Premises for sustainability – participatory budgeting as a way to construct collaborative innovation capacity in local government

Purpose In this paper, the authors focus on participatory budgeting (PB) as an organizational issue in local government. The aim of this study is to analyze the premises of PB becoming institutionalized in local governance by scrutinizing the factors that enable or disable PB as a collaborative innovation process, and that in turn build innovative capacity. The authors study how the collaborative innovation process constructs the innovation capacity of local government and further how this enables PB to institutionalize in local government. With this study, the authors deepen the understanding of PB as a collaborative innovation process that may encounter obstacles and hindrances, but also enablers and drivers for creating and transforming sustainable collaborative practices in local government. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors present a case study from one Finnish local government, the city of Lahti. The authors employ multifaced empirical data collected from the city of Lahti in two PB rounds between 2019 and 2022. Data include surveys for citizens and employees and municipal councilors and altogether 24 interviews with employees and councilors. The authors also gathered data by observing the PB process in Lahti, taking parts in workshops and meetings between 2019 and 2022. Municipal documents were likewise used as data in this study. Findings The institutionalization of PB in a local government organization requires organizational innovation capacity, not only individuals who are keen, motived and committed to work on PB. However, the Lahti case shows that successful PB results from the citizens' viewpoint can on one hand be reached while simultaneously the sustainability of PB needs more organizational commitment and support that materializes into managerial activities. The authors found that adequate resourcing is a key question in the institutionalization of PB. Originality/value In the present study, the authors approach the often-neglected topic of PB from the professional viewpoint in public administration. The originality of the empirical setting is the multifaced data collection during the first two rounds of PB in Lahti. It is highly relevant to analyze PB in its early stages as the organizational difficulties and resistance are at the time at their highest. This study offers a unique perspective on to the initialization of a novel participatory method in a city where no such efforts on this scale have been implemented before.© Meri Pulkkinen, Lotta-Maria Sinervo and Kaisa Kurkela. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and noncommercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcodefi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Focus Localis ry kunnallistutkimuksen suunnannäyttäjänä 50 vuotta

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Redefining Local Self-Government: Finnish Municipalities Seeking Their Essence

acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Ajassa ja paikallisesti merkittävää tutkimusjulkaisemista : Kauan eläköön Focus Localis!

publishedVersionNon peer reviewe

Premises for sustainability – participatory budgeting as a way to construct collaborative innovation capacity in local government

Purpose: In this paper, the authors focus on participatory budgeting (PB) as an organizational issue in local government. The aim of this study is to analyze the premises of PB becoming institutionalized in local governance by scrutinizing the factors that enable or disable PB as a collaborative innovation process, and that in turn build innovative capacity. The authors study how the collaborative innovation process constructs the innovation capacity of local government and further how this enables PB to institutionalize in local government. With this study, the authors deepen the understanding of PB as a collaborative innovation process that may encounter obstacles and hindrances, but also enablers and drivers for creating and transforming sustainable collaborative practices in local government. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, the authors present a case study from one Finnish local government, the city of Lahti. The authors employ multifaced empirical data collected from the city of Lahti in two PB rounds between 2019 and 2022. Data include surveys for citizens and employees and municipal councilors and altogether 24 interviews with employees and councilors. The authors also gathered data by observing the PB process in Lahti, taking parts in workshops and meetings between 2019 and 2022. Municipal documents were likewise used as data in this study. Findings: The institutionalization of PB in a local government organization requires organizational innovation capacity, not only individuals who are keen, motived and committed to work on PB. However, the Lahti case shows that successful PB results from the citizens' viewpoint can on one hand be reached while simultaneously the sustainability of PB needs more organizational commitment and support that materializes into managerial activities. The authors found that adequate resourcing is a key question in the institutionalization of PB. Originality/value: In the present study, the authors approach the often-neglected topic of PB from the professional viewpoint in public administration. The originality of the empirical setting is the multifaced data collection during the first two rounds of PB in Lahti. It is highly relevant to analyze PB in its early stages as the organizational difficulties and resistance are at the time at their highest. This study offers a unique perspective on to the initialization of a novel participatory method in a city where no such efforts on this scale have been implemented before.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Ajassa ja paikallisesti merkittävää tutkimusjulkaisemista: – Kauan eläköön Focus Localis!

 &nbsp

Advancing public sector knowledge management : towards an understanding of knowledge formation in public administration

publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Selecting the Right Software for Supporting Participatory Budgeting in Local Government – Reviewing Suitable Solutions

Participatory Budgeting (PB) empowers the constituents to decide on how to spend a part of the public money. The citizens create proposals, which are then (if they are within the given rules of the PB) voted on by the public. It is believed that PBs strengthen democracy and increase the efficiency of public spending. Information and communication technology (ICT) can support these PB initiatives. There are several software solutions available for implementing a PB. However, picking the right solution is far from an easy task as the solutions are as diverse as the needs and possible requirements of administrations. This paper scrutinizes different solutions in aiming to provide support for aspiring municipalities in selecting the right PB software. The following work sheds light on the differences between the available software solutions. First, we shortly describe the applications and then lay out the tested capabilities of the software. Afterward, we show the fulfillment level of these capabilities and present an excel tool for making individual, informed decisions. The paper is concluded with a description of the tool selection process in two Finnish municipalities.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Onnistunut osallistuva budjetointi - mitä, miten ja kenelle?

publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Perceived usability of local government (LG) financial statements by local councillors: Comparative study of Finland and Germany

acceptedVersionPeer reviewe