Proposals of up to €40 thousand can be submitted by citizens aged 18 or over who live, work or study in the municipality. According to the Algarve City Council, €10 thousand of the total budget are set aside for the OP Faro-Schools.

The projects most voted by citizens will be winners until the funds are exhausted, and each parish or union of parishes will always have at least one winning project. Each participant may only submit one proposal in December via the Faro PB portal (https://op.cm-faro.pt/).

In accordance with the regulations, voting will take place in March 2025 and each participant will be able to vote for two different projects. In April 2025, the winning projects will be announced, which will be implemented over a maximum period of two years.

A total of €821,324.87 have been allocated to this initiative and eight of the 25 winning projects in the various editions of the Faro PB, which began in 2020, have already been finalised. The Faro Schools PB obtained the participation of all school groups and projects were approved in the municipality’s nine schools (3rd cycle and secondary).

Last April, a community art project, which aimed to involve artists, residents and students, was the most voted of the seven winners of the fourth edition of the Faro PB (2023-2024), with a total investment of €265,933. Budgeted at €17,220, the application “Bairro Pintado”, presented by Filipe Alves, received 336 votes at the time and consisted of developing an artistic project for the access staircase to the Vale de Carneiros primary school and access ramps to the Penha Park, in the city of Faro.

Through the PBs, local councils aim to give the citizens of the municipality a voice, inviting them to submit proposals and ideas for their parish or municipality, to prioritise public investments.