Key information about the programme
- The programme is operated by: Ministry of Investment and Development in Poland
- The Donor Programme Partner in this programme is: Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS)
- International partner organisation: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
- The programme’s objective is:Strengthened social and economic cohesion
- The programme funding amounts to over €100 million (excluding co-financing), out of which €50 million is funded through the EEA Grants and €50 million is funded through the Norway Grants.
Why is the programme needed?
The programme aims to strengthen social and economic cohesion in a number of qualifying cities mentioned in the Strategy for Responsible Development (SDR) published by the Polish Ministry of Infrastructure and Development. The SDR identifies 255 small and medium towns/cities facing serious socio-economic challenges and highlights the need to keep an appropriate balance between competitiveness of the economy, protection of the environment and quality of life. Further, a stakeholder consultation with key municipalities, self-governments, social scientific organizational and international organisations confirmed the need for improved air quality, improved housing, increased support for entrepreneurship, reduction of suburbanization and urban sprawl, revitalization of marginalized Polish cities, improved safety for pedestrians and cyclists, improved institutional capacity of municipal public administration, and improved accessibility standards.
What will the programme achieve and who are the beneficiaries?
The Polish Local Development Programme consists of two components with the aim to increase the quality of environment, entrepreneurship, public administration efficiency and standers of living for residents of small and medium-sized Polish towns. The programme’s first component will support up to 50 towns with serious socio-economic challenges in developing comprehensive local development plans addressing environmental, social, economic and demographic challenges. Furthermore, the programme’s second component will support up to 15 of the 50 small and medium-sized towns in implementing actions based on these local development plans.
The component “Local development and poverty reduction” aims to achieve the following:
- train 150 professional staff in developing local development plans and to train 45 municipal staff in implementing the plans;
- train 150 people in business start-up;
- 200 new investments meeting accessibility standards;
- 30 km of cycle lanes built; 30 awareness raising campaigns;
- 30 investments in improving air quality;
- 15 measures to encourage young people to participate in vocational education or work-based learning in local companies;
- 50 buildings with improved energy efficiency;
- 150 professional staff trained to optimise local administration;
- 50 municipalities trained in local-democracy;
- 50 action plans on optimizing local administration developed and;
- 15 municipalities implementing comprehensive monitoring systems of local development.
The component “Good governance, accountable institutions and transparency” aims to achieve:
- 15 towns adopt and use a self-assessment tool to design their Actions Plans;
- six municipalities undergo the OECD Public Governance Review;
- 100 local staff trained in implementing Public Governance Review recommendations and;
- the share of OECD Public Governance review recommendations implemented by local governments increased by 40%.
How will the programme strengthen bilateral relations?
The programme contributes to strengthening bilateral relations between Poland and the Donor States. Donor project partnerships will be facilitated through match-making events and activities in conjunction with the launch of calls for proposals. These partnerships can result in mutually beneficial activities and long-lasting cooperation between involved partners.
Funds earmarked for bilateral relations under the programme can be used for the following activities:
- building bilateral relations to undertake cooperation to implement projects with an advisory participation of the partner (visits, conferences, seminars, projects-related meetings, etc.),
- exchange of experience, knowledge, technology and best practices between the beneficiary and entities from a Donor State/Operator, DPP, IPO (organization of conferences, seminars, workshops and study visits, etc.)
- other activities that cannot be financed under the Programme components, yet clearly contribute to strengthened bilateral relations.
Availability of funding through open calls
The funding in this programme will be made available through one open call for proposals with selection conducted in two stages. Stage I: dedicated to 50 towns of the 255 mentioned in the SRD. Stage II: selection of approximately 15 projects of the first 50 for additional support for implementing their development plans.
- The call for proposals will be launched on 25 April 2019.
Download the full programme agreement for more detailed information about the programme.
More information can also be found on the Programme Operator’s website and the Donor Programme Partner’s website: Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authority (KS).