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Description
For years we have been engaging inhabitants of Łódź in activities for their area, neighbourhood, and community, we have been organising activation programmes, social consultations, and offering micro-grants for local projects. But at the same time, we can see that the urban environment often promotes anonymity and isolation, especially in housing estates with high rise buildings. The pandemic has further strengthened the problem – people often close themselves at homes, and do not trust strangers.We will change that by organising six Neighbour Activity Zones (Strefa Aktywności Sąsiedzkiej - SAS), the vision of which was created in the course of talks to Łódź inhabitants in 2020. Thanks to our partner – the Municipal Library of Łódź – we will engage six library branches in Łódź willing to establish and run SAS there. We will organise a cycle of meetings for library employees and local leaders to work on the SAS plan of action, and will try to diagnose local needs, specific tools needed for social work, and ways to engage local community. In this we will be supported by our second partner, Polsk-Norsk Forening Razem=Sammen organisation of Norway, which has vast experience in cooperating with libraries on initiatives integrating various inhabitant groups.For each of six branches, we will analyse needs and resources, we will find out who lives there, who is already active and can help us reach others. In each zone we will conduct one local initiative addressing the diagnosed needs and implementing ideas of its inhabitants. We will organise a Neighbour Forum inviting residents, local leaders and city activists to talk about social activity, challenges related to it, and tools needed to work in the local environment. We will also publish a ‘How to create a SAS’ guide for other institutions in Poland, describing the model, as well as key examples and experience of our project in Łódź.
Summary of project results
For years we have been involving the citizens and residents of Łódź in activities for their neighbourhood, carrying out animation programmes, community consultations and awarding micro-grants for local projects. In the course of these activities, we have observed that big city often fosters anonymity and isolation, especially in housing estates with so-called ''block housing''. The pandemic further highlighted this problem - people often lock themselves in their homes and are distrustful of strangers.
For these reasons, our aim was to involve residents in activities for their neighbourhood and local community. It was important to create a space where people could not only participate in a variety of events, but also be active organisers of them. Experience has shown us that libraries are the places that attract the local community by organising a variety of cultural and educational events, and that it is cooperation with these institutions that can prove crucial. There was also a need to change the approach of library staff to working with residents, to open them up to cooperation with the local community and to equip them with knowledge and skills in community animation.
As part of the project, we involved residents in the creation of Neighbourhood Activity Zones (SAS) in cooperation with city libraries in Lodz. We focused on animation education, expert support and the organisation of inclusive events.
Our main activities were:
• Animation education: Through workshops, study visits and expert support, librarians and leaders of local groups learned how to involve residents in community activities. Animators played a key role, not only organising but also supporting residents in conducting SAS activities.
• Organisation of events: Residents involved in SAS projects organised a number of events such as workshops, concerts, poetry meetings, sports and handicraft activities.
• Expert support: we held 70 hours of workshops with experts on various aspects of SAS work (including on financing activities, project implementation and less waste activities). These were reflective sessions, helping to assess project progress and identify areas for improvement.
• Creating a guidebook: Together with Ilona Majewska, an experienced animator, we prepared a guidebook describing the process of creating SAS. It contains practical tips, case studies and good practices that can inspire other communities.
• Neighbourhood Forum - an event to share experiences in social activism.
Ultimately, we were able to build a community engaging in their local matters and activities. In the 6 branches of the city libraries, 15 Local Actions and numerous events took place with our support, resulting in an increase in the involvement of residents and awareness of library staff about working with local communities. In total, we were able to involve more than 750 people in the events organised and the formation of 15 initiative groups that carried out activities within the Neighbourhood Activity Zones.
The addressees of the activities were mainly the inhabitants of the respective districts of Lodz, both children, young people and the elderly. An important group we supported was the staff and employees of the libraries - thanks to their participation in the project, they began to engage more openly with the residents and support their initiatives.
Summary of bilateral results
Cooperation with the Norwegian partner (an organisation of Poles living in Norway) went well. We had only online contact with the partner and the cooperation was also based on online meetings devoted to the exchange of knowledge about the functioning of libraries in Poland and Norway. We found that we complemented each other well - the partner talked about the experience of a community organisation or/and a group of local residents establishing cooperation with libraries, and the libraries cooperating with us talked about how they establish cooperation with local organisations and local residents. My impression is that it was the Norwegian partner who learned more from us than we did from them.