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Description
In 2011 the first dark-sky protection area in Poland was created in Sopotnia Wielka, which was implemented as a social initiative. The joint investment of the local government unit and an NGO was financed thanks to the grant received by the Jeleśnia Municipality for replacing over 180 street lamps in the public lighting system with ones that protect against light pollution. Unfortunately, the initiative from 2011 is currently insufficient due to the increasing expansion of artificial (LED) light, installed mainly in households. As part of the ‘Dark Sky Poland’ and ‘Dark Sky Community’ projects implemented in 2019-2021, a survey was conducted in which 33 questionnaires were collected from local households. 27 people expressed interest in being engaged in reducing light pollution in their own households, 4 were neutral and only 2 responded negatively. The results of the survey show that there is a need to reach out to those who are potentially uninterested or dissatisfied (i.e., about 18% of the residents of the village) in order to forge a consensus, as well as to raise awareness about the problem of light pollution. The aim of the ‘Rational Lighting Policy in Practice’ project is to maintain and support the grassroots idea of Sopotnia Wielka residents, by the working name of ‘rational lighting policy’.Using the method of citizen participation, we would like to make an attempt at drafting the first resolution regarding the night landscape in Poland. For this purpose, we will form an international scientific committee, conduct workshops and initiate a council for social dialogue on the ecology of the night. The project will result in consolidation of different social groups, maintenance of partnerships, improvement of night environment protection through an innovative activity, and increased direct engagement of nearly 500 people and 150 households. The project is implemented in the framework of trilateral cooperation of partners from Poland, Norway and Slovenia.
Summary of project results
The project concerned the issue of artificial light pollution, which is rarely discussed in Poland, as one of the rapidly progressing threats to the natural environment (the so-called "night ecology"). In Norway and Slovenia, national laws limiting this problem have existed for a long time (2014 and 2007). Unfortunately, not yet in Poland. Nevertheless, in the Jeleśnia commune, a social, cross-sectoral initiative was created to create an area of active dark sky protection. The task of this project was to maintain and support the grassroots idea of residents, tentatively referred to as "rational lighting policy". By transferring good practices from the above-mentioned countries, using the method of citizen participation, we attempted to develop the first legislative initiative in the country to create a dark sky area legally protected and distinguished on the international arena in the form of an application for the title of International Dark Sky Community.
The aim of the project was to support a local initiative, provisionally called "rational lighting policy". The project adapted effective solutions from the Partner countries and, through public participation, tried to develop the first local government resolution in Poland to protect the starry sky. For this purpose, an international scientific committee was established, workshops and a social dialogue council for night ecology were organized, with the participation of various organizations, local government, the SME sector and youth, in Sopotnia Wielka. The result was the unification of various social circles, maintaining partnerships, an innovative approach to the protection of the night environment and the involvement of approximately 500 people and over 150 households in the active reduction of artificial light pollution in outdoor spaces. An additional achievement in terms of added value was the achievement of the above-mentioned the village of the first in Poland and 10th in Europe the title of the International Dark Sky Community (IDSC), awarded by DarkSky International based in the USA. There has also been an application for Norway''s first Dark Sky Park (IDSP) and great progress has been made in how to measure light pollution there thanks to international cooperation between Poland, Norway and Slovenia.
There was a special social change in the form of consolidation of the local community towards joint efforts to distinguish our community on the national and international arena, which was achieved at the end of 2023 (the official announcement of the IDSC title in the USA for our town took place on November 11, 2023 - in the then ongoing Year). Kopernika 2023). We managed to convince a significant number of people living in the Sopotnia Wielka village to cooperate, and with the undecided people, the dialogue council reached a compromise that would avoid the degradation of the night environment, protected thanks to the project in this area. The entire Jeleśnia Commune Council got involved, taking into account the provisions of a rational lighting policy in the Commune Development Strategy for 2023-2030 and with the perspective of implementing sustainable outdoor lighting throughout the Commune as part of subsequent own investments. International partnerships were established and are still ongoing, and a group of scientists continues to support our town with substantive care. The example of Sopotnia Wielka served as a model for the direction of necessary legal changes in Poland, proposed by the Ombudsman in the first quarter of 2024.
Summary of bilateral results
Among a number of activities carried out both with the partner from the Donor State, i.e. Norway, and with the partner from Slovenia, there were mainly activities such as international meetings and an expert panel, which developed a number of recommendations at the above level national, on the reduction of artificial pollution, or exchange of experiences and information during direct meetings during the jubilee 10th Dark Sky Festival. It was at this time that our next Partner was also very involved national, i.e. the Jeleśnia Commune Office. On the initiative of the mayor, an international discussion meeting was arranged at the office with representatives of 3 countries (expert panel) and the Commune Development Committee deliberated on our behalf, adopting positively the assumptions of a rational lighting policy in practice. About marketing agency despite not implementing paid activities, has been strongly involved in promoting the topic of Light pollution and night ecology, promoting our project not only on its social media, but also by organizing a broad mailing campaign to schools in two voivodeships in spring 2022. The result of these efforts was the exposure of the project topics at thematic exhibitions in retail industry facilities in Koszalin, Toruń and at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn.