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Municipalities should involve and make more use of ordinary citizens’ capabilities in decision-making concerning municipal finance and its preparation. Experiments carried out by municipalities indicated (summary in English) that citizens are able to take a stand even on difficult economic issues when properly familiarised with the topics.
Sitra funded experiments in Turku, Jyväskylä, Salo, Pieksämäki, Merikarvia and Rautalampi 2023–2024. The randomly selected citizens’ panels addressed the most important financial challenges identified at different stages of the municipal financial planning process.
Based on their briefing, the citizens deliberated over budget balancing, strategic guidance and evaluation, and investments and the housing supply. The citizens’ panels made recommendations to decision-makers, including advocating long-term fiscal thinking, proposing new solutions and supporting decision-makers in finding acceptable savings targets.
“The panel’s statement validates official impact assessments on the consequences of savings. It brought certainty to the decision-making process that the estimates were correct also from the point of view of the city’s residents,” says Vesa Voutilainen, Director of Finance of the City of Jyväskylä, about the benefits of the experiment.
“Panel work is suitable for problematic situations where the solutions are not clear. It also has the advantage of being distinctly non-political. In our view, it gives room to start from a clean slate in a solution-oriented manner,” says Anu Sepponen, Chief Executive, and Merja Koivula-Laukka, Administrative Director from the Municipality of Rautalampi.
The lessons learned from the experiments have now been brought together in one place for everyone to use. Sitra’s working paper (summary in English) presents the results of the experiments, previous experiences from Finland and abroad, and makes recommendations for municipalities.
Participation strengthens decision-making capacity and trust
“The role and economy of municipalities are undergoing a significant transformation. New solutions must be found locally. We need a shared mindset that becomes a reality in financial planning. Citizens can help here, as they can see the outcomes of the inputs and have experience of the combined impacts of the different measures on their daily lives,” says Sitra’s specialist Pauli Saloranta.
However, according to Sitra’s recent Futures Barometer, Finns are very pessimistic about their own influence at the local level. Only 16% of the respondents feel that they can participate sufficiently in debates about the future of the community where they live. Even fewer feel that they can influence the future.
“Experiments show that timely involvement of municipal residents in financial planning gives decision-makers the backing they need to make wise choices. It also strengthens people’s trust in their own municipality and society at large,” says Saloranta.
In a deliberative citizens panel, a randomly selected group of ordinary citizens familiarise themselves with a topical policy issue and prepare a position paper on it. The panel produces a considered, informed public opinion to support the preparation and decision-making.
Sitra recommends that municipalities use a randomly selected, deliberative citizens’ panel to support their financial planning, especially on issues which affect a wide range of population groups and strongly divide opinions.
The key is to define the task clearly, familiarise the participants with the topic, identify the right time window and link the work to preparation, decision-making and evaluation. Future developments in implementation can reduce costs through the judicious use of outsourcing and the use of AI to support participation, for example.
“When citizens’ informed participation is seen as a resource in financial planning, it will strengthen the decision-making capacity of municipalities, support their self-government and increases people’s trust in government,” Saloranta concludes.
Sitra has launched two new funding calls for public sector actors to strengthen decision-making at all levels of public administration by introducing and consolidating new methods of civic participation.
Read more:
Sitra’s funding calls: Increase citizens’ participation in decision-making in new ways
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