Description
"The market square used to be the centre of life in Fordon - once a separate little town, and today a quite neglected district of Bydgoszcz. Today, the main square is an empty place - inhabitants avoid it, and local shops decline. As a start of project community centre will be opened in one of the emptied premises at the market square. It will be the space for activities and meetings of Fordon inhabitants, a place managed by volunteers. How to reverse the bad trends that cause Fordons degradation - citizens, town officials, town councillors, and invited experts will meet and discuss the problem. Together they will develop an action plan to revitalise the central place of the district. The resulting idea of change will be presented to the city authorities for implementation. The participatory model of crucial decision-making processes will then be propagated in other districts of Bydgoszcz."
Summary of project results
"Stary Fordon is one of the most neglected districts of Bydgoszcz - with the highest unemployment rate and numbers of inhabitants depending on social assistance. The process of degradation started in the 1970s, when the small 600 years-old town was arbitrarily incorporated into its bigger neighbour. UKW Foundation persuaded inhabitants and the city authorities to develop a program of revitalisation. The program was to set specific aims and changes to be implemented in Stary Fordon in the coming years. Activities started with creating a meeting place for inhabitants. The social clubroom Cafe Rynek was opened in an empty premises by the market square, which also became the place of project's team daily work. Then a professional diagnosis of problems in Stary Fordon was performed, and gave the participants an opportunity to work in five thematic teams to develop possible solutions. Each team gathered inhabitants, city officers and external experts. 250 persons out of approximately 1200 inhabitants of the district took part in meetings and work of the teams. Cooperation with all NGOs, informal groups and local institutions started. The organisation was supported by partners - the Town Hall and the housing complex council. Their representatives actively participated in the development of the strategy. The results of joint work - the Social Program for Revitalisation of Stary Fordon - was presented to the local community during general meeting accompanied by a district festival. Based on the Program the city authorities prepared the list of investments and changes in the district. The housing complex council is the leader of social consultations with active participation of participants of our activities. Stary Fordon will soon face great changes based on the strategy developed during the project. The lasting effect of Foundation's activities is also the manual ""Recipe for revitalisation"", printed in 200 copies. Experiences of the project were presented during meetings with other housing complex councils from Bydgoszcz and municipal councils in its neighbourhood."
Summary of bilateral results