On 15 April, 2025, within the framework of the “Budgets for Citizens” project, participants of the second stream of the training programme aimed at transferring budgetary knowledge to young specialists met with the Czech expert of the project Ms Jana Stehnová.

The meeting was held in a question and answer format, which was aimed to familiarize the young people with the international experience of participatory budgeting and the mechanisms used in the Czech Republic. The expert shared the fundamental approaches that contributed to the development and successful implementation of the participatory budgeting system in the European Union (EU) and especially in the Czech Republic.

The questions of the participants were mainly focused on three key topics: the role of civil society organizations in budget oversight at the international level, digital participation tools used in the EU and the Czech Republic, which can also be applied in Armenia, as well as the involvement of educational institutions in participatory budgeting education from the perspective of the EU and especially the Czech experience.

Notably, the discussion on the digital participation tools, which are successfully used by EU Member States, including the Czech Republic, and can be adapted and implemented in Armenia, taking into account the national context and specificities was noteworthy. Online platforms, applications and other digital solutions that promote the active participation of citizens in budgetary decision-making process were presented.

The expert presented in details the Czech experience and challenges, through which the country was able to achieve significant results in the field of participatory budgeting.

At the end of the meeting Jana Stehnová addressed the youth with a motivating speech, emphasizing the importance of uniting the society through small steps and forming a network of like-minded people as the most important prerequisite for the success of participatory budgeting.

The “Budgets 4 Citizens” (B4C) action (8 December, 2022 – 7 December, 2026) is being implemented with the financial support of the European Union by the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, in cooperation with partners “Economic Development and Research Center” (EDRC) NGO and “Agora Central Europe” NGO (Czech Republic).