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Description
The aim of the project is to engage activists, officials, school students and residents of the city of Gliwice in activities aimed at shaping urban greenery. The project addresses two basic problems related to greenery in Gliwice: the lack of standards and a model for cooperation between activists, residents, NGOs and officials, and the lack of tools to facilitate the work of activists and to engage residents. As part of the project, we are developing a mobile application that will improve the management of tree population and enable an inventory and visualisation of existing trees in the city. Due to the use of artificial intelligence, the application will automatically mark the tree species and its location (the GPS coordinates) on the photo. Automated data analysis will provide, among others, information on carbon dioxide absorption or rainwater. Tree data will be collected by activists, school students and citizens through crowdsourcing, i.e. social data collection using a previously developed application. A working group ‘Green Gliwice’ will be established, comprising representatives of the Municipal Office, activists, NGOs, inhabitants and scientific experts. The task of the group will be to develop a model of cooperation between social groups involved in ‘green politics’, especially activists and officials, whose contacts so far have had no established framework and standards. Moreover, we will establish a group of Green Leaders who will activate local communities and support the implementation of the project. We will organise workshops for them on the basics of dendrology, sustainability, green space design, horticulture, nature conservation law and urban greenery. The project is implemented in partnership with the Centre for Studies of the City of Gliwice, which will provide support and coordination for the work of volunteers and help to reach out to socially active residents and organisations.
Summary of project results
The justification was based on statistical data from the Municipal Office of Gliwice, the Central Statistical Office, and in-depth interviews with dendrology specialist Aleksandra Szurlej-Kierlańska, activist from Gliwice Paweł Harlender and analyzes of local media. The city of Gliwice is located in the Silesian conurbation and is a typically post-industrial city with a dense urban development. Green areas in this type of cities play not only important roles natural, but social (as a place for recreation), health (CO2 absorption) or economic (equalizing temperatures, real estate market). A total of 40 have been cut since 2010 thousand trees, and 32 thousand were planted. The average forest stand balance in Gliwice is negative. You should emphasize that an important problem is the reliability and credibility of data. According to the Central Statistical Office, on average 773 trees are lost annually, while according to the Municipal Office the number is 620. No institution has reliable data regarding, for example, the acceptance of trees, their species, and their condition they find. There is no register of trees in the city. There is no separate institution in the Municipal Office dealing with greenery (such as in the nearby Rybnik, where there is a separate "Urban Greenery" unit). At the same time, the city''s inhabitants show considerable interest in this topic (research quantitative and qualitative OSOM Gliwice 2018 and NSM 2017). Residents point out numerous demands from Father increasing the amount of greenery on city streets. The groups demanding include: pedestrians, cyclists, disabled, mothers, children, seniors (qualitative research report/n60, Żywa Ulica, Foundation Fix Your City, April 2017). In 2018, as many as 79.5% of respondents indicated a need planting trees and introducing other vegetation as activities and elements that may influence a positive version of Zwycięstwa Street (report from the quantitative survey CAWI/n901, Jaka Zwycięstwa, OSOM Gliwice 2018). There are as many as 25 organizations dealing with ecology in Gliwice, there are many more than in similar cities in the province. Silesian (e.g. in Rybnik it is 13, Sosnowiec 11, Ruda Śląska 4).
1. Increasing the involvement of the local community • Number of people involved: A total of 642 people were involved, including activists, students and local residents. As part of the project, they participated in educational and practical activities related to monitoring green areas. • Cooperation model: A new model of cooperation between activists, NGOs, residents and city officials was developed. The Zielone Gliwice working group, consisting of 10 leaders, conducted 5 workshops on cooperation and accessibility of public information. 2. Creation of ICT tools and forest inventory • Mobile application: An application for iOS and Android platforms has been created, enabling the collection of data on the state of the tree stand in Gliwice. 10,000 tree records have been added, with data on species, GPS location and tree health status.
1. Increased social involvement and civic participation Thanks to the created model of cooperation between activists, NGOs, residents and city authorities, the residents of Gliwice gained new opportunities to influence the policy regarding urban greenery. 642 people were directly involved in the activities, which helped build social dialogue and trust between various stakeholder groups. This resulted in a more sustainable approach to the management of urban space and greenery, which had a particularly positive impact on the quality of life in the city. 2. Improving the monitoring and management of urban green areas thanks to technology Creating a mobile application for tree inventory enabled residents and officials to have access to reliable data on the condition of green areas. The application, based on artificial intelligence, allowed for automatic recognition of tree species and assessment of their condition. The introduction of technology into greenery management has brought benefits mainly to officials and social organizations, which can now manage data on trees more efficiently, plan maintenance activities and communicate better with residents. 3. Environmental education and increased awareness among residents Thanks to social campaigns and educational activities, the project increased ecological awareness among residents. The beneficiaries of these activities were both students and adult residents of Gliwice, who through the project gained knowledge about the positive effects of urban greenery and the role they can play in its protection. As a result, a lasting pro-ecological attitude was built, which translates into greater social involvement in environmental protection.