The objective of this paper is to reflect on the participation process in participatory budgeting (PB) by analysing its educational value for those directly involved in the process. Although there is a lack of research concerning the European PB experiences, some researches have been made regarding South American experiences (Fedozzi, 1997; Pontual, 2000; Gret & Sintomer, 2002; Herbert, 2003) that have stressed the educational potential in this process. According to these authors, learning and personal impact on the many actors involved should be verified, e.g., what they have learned concerning the exercise of active citizenship, new ideas about the public space, new technical and political knowledge and new behaviour standards for the pursuit of democratic public management.

On the other hand, research stresses the relations between citizens active participation in society, higher involvement in political issues and the increase of confidence in political powers, but also the idea that the process of  empowering citizens to political involvement implies the need to strengthen their self-confidence. Grounded on the concept of empowerment developed by some authors (Putnam, 2000; Menezes, 2007) and concerned with understanding how different practices are differently empowering, the question being addressed in this study is what impact the participation in the PB process has towards the empowerment and development of citizenship and political skills of those involved, paying particular attention to the dimensions of civic and political trust, self-efficacy, interest and satisfaction with democracy.

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