More information
Description
The research conducted in Świdnin (Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeship) showed that over 62% of the adults and 71% of the youth are in no way involved in any form of civic activity for the sake of their community, despite having opinions and ideas on how the city should develop. Among the reasons for this situation, the respondents list an unattractive offer on behalf of the local NGOs and a low sense of agency. On the other hand, Świdnin has 48 registered organization and at least 10 of them are active. Their offer, however, is poorly promoted and mostly unknown to the community. We believe the city lacks public consultations and debates that would activate the citizens and increase the chances for their ideas to be realized. In the process of addressing these issues we want to begin a collaboration between the citizens of Świdnin, the local government and the third sector. We will conduct four meetings using the world cafe format, where we will provide a space for the citizens to meet and discuss the needs of their town and the ways to become a part of working on its behalf. Fifteen selected individuals will take part in a design process that aims at working out initial concepts for new initiatives for the city, such as potential proposals for the civic budget. The report from the process will be passed along to the local government. What is more, we will conduct two workshops for the local activists and a festival for the NGOs from Świdnin that will promote civic engagement and will increase the visibility of the individual organizations. Świdnin City Hall is our project partner. It will provide us with access to office space and will support our outreach to the citizens. Involvement of the local government will be an important step in building regular communication between the City Hall, the citizens, and the NGOs.
Summary of project results
Project "Shared City" aimed to involve the residents of Świdwin in civic actions. We carried out two parallel initiatives.As part of the first one ("Active Residents"), we conducted the largest civic engagement campaign in the history of Świdwin, reaching a large number of households. Using the World Café format, we invited representatives from different groups to discuss the needs of the residents. This initiative consisted of four meetings, each targeting a different group: youth, seniors, representatives of neighborhood councils, and cultural community members. All events were highly popular, and the last one had an overwhelming number of participants, surpassing available seats. Topics discussed included participatory budgeting, which generated the most interest among young people and council representatives. Additionally, participants took part in workshops to learn about the main principles of Design Thinking, aiming to develop preliminary concepts for grassroots initiatives.The second initiative ("Strong NGOs") provided support to locally active volunteers and strengthened cooperation between the city, residents, and the third sector. Through training sessions ("Project Approach" and "Online Tools for NGOs"), we enhanced their skills, making it easier for them to lead grassroots initiatives. Moreover, we organized an NGO Festival and a photo session to promote the organizations and professionalize the image of the third sector. We are pleased that representatives of the Świdwin authorities also participated in the Festival.Most importantly, thanks to the project, we initiated genuine dialogue on civic matters. The implemented actions successfully activated the residents of Świdwin. The evaluation surveys also indicate that we improved the skills of third-sector professionals in diagnosing needs and creating project concepts. The workshops for organizations served as a good starting point for integrating the third sector and fostering networking. This resulted in smaller initiatives being jointly undertaken by project participants.
.
.