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Description
The aim of the project is to accelerate the replacement of old solid fuel heating boilers in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Province before the ban on their use comes into force on 1 January 2024. According to data from the Central Emission Register of Buildings as of 15 March 2023, there are still more than 130,000 old installations of so-called ''smokers'' in the province. The current rate of replacement is too slow. Decisive action of local authorities and residents is needed. Without their involvement, the new regulations may prove ineffective and undermine existing efforts to improve air quality, putting the health and lives of residents at risk. In this project, we want to use new types of activities and engage more people in the process of replacing old boilers. We are conducting a needs diagnosis in the municipalities and offering training on the implementation of the anti-smog legislation. We are supporting 6 municipalities in implementing the proposed solutions. We are implementing an educational campaign using, among other things, an artificial lungs installation. At the end, we will evaluate the effects and prepare recommendations for all municipalities in the province. We want the project to result in the smooth implementation of anti-smog legislation thanks to solutions developed jointly with the residents and thus achieve a lasting improvement in air quality in the province. We are implementing the project in cooperation with the Osielsko Municipality and the Sustainable Development Laboratory Foundation.
Summary of project results
The aim of the project was to accelerate the replacement of coal furnaces in the province. kuj-pom in the face of the ban on their use coming into force on January 1, 2024 in accordance with the adopted anti-smog resolution. The achievement of the goal was to be ensured by the use of tools other than before and the involvement of a wider group of stakeholders in the process of replacing coal heating.
Despite the approaching deadline, there were still over 130,000 people left in the voivodeship''s communes. old furnaces (data from CEEB from March 15, 2023.)
The pace of furnace replacement is too slow. In recent years, there have been a number of geopolitical events that contributed to delays in the exchange process. The pandemic resulted in the lack of availability of heating devices and spare parts. Then the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis introduced reluctance to make decisions about replacing the heating system. The number of applications for the Clean Air subsidy program in 2022 decreased by approximately 10% (data from WFOŚIGW in Toruń).
The situation required intervention and more decisive actions on the part of the municipalities and its inhabitants. If there is silent consent in municipalities to non-compliance with the regulations, then they may become a dead law and hamper existing efforts to improve air quality, and thus the quality of life and health of residents. Currently carried out anti-smog projects focus on large cities in the voivodeship, which is why we saw a great need to direct activities to smaller towns.
In addition to financial barriers, formalities related to funding for the replacement of furnaces and completing the investment process also cause problems. Residents often do not know which heating source to choose. Another challenge is the habits of residents that have been continued for generations (everyone has always burned coal, why change it), which make it difficult to introduce changes.
We started the project with a diagnosis of the needs in the municipalities and then offered participants training with experts on tools for implementing anti-smog regulations. The training covered several thematic areas important from the point of view of improving air quality.
We helped six municipalities - Solec Kujawski, Dąbrowa Chełmińska, Żnin, Bobrowniki, Brześć Kujawski and Zławieś Wielka - in the process of implementing the proposed air protection tools. We also offered them help from external experts. Two municipalities benefited from legal opinions issued by a lawyer from the Frank Bold Foundation, specializing in air protection law.
In the next five communes - in Nakło nad Notecią, Potulice, Kcynia, Osięciny and Aleksandrów Kujawski, we increased the involvement of residents and knowledge of how to contribute to improving air quality through an awareness campaign using a model of artificial breathing lungs of the Polish Smog Alert. An important aspect of the campaign was to encourage owners of classless, illegal stoves to use municipal subsidies and the Clean Air program to replace them. At the end of the project, we conducted an evaluation and created project recommendations entitled: "Enforcing the provisions of the anti-smog resolution and actions to improve air quality in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. A catalog of real actions that every commune can take today. The recommendations include solutions developed by the residents'' department, enabling efficient implementation of anti-smog regulations and thus gradual improvement of air quality in municipalities.
The project was successfully implemented. Despite the small budget, its scope was large - representatives from over thirty rural and rural-urban communes in the region were trained. Thanks to the project, it was also possible to examine the needs of small local governments in the area of air protection, which will allow the formulation of further projects that will respond to them.
We achieved the best results in 6 communes under individual mentoring. The communes of Bobrowniki, Lipno and Fabianki are one step away from signing an agreement to establish an Inter-municipal Guard. In Brześć Kujawski and Żnin, with our support, the regulations of the Warm Housing program were created so that the widest possible group of beneficiaries could benefit from it. Fireplace inspections will start again in Solec Kujawski thanks to the cooperation of officials and policemen. Air quality sensors will be purchased in Dąbrowa Chełmińska. Żnin received a legal opinion on how to deal with tenants of social and municipal premises. In Zławieś Wielka, there was a mobilization of residents who, as a result of our project activities, created an informal group called Clean Air - Zławieś Wielka.
One of the biggest barriers to improving air quality in municipalities reported by officials and residents is the lack of municipal guards and the lack of knowledge of procedures and ability to carry out inspections by officials. Thanks to the training offered, we supplemented the knowledge of officials and equipped them with instructional videos received from the Eco-development Foundation from Wrocław. Several communes are also interested in the idea of establishing their own municipal guard or, together with neighboring communes, an inter-municipal guard.
Another significant barrier identified in the initial diagnostic study was the energy poverty of residents and the lack of funds to invest in replacing heating with ecological ones. That is why we devoted three training meetings to this issue, focusing on practical solutions that local governments could introduce, e.g. installation of cheap air conditioners with heating function in municipal and social apartments, shared accommodation of seniors affected by energy poverty, direct payment of heating invoices by an office for the poorest residents.