Participatory budgeting for children and young people
Tuusula’s seventh round of participatory budgeting began in autumn 2025 and will run until the end of 2027. This round will take the form of participatory budgeting for children and young people.
Participatory budgeting, or PB, is a way for residents to get involved and have a say in how public funds are spent. In PB, residents come up with ideas, work with local authority experts to develop them, vote on which projects to implement, and get involved in carrying out the projects.
Children and Young People’s Budget 2025–2027
Participatory budgeting for children and young people gave residents of Tuusula under the age of 18 a voice and the power to make decisions. Through the participatory budgeting process, children and young people were able to influence and come up with ideas for initiatives or projects that would enhance well-being and quality of life in Tuusula, as well as vote on which successful proposals would be implemented. The Children and Young People’s Osbu is part of the Child-Friendly Municipality initiative and supports the implementation of the Agenda 2030 goals for basic education at the municipal level.
The total budget available for children and young people across the municipality is €150,000, which is allocated among the different areas. The general deterioration in the economic situation is also challenging the municipality of Tuusula to curb expenditure growth and balance its finances through various means. The Osbu allocation has been reduced by €50,000 from the original amount due to the economic situation.
The available budget is allocated between the municipality as a whole and the individual districts in proportion to the number of children, as follows:
- Kellokoski €12,000
- Riihikallio €12,000
- Jokela (including Jäniksenlinna, Laululaakso, Purola and Vanhakylä) €16,000
- Villages in South Tuusula: €20,000
- Hyrylä €30,000
- Tuusula as a whole: €60,000
You can view the proposals that are being implemented on the online participation platform.
The stages of the Osbun process for children and young people
The Children and Young People’s Budget began with a call for ideas on 29 September 2025 and culminated in the voting results announced on 22 May 2026. The projects selected will be enjoyed right up until the end of 2027.
Call for ideas: 29 September – 19 October 2025
All school pupils under the age of 18 in Tuusula were eligible to take part, regardless of their home municipality. The brainstorming took place on the online platform at osallistu.tuusula.fi, which pupils accessed using their MPASSid credentials (edu credentials). Another login option was strong authentication, i.e. a bank ID or mobile certificate (Suomi.fi).
As well as via the online platform, ideas could also be submitted during the OSBU lessons and on the OSBU tour. The tour travelled around Tuusula for three weeks, visiting schools, youth centres, libraries and events organised by local associations, amongst other places.
The criteria for a good idea were:
- To enhance well-being or the quality of the living environment.
- Draws on a wider pool.
- It may be local or apply to the whole municipality.
- The minimum cost of a single idea must be at least €5,000.
Further development of ideas: January–March 2026
Once the ideas had been evaluated, the detailed planning and development of the ideas began. All children and young people, as well as the organisations working with them, were invited to take part in the Osbu workshops to plan how the ideas would be implemented and work out the details.
In addition to the workshops, people could share their thoughts on how to implement an idea or discuss the evaluation of ideas by calling the OSBU number. It was also possible to get in touch via the WhatsApp app.
From 12 to 15 March 2026, Digiraati offered an opportunity to further develop ideas deemed promising online. The topics discussed by the panel included various events, but participants were also free to choose ideas that interested them to develop further.
Voting: 6–20 May 2026
The participatory budgeting round for children and young people (osbu) culminated in the voting stage. This time, only children and young people were eligible to vote. During the voting period from 6 to 20 May 2026, all Tuusula residents under the age of 18 and pupils attending schools in Tuusula were able to vote in a variety of ways:
- in early years education, with the support of the adults in the groups
- in schools, during lessons led by teachers
- in open voting workshops
- Take part online via the participation platform osallistu.tuusula.fi.
The proposals were available to view on the Tuusula participation platform and in the ‘Osbu Proposals 2026’ leaflet distributed to departments. It was also possible to view the proposals without logging in.
Once the voting period had ended, it became clear which of the proposals most favoured by children and young people would be implemented. The voting results will be announced on 22 May 2026 at 13:00 during a live broadcast on the Tuusula municipality’s YouTube channel. A recording of the broadcast will be available to view afterwards.
To be implemented by the end of 2027
The ideas that receive the most votes will be put into practice. All the winning ideas from the vote will be implemented by the end of 2027. All interested residents, organisations, associations, communities and businesses will be invited to participate in the implementation.
Follow the progress of the projects from summer 2026 onwards on the Tuusula participation platform and keep an eye out for upcoming Osbu events in the Tuusula events calendar.
Follow Osbu content on social media using the hashtags #Tuusula and #LastenJaNuortenOsbu.
Links and further information
Email address for participation: osallisuus@tuusula.fi.
Community Manager Katja Repo, katja.repo@tuusula.fi, 040 314 3048.
Osbu telephone: 040 314 3047 (open weekdays from 9 am to 4 pm).
This content has been translated using AI