Participatory Budgeting in Oulu in 2026–2027

The city of Oulu’s participatory budgeting is seeking ideas for improving the city and for improving the wellbeing and comfort of Oulu’s citizens. 

During Oulu’s year as the European Capital of Culture 2026, Participatory Budgeting is larger than ever. Oulu’s citizens’ ideas will be implemented with 500 000 €.   

Simultaneously, Participatory Budgeting transfers into a two-year process. In 2026, citizens of Oulu get to give out ideas and vote for their favorite proposals to be implemented. The year 2027 is reserved for implementing the ideas. 

Ideation is currently underway 

The Participatory Budgeting’s ideation period starts on Monday January 26, 2026. The period will last for three weeks and closes on February 15. You can send your ideas via the Osallistu Oulu website.  

“I encourage everyone to participate in the ideation. You can send ideas individually or with a group, for example, with your neighborhood or school class”, Interaction Designer Anne Kippola-Rinne says. 

Before sending ideas, please read through the Participatory Budgeting idea criteria. The ideas must be implementable by the city and fall under the city’s jurisdiction. 

You can read all the sent ideas on the Osallistu Oulu website. After the ideation period, the city will respond to all sent ideas on the website. 

The vote is held in the fall 

After the ideation period, all ideas that meet the criteria and are implementable will be developed into voting proposals by city specialists and different operators. 

“An implementation plan and a budget will be set for each voting proposal. At this point, ideas can be changed to make sure that they are implementable”, Kippola-Rinne explains. 

In the fall of 2026, citizens of Oulu get to choose by vote which ideas the city will implement. The proposals that receive the most votes and fit into the budget of 500 000 € will be implemented. 

The two-year model brings new opportunities 

In the two-year Participatory Budgeting process, the year 2027 is entirely reserved for implementations. Many large ideas require a lengthy planning phase before the actual implementation can begin.  

“The two-year process enables implementing winter-themed ideas too. Also, with the new schedule we can ensure that the ideas are carefully processed in the future too, even if the number of ideas increases”, Kippola-Rinne explains.  

The goal of Participatory Budgeting is to increase the influencing and participation opportunities of citizens as well as increase dialogue between the city and its citizens.