Malaga Declaration

As a result of the work carried out between the 28th and 31st of March 2007 in Malaga, and taking as reference the conclusions of the conference on Participatory Budgeting held by FAL in Nairobi, we have constituted ourselves as the Participatory Democracy and Participatory Budgeting Working Group of the FAL Network.

1. We support Participatory Democracy as an alternative to the current deterioration of institutions and citizenship which has resulted from neo-liberal globalization. The fierce intervention of the market in the collective sphere means it is necessary to take measures in order to strengthen citizenship and public institutions.

2. We understand the development of Participatory Democracy to be a process of constructing active citizenry. Participatory Budgeting must be one tool of articulation amongst other mechanisms of participatory planning.

3. We believe that Participatory Budgeting in this light must therefore include the following elements:

- Self-regulation.
- Binding.
- Election of delegates subject to the binding mandate/rulings of the assembly.
- Based on spaces for deliberation (forums) that precede the assembly process
- Direct Democracy (one man, one woman, one vote).
- With monitoring systems of approved proposals and social comptrolling.
- Accountability.
- Directed towards social inclusion and overcoming inequalities.
- Including training in order to enable citizens to take a greater role and ownership of the process.
- Putting the institution and its administrative machinery at the service of the process.

4. Given the widespread growth of experiences with participatory budgeting, we are concerned about the development of a methodology which is not framed with the aim of mobilising citizens and transforming society.

5. In this first meeting, we have started a network which aims to build over time and which has the following aims:

- The exchange of knowledge and information about processes between FAL municipalities.
- Developing a political definition of Participatory Democracy processes, as well as identifying the indicators of social and institutional transformation that stems from these processes.
- Developing and promoting those models that link decentralized cooperation between municipalities with the processes of Participatory Democracy that this cooperation develops.
- To share these proposals in wider contexts, in particular with the Commission on Social Inclusion and Participatory Democracy (CSIP) within the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) network, as well as within the FAL Agenda.