Georgia

In Georgia, there are no legal obligations for PB at the national level. All processes are based on local law of the municipal authorities (mayors). The regulations are in most cases developed by working groups, which include representatives of the mayor office, sometimes also councils (Sakrebulo) and nongovernmental organizations.

In 2019 certification of BP processes for Georgian municipalities was conducted for the first time. The idea of certification is cyclical in order to help authorities improve PB processes. The criteria were developed on the basis of PB Standards by a consortium of organizations and institutions working for participation in Georgia.

Standards were developed in 2018 by a group of Georgian activists and representatives of municipalities under the umbrella of Polish-Georgian cooperation as a result of multiannual efforts to introduce the Participatory Budget (PB) mechanism in Georgia. Joining the certification was voluntary. Nine municipalities have applied. 8 of them received a certificate together with recommendations on how to improve the process.

The Participatory Budgeting in Georgia has a methodology inspired mainly by the polish model. The first process was conducted in 2015 with the support of polish experts and The Other Space organization. Nowadays the processes are supported by various organizations and benefactors from other countries.

The Georgian experience was presented in Ukraine and some solutions were an inspiration for local governments.

1. PB have been suspended: 20%
2. PB continued to function normally: 30%
3. PB have undergone changes/adaptations: 50%

The pandemic had adverse effects on Georgian local selfgovernments, in particular the economic sector, which have significantly reduced local budgets and caused financial problems. The situation affected Participatory Budgeting processes as well. Most municipalities declared their willingness to continue the implementation of PB. However, most processes were suspended because a state of emergency was imposed in Georgia. The changes mainly concern schedules - postponement of start dates, the processes themselves or the extension of individual stages. Few municipalities switched from face-to-face meetings to on-line meetings.

However, there is a concern that the economic crisis that will affect local government budgets will also affect PB processes which we will be able to see more clearly in the near future. In particular, this will reduce the amount of money allocated to PB and the implementation of projects from previous editions. Some of them have been delayed, others have been postponed to another year. There is also a risk that several will not be executed. Nevertheless, it should be mentioned that despite the pandemic and its effects in 2020 new PB processes began in Georgia.

The scale of the Participatory Budgeting in Georgia may still seem small. Among 69 units of local government 10 implemented or continued PB in 2019. They were: Akhaltsikhe, Batumi, Gori, Kutaisi, Mestia, Ozurgeti, Poti, Sighnaghi, Tskaltubo, Zugdidi. It should however be remembered that some of them covered not only cities but also the entire municipality which includes more than dozens of villages.

However, there is a growing tendency to implement PB in cities, due to the fact that in villages there are implemented other tools, very close to PB, called “village support program”. The village support program was restored with new regulation on January 1, 2019. This process is more formal. It’s regulated through the ordinance of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia. The first time was implemented in 2015 and stopped after a few years. In this program the money is allocated from the national budget to the municipalities.

Based on the information received from the LEPL - National Statistics Office of Georgia on the number of populations each village the Ministry calculates for them the specified amount. This amount is then managed by the population during the general assemblies (up to 500 inhabitants) of the respective settlements or consultations with the registered voters, according to the criteria defined by the ordinance. Only small infrastructure projects may be implemented under this program. Submitted projects can be co-financed from other sources of funding (from international or donor organizations, from the municipal budget or from other funds permitted by law). In 2019 more than 3000 villages took part in this program.

Meetings (general assemblies) and project selection must be completed by March 1st. Therefore, the coronavirus pandemic did not affect this program. Project implementation may also be extended or delayed.

After the first experience with Participatory Budgeting (started in 2015) and “getting used to” this tool there are attempts at local modifications of earned models or creating new forms of participation based on PB. Innovation and increasing the involvement of residents are sought. For example, in Poti, PB was created at the city level dedicated to young people (2019). A completely new voting methodology has been used in Ozergetii. Every resident’s voice has a value of a certain amount of money, in other words each resident voting has a specified sum of money (around 29 EUR). The projects that will be selected for implementation are those which collect the necessary funds - votes of residents, corresponding to the amount of the project cost.

Zugdidi initiated the PB-based process, which was called the “green budget”. The purpose of this process is creating green spaces and recreation areas, which aims to improve the ecological situation throughout the city. In order to participate, it is necessary to create an initiative group in your own neighborhood that submit projects covering estimated costs. For the whole process a certain amount of money was allocated, but the authorities provide 95 percent co-financing submitted projects. In addition, “standard” BP is carried out (2020).