Children's Participatory Budgeting for a Net Zero Future

2025 Children‘s Participatory Budgeting for a Net Zero Future combines smart energy conservation and children's participatory budgeting to transform sustainability education into a hands-on and meaningful learning experience. Rather than passively receiving environmental knowledge, children are encouraged to become active participants in public affairs by identifying community issues, developing ideas, discussing solutions, and taking part in decision-making processes.
Implemented across coastal municipalities in Miaoli County, Taiwan, the project established a comprehensive participation framework that included proposal workshops, capacity-building courses, public voting, and project implementation. Through outreach programs conducted in 10 educational institutions, more than 1,500 elementary school students explored topics such as energy conservation, carbon reduction, responsible consumption, resource reuse, and sustainable lifestyles. The initiative transformed sustainability education from classroom learning into real-life experiences connected to everyday life and local communities.
Children's participatory budgeting enabled students to move beyond traditional learning models and experience how public ideas are discussed, prioritized, and translated into action. Supported by teachers and facilitators, participants observed challenges within their daily lives, proposed solutions, and explored ways to create positive change within their communities. More importantly, children were not only invited to share opinions; they were given opportunities to participate in decision-making by helping determine which proposals would move forward for implementation. Through this process, they experienced the full journey from discussion and deliberation to decision-making and action.
The project generated 16 sustainability proposals developed by children. Through a public voting process involving 528 participants, three proposals were selected and transformed into real community actions, including a second-hand charity market, food-saving educational campaigns, and reusable cup advocacy initiatives. From proposal development and voting to implementation, children witnessed how their ideas could become tangible outcomes and contribute to community improvement.
The initiative also incorporated youth mentorship programs, community partnerships, and public engagement activities that encouraged intergenerational learning and collaboration. By transforming children from policy recipients into active civic participants, the project demonstrates how sustainability education can empower young people to help shape more sustainable communities while supporting SDGs 4, 8,10,11, 12, 13, 16, and 17.