi PB process is divided into five stages:

1. Proposal Submission: Open to all residents aged 13 and above.
2. Assessment and Cost Calculation: Ensured feasibility and alignment with city priorities.
3. Voting: Conducted both digitally and in physical locations, with multilingual materials.
4. Co-creation: Refinement of proposals through collaboration between city staff and residents.
5. Implementation: Projects are implemented by the city, with €8.8 million (2024), distributed across seven regions based on population size.

In the 2023–2024 cycle, climate was one of the thematic emphases. The city provided tailored support to encourage quality climate proposals, while keeping the process open to all topics.

Projects funded through OmaStadi support the city's commitment to environmental goals, like reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Concrete examples of proposals include enhancements to biodiversity through wildflower meadows, funding of bee-friendly plantings, and restoration of waterways. Other proposals include promoting renewable energy resources in public lightning and building citizen-led initiatives that promote green infrastructure and ecological restoration. OmaStadi ensures inclusivity and resident participation in Helsinki’s climate efforts.

Helsinki collaborated with multiple stakeholders to ensure inclusivity and effectiveness:

• NGOs and community organizations supported outreach efforts and helped engage diverse groups.
• Local schools facilitated youth participation through special voting codes and school-based engagement activities.
• City departments worked together to assess and reach out for different citizen to  implement proposals.

To ensure broad engagement, Helsinki implemented an extensive communication strategy. OmaStadi contributes to inclusivity and promotes resident participation in the city’s climate efforts:

• Multilingual Outreach: Materials were available in seven languages to reach a diverse audience.
• Digital Tools: An online platform facilitated proposals and voting, making participation more accessible.
• Gamified Participation: The OmaStadi game simplified PB concepts and encouraged creative input.
• Inclusive Events: Workshops and community meetings ensured accessibility and widespread engagement.

Helsinki allocated €8.8 million to the initiative in 2024, distributed among the city’s regions based on population size. Additional resources included staff support, digital platform development, and partnerships with community organizations.

The participatory budgeting initiative led to measurable and meaningful outcomes:

• 138,000+ residents participated, demonstrating strong civic engagement.
• Record-breaking engagement across demographic groups.
• Diverse, multilingual, and youth-inclusive participation.
• 1,532 proposals were submitted, out of which 164 projects were implemented.
• Improved trust and cooperation between citizens and city authorities.
• Strengthened community ownership of sustainability topics.
• OmaStadi’s climate-related proposals acted as catalysts for behavioral and policy shifts within city departments.

The initiative faced several challenges specific to Helsinki’s reality and is innovative process:

• Digital Divide: Ensuring participation from non-digital citizens required additional resources. Mitigated through in-person options and outreach.
• Complexity: Some residents struggled with understanding PB processes and climate themes. Required guidance to help citizens formulate viable proposals.
• Engagement Fatigue: Sustaining long-term interest in the initiative posed challenges. Continued communication and involvement needed.
• Feasibility Constraints – Some resident proposals couldn’t be implemented due to technical or legal limitations.

A general PB framework can successfully host climate-focused processes, provided dedicated encouragement, support, and visibility are integrated without limiting the open nature of the platform.

Helsinki’s PB process offers a replicable model for cities worldwide:

Key Features: Digital tools, multilingual communication, and inclusive co-creation.

Lessons Learned:

• Simplify processes, provide adequate support for proposal development, and invest in targeted outreach to underserved communities.
• Use open-topic PB with strategic thematic prompts, such as climate.
• Leverage gamified engagement to lower participation barriers.
• Provide clear support mechanisms and multilingual access.
• Embed PB into broader city strategies for sustainability and innovation.

Helsinki’s OmaStadi initiative illustrates how participatory budgeting can be both inclusive and strategic. While the process remains open to a wide range of citizen interests, climate change has become a visible and effective focus area. This dual approach—broad and thematic—offers a replicable model for democratic innovation and local climate leadership.

• OmaStadi Official Website
• City of Helsinki – Participatory Budgeting
• GCOM Journey Overview

Kirsi Verkka
Participatory budgeting development manager
City of Helsinki
E: kirsi.verkka@hel.fi