“Dugnad”” in Kędzierzyn-Koźle. Integration of residents and improvement of neighbourly relations as foundations of local development.

Description

Why is the project needed/addressed problems:In the course of a last decade, the number of inhabitants of Kędzierzyn-Koźle have been steadily dropping.Demographic issues apart, the aforementioned diagnosis ties in with other shortfalls like air pollution, poor local resident integration, insufficient housing options, low local leader numbers, and so on.Even though municipal authorities are involved in multiple activities in response to a variety of challenges, the local community persist in their unfavourable opinion of the city.How will the project address these challenges?What does the project plan to achieve?Who and how benefit? The local development mission targets a positive image to be evolved for the city as an urban center.The city’s institutional development mission involves building local citizens’ trust in public institutions, and improving the effectiveness and standards of local government operations, which will benefit the whole community.Project activities should be conducive to the following: increasing public participation in urban life; boosting and integrating social bonds; increasing the attractiveness of urban spaces and the city’s rest and recreation offer. Furthermore, improving the potential of local public administration staff and public service quality.For each donor project partner or other project partner: what added value is the partnership expected to bring to the project?Social inclusion remains a fundamental issue for Kędzierzyn-Koźle, which is why we are seeking Partner capable of providing us with the skills and knowledge required to organise a DUGNAD-based project in local Polish reality.We are interested in exchanging experiences. Improving the competencies of local leaders, representatives of local governments.We would like our partner to evaluate our programmes, tell us how we could make them better, back them up with improved consultation procedures, and prepare for related change.

Summary of project results

Within twenty years, Kędzierzyn-Koźle lost almost 10 thousand inhabitants. From a city of over 70 thousand it has become a city of 61 thousand. The loss of young residents was particularly severe during this period. This means that, in the long term, the outflow of population caused by the natural movement will be even faster, especially as the post-war baby boomers will be fully converted to the senior citizen category. Over the next twenty years, Kędzierzyn-Koźle may lose about 12 thousand inhabitants, more than in the last twenty years. In 2038 it will be a city with about 49 thousand inhabitants, and in 2050 it will have only 42 thousand. The pessimistic forecast for the city is likely to come true. The scale of these changes is unknown, in particular depending on the ability to attract new residents to the city and the natural population movement. Changes in the age structure have presented local authorities with new challenges. The tasks in the project were designed to counteract the negative changes and minimize their effects on the local community in a non-standard way. In addition to countering the depopulation of the city, the implementation of the project was expected to improve the institutional capacity of the local municipality and adapt the offer of public services to the current needs of residents, thereby increasing their confidence in the local administration. In addition to the unfavorable demographic trends, other deficiencies and non-benefits were defined that concerned the functioning of the public administration, as well as the city itself:

• An approach to designing the strategic development of the city that is too selective and at the same time dispersed (not vision-based enough).
• Insufficient scope and manner of monitoring of strategic city management.
• Insufficient technological support and reporting standardisation.
• Excessive labour and duties of officials of a local government unit.
• Human resources deficit in the scope of fulfilling the functions of local community leaders.
• Deficits in terms of systemic knowledge sharing, also in the context of threats resulting from the demographic situation in the institutional sphere – which may affect the quality of services provided.
• Low prevalence of the participatory model of city management, causing the current system to reward selected city representatives and stakeholders – poorly involving the entire city community.
• Low level of service digitisation and poor implementation of the principle of strategic approach to “open” management of city development.
• Deficits in the availability of public facilities and services.

The above challenges required the selection of corrective tools in both the institutional and social spheres.

The project aimed to achieve several strategic goals, reflected in the indicators:

• The “Dugnad” participatory model of city management based on local conditions, best practices and cooperation;
• Horizontal measures under the Local Development Programme;
• Development of competences of local public administration;
• Development of professional and accessible sectoral policies;
• Optimisation of local government administration structures to raise the standards of municipal operation;
• Digitisation of the office in terms of management control.

The realization of the individual goals, consisted of a whole host of activities and initiatives carried out by the Kedzierzyn-Kozle City Hall, the Municipal Social Welfare Center, the Municipal Cultural Center, the Municipal Sports and Recreation Center, the Education Service Team, the Municipal Public Library and the project''s partners - the Kedzierzyn-Kozle Industrial Park, the “Koziolek” Sports Club and the Europa Iuvenis Association.

