Barcelona has approved its Citizen Participation Plan 2026–2028, a new roadmap designed to strengthen democratic participation, expand access to civic engagement and foster democratic innovation across the city. Building on Barcelona's long-standing commitment to participatory governance, the plan aims to consolidate and improve the city's participation model through a comprehensive framework of measures that place citizens at the centre of public decision-making.

With an investment of 3.63 million euros, the plan brings together 46 actions structured around three strategic pillars: open participation, diverse and universal participation, and innovative participation. Together, these measures seek to improve existing participation mechanisms, facilitate access to municipal participation channels for all residents and promote new forms of digital and hybrid participation.

A central objective of the plan is to strengthen the quality and effectiveness of participatory democracy. Under the pillar of open participation, Barcelona will reinforce existing participatory spaces and processes to ensure that citizens' contributions have a greater influence on public policies. Planned measures include a new edition of participatory budgeting, improvements to district-level participatory processes, the revision of neighbourhood assemblies and the simplification of citizen initiatives, making participation more transparent, accessible and impactful.

The plan also places particular emphasis on inclusion and equal access to participation. Through the pillar of diverse and universal participation, Barcelona seeks to remove barriers that prevent people from exercising their right to participate on equal terms. Measures include improving accessibility, promoting the participation of people from diverse social and cultural backgrounds and strengthening the involvement of children, adolescents and young people, notably through the creation of the new Barcelona Children and Teenagers' Council.

Democratic innovation is another key feature of the plan. Recognising the changing ways in which people engage with public institutions, Barcelona will further develop digital and hybrid participation tools to complement face-to-face processes. The city will strengthen the Decidim Barcelona platform as its main digital participation space, develop new hybrid participation formats and promote initiatives related to digital rights and democratic innovation. The plan also reinforces citizen stewardship and civic management, encouraging non-profit organisations to play a greater role in the use and management of municipal facilities and assets.

For OIDP, this initiative is particularly relevant. Barcelona’s new Citizen Participation Plan demonstrates how local governments can continue to innovate in democratic governance by strengthening participation as a fundamental right and ensuring that public institutions remain open, inclusive and responsive to their communities.

The success of the plan will ultimately depend on its implementation. Beyond the number of actions it contains, its ambition lies in its capacity to strengthen democratic culture, broaden participation across all sectors of society and ensure that citizens can meaningfully contribute to the policies that shape their city. In this sense, Barcelona's Citizen Participation Plan represents another important step towards building a more participatory, inclusive and democratic city.

To learn more about the Citizen Participation Plan 2026–2028, read the official news article here

You can also access the full document, available in English here