Participatory budgeting and grant making course

This article was featured in the SCDC Weekly - 25th March 2026

How can participatory budgeting and grant making support community empowerment? This course from Fife College explores that question, and ways to improve your practice and experiences for others in the future.

Participatory budgeting is a way for people to directly decide how local money should be spent and is used across Scotland to support community-led decision making.

The course, delivered via distance learning, will help you develop skills to bring people together to explore their priorities, and innovative approaches to budgeting.

You will also learn how to help build empowered communities, and tackle the barriers to participation some people and groups face.

By the end of the course, you will understand PB's context and benefits, identify different ways to involve people equally, and investigate what PB looks like near you.

This course is fully-funded if you are currently volunteering, or working in the community - with around 30-40 hours of self-directed study required to complete the course.