You can decide how the city of Oulu spends 240 000 € – vote in Participatory Budgeting

Citizens of Oulu get to vote for their favorite ideas in the city of Oulu’s participatory budgeting. There are 61 voting proposals based on the citizens’ ideas. You can vote for your favorites for three weeks from April 28 until May 18, 2025, on the Osallistu Oulu website. 

There are many diverse proposals up for vote located all over the city and directed at citizens of different ages. 

“I encourage everyone to take a look at the voting proposals. There are familiar ideas and also brand-new and surprising proposals. Everyone will surely find something to vote for,” city of Oulu’s Interaction Designer Anne Kippola-Rinne explains.  

Voting takes place on the Osallistu Oulu website 

All citizens of Oulu starting from middle schoolers get to vote. Everyone may vote for a maximum of eight proposals. The city will implement the proposals that receive the most votes and fit into the total budget of 240 000 €. 

You may vote online by registering with your bank information or mobile certificate. Students in the city of Oulu’s schools may also vote with their school accounts. 

More detailed voting instructions can be found on the Osallistu Oulu website. The website also includes contact information which you can use if you have questions regarding voting or using the website. 

The city responded to every idea 

In January, citizens of Oulu came up with ideas for how the city should spend the 240 000 €. 

After the ideation phase, the ideas were processed by different city of Oulu sectors and specialists. 

Ideas that could be implemented and met the Participatory Budgeting criteria have been further developed into voting proposals. 

All the ideas have been processed and noted, including the ones that did not proceed to the vote. The city has responded to each individual idea on the Osallistu Oulu website. 

The goal of Participatory Budgeting is to increase the citizens’ influencing and participation opportunities as well as increase dialogue between the city and its citizens. 
 
Ideas have already been implemented for the benefit of the citizens of Oulu with half a million euros since 2018.