The most important investments include:

• Adaptation of PSP No. 6 - This is the largest investment in Kędzierzyn-Koźle, co-financed by the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism. The “Dugnad” Cooperation Centre is being built in the former premises of Primary School No. 6. The facility will completely change its purpose. It will be adapted for social purposes and the former classrooms will be converted into 30 so-called supported housing, given to older people and people with disabilities. It will house the Community Senior Citizens'' Centre and the NGO and Volunteer Centre. Day rooms, a dining room with kitchen facilities and a conference room will be created, while the surrounding area will be further greened.
• “Chemik” Community Centre - Culture integrates and unites across all divides. It should be accessible to everyone, which is why the building where the artistic heart of the city beats has been adapted for people with disabilities. The upgrade that is most striking is the lift, which is a huge improvement in terms of access to the upper floors. The refurbishment was completed with a specially adapted toilet and a so-called ''soundproofing room''. Blind and visually impaired-friendly solutions have been implemented: guide lines on the floor, Braille signs and a tylograph plan of the building.

Funding covered not only investment tasks and pro-social initiatives, such as meetings, workshops, cultural events, concerts, neighborhood picnics, sports events. The tasks were addressed to audiences of different ages. The design of all activities and their implementation were carried out by local government institutions that provide social services, which identify the problems faced by residents on a daily basis, and public institutions that provide cultural and recreational offerings in the city, as well as patrners from non-governmental organizations. April 30 marked the official end of the “Dugnad in Kędzierzyn-Koźle” project. For more than three years it changed the face of the city. It made the residents get to know each other better and integrate.

It was the first time Kędzierzyn-Koźle implemented a project on such a huge scale and with such a great impact. It was directed not only at large investment tasks (adaptation of the “Chemik” community center to the needs of people with disabilities and adaptation of the building of PSP No. 6 on Stalmacha Street for the “Dugnad” Cooperation Center), but above all at so-called soft activities. All groups of residents, including those with special needs, benefited from the proposed projects. Integration and good neighborly relations became the hallmark of “Dugnad”. Large-scale consultations were also a good practice. Implementation of tasks was preceded by open meetings with the local community, which allows us to believe that the products of the project were an accurate response to the reported needs of residents.

The implementation of the project brought tangible results and benefits to local authorities and local government employees, overseeing the coordination of the project, enriching them with good practices and experiences related to professional work, as well as new non-standard tasks. However, the most numerous target group of the project, were the residents of Kędzierzyn-Koźle themselves. Approx. 16,000 people participated in all project activities. Most important achievements:

• Separation in the structure of the Municipal Social Welfare Center: the Municipal Senior Center and the Center for NGO and Volunteering. Institutional, organizational and personnel changes led to the immediate launch of the work of both of the above-mentioned. units based on substitute locations. They organized over 21 events integrating residents and created a network of volunteers.
• 70 years after the opening of the "Chemik" Cultural Center, for the first time, the facility''s full offer can be used by: people with mobility problems, the blind, deaf and people on the autism spectrum.
• New, niche, year-round sections for children were launched, i.e. football for girls, bowling and kayaking. The latter was carried out in the swimming pool in the winter season and on the Oder and Kłodnica rivers, which constitute the city''s blue potential in the summer.
• Four large integration athletics meetings were prepared for people with disabilities, in which 319 people with disabilities took part. 38 family sensory and ceramic workshops were organized, attended by 64 children with special needs.
• Over 1,000 students from 47 classes of primary schools listened to a lecture on animal homelessness, responsibility and the consequences of ill-considered decisions to adopt animals. This is one of the effects of the "Social Entrepreneurs" project, which aimed to teach youth how to prepare and implement a social project.
• 1 pilot project in the idea of ​​Dugnad: Cooperation of the Municipal Aid Center and the School Complex No. 1 resulted in the task "Let''s create a home - we will carry it within us". Students made minor repairs and minor renovations in three homes of lonely, oldest and poor seniors. They learned empathy, respect and understanding. Seniors had the opportunity to talk to the younger generation, learn about their approach to life and contemporary values.