From 2025, every municipality in Latvia must implement a participatory budget. To provide residents with a convenient and accessible way to get involved in this process, the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development (VARAM) has developed a participatory budgeting platform, which is available on the website GeoLatvija.lv. It allows residents to submit ideas and vote on projects that have already been developed in their municipality.
The platform was created as part of the Recovery Fund (RF) project* and gives every Latvian resident the opportunity to actively participate in improving their local environment. Residents can propose various projects, such as the creation of children's playgrounds, the development of sports infrastructure, the installation of benches, or the implementation of other initiatives that are important to the community. The platform also allows users to sign up for notifications so that they can find out in good time when the project submission and voting period begins.
If a project receives enough votes, the local government will implement it. This gives residents the opportunity to influence decision-making and improve their environment.
Participatory budgeting is increasingly becoming a daily tool for residents to bring about change in their city or municipality. Since January 1, 2025, more than 500 projects have been submitted to the platform, with a total of more than 39,000 votes cast. The results show that residents want to be actively involved in improving their environment.
This year, competitions have already been held in 16 municipalities: Aizkraukle, Bauska, Jelgava, Jēkabpils, Krāslava, Lūdzas, Olaine, Ropaži, Saldus, Saulkrasti, and Tukums municipalities, as well as Daugavpils, Jūrmala, Liepāja, Rēzekne, and Ventspils municipalities.
At the same time, as part of the RF project, VARAM organized two online seminars for local government representatives in the first half of 2025 on the functionality of the participatory budgeting platform, the latest improvements, and its practical use in promoting citizen engagement. Another seminar is planned for the fall to share experiences and updates on the use of the platform
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* Recovery Fund Project No. 2.1.2.1.i.0/1/23/I/VARAM/012 "Development and implementation of a shared platform for participatory budget management"
