Citizens' Budget closing event on 23 October

The first Maastricht citizens' budget will come to an end on Sunday 23 October. During the closing event at the Muziekgieterij (1.00 pm - 6.00 pm), residents will decide how 300.000 euros of municipal government money will be spent. The money can be given to 65 projects conceived and submitted by residents themselves. Earlier, Maastricht residents chose five themes to be reflected in the project proposals and allocated a budget to each theme. Residents will decide together at the closing event which of the 65 projects will receive funding and can be implemented.

Manon Fokke, member of the municipal executive: “We are overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and involvement of residents in this first edition. The experiment leaves us wanting more. That's why we will continue Citizens' Budget Maastricht in the years to come and expand the organisation and budget.”

Round 3: project submission

In July and August this year, residents submitted 113 project proposals. 23 projects proved not feasible, 25 submitters decided to withdraw their proposal for various reasons (lack of support within the neighbourhood, submitter did not have time to elaborate the project proposal themselves or several project were combined into one application). 65 project proposals were found to be feasible. The municipal executive decided to allow these 65 proposals to proceed to round 4. The projects for round 4 can be found on the website www.burgerbegrotingmaastricht.nl/en

 The table below shows the 5 themes, the available budget, the projects submitted and the total budget.

Vacancy and empty sites

Only 1 feasible and viable project was submitted for the vacancy theme (budget: €15,000). The municipal executive decided to divide the remainder of the budget for this theme proportionally among the other four themes (see table). The four theme budgets are thus increased by 3,750 euros each.

Round 4: closing event

People can vote for the projects at the closing event (1.00 pm - 6.00 pm, Muziekgieterij) on 23 October. Registration for the event is compulsory and can be done via www.burgerbegrotingmaastricht.nl/en. The event will be conducted in Dutch, but information about the projects will be offered in English.

What's next

All projects will have 1 point of contact at the municipality. The projects that are chosen must be implemented within a year.  The Maastricht Citizens' Budget will have a second edition in 2023. The launch of the second edition will be announced on the website www.burgerbegrotingmaastricht.nl/en.