Description
The project is aimed at enhancing public scrutiny of local climate and energy policies and improving the quality of municipal Low Carbon Economy Plans - systems of energy management described in LCEPs - and social participation in their development and implementation. An innovative public scrutiny tool for LCEPs will be created. Using the tool, we will perform pilot scrutiny of LCEPs in selected municipalities - their development, their content and social participation. Then, recommendations for municipalities will be prepared and the tool will be refined. The results will be presented in electronic guide and in a report, sent to all municipalities in Poland and to over 250 NGOs, presented at a conference, forwarded to media and made available on the Internet. The activities are addressed to municipalities and local NGOs. The project will be implemented in close cooperation with Institute for Ecodevelopment and a Norwegian NGO Future in Our Hands.
Summary of project results
Polish local communities applying for EU grants for improved air quality investments, modernisation of power production or development of public transport in the years 2014-2020, are required to have Low-Emission Economy Plans (LEEP). They develop LEEP, in spite of having no legal framework or detailed guidelines for them. Local authorities and communities have limited knowledge about the benefits of low-emission economy and the tools they could use. They do not see value in cooperation between the authorities and local residents, as far as preparation of LEEP is concerned. The objective of the project was to increase public control over local climate and energy policies, and the residents' participation in creating and implementing LEEP. The long-term effect ought to be the improved quality of LEEP. The project included preparation of Public Control Tool (PCT) for LEEP - a list of questions allowing local NGOs and residents to control and design LEEP without expert assistance. PCT was tested in 40 communities from all over Poland. Conclusions and recommendations were collected in the report “The role of local communities in the development of low-emission economy". An electronic brochure was comprised on low-emission economy and the principles of using PCT. The materials were sent to all local communities and over 400 NGOs in Poland. The project's outcomes were presented during a nationwide conference and a press conference, resulting in 10 national and professional media publications. The project was broadly publicised via the website and the social media. It facilitated an improved level of knowledge on low-emission economy and the benefits connected with it at a local level, among residents and officials. The prepared materials will contribute to improved LEEP quality and higher participation of NGOs in their creation and updating. The Institute for Sustainable Development participated in the implementation of all the tasks, and it played a key role in collecting the materials necessary for audits. Framtiden i våre hender prepared the material on creating climate policies at a local level in Norway, consulted PCT and the summary of audit results and recommendations, and presented the Norwegian solutions during the conference.
Summary of bilateral results
"Cooperation with FIVH had improved understanding of the arising opportunities for development of the low-carbon economy on a local level and of citizens involvement in planning and implementation of different activities (not only among people directly involved in the implementation of the project but also among other groups - representatives of local administration, participants of the closing conference, journalists). Cooperation also positively influenced the quality of the created materials and the visibility, attractiveness and quality of the closing conference of the project." "FIVH activities in the project included: - preparation of a briefing concerning citizen’s involvement in local climate policies in Norway. It was shared with the Polish partner, Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD) and with the experts involved in the project; - consultation and giving remarks for the Tool for Public Scrutiny of Low-Carbon Economy Plans created by the PECMB and ISD (by the expert team); - consultation and giving remarks for the corrected version of the Tool after testing it in practice - conducting scrutiny in 40 municipalities; - consultation and giving remarks for the results of the conducted scrutiny to be gathered and summarized in the final report - comprehensive horizontal recap of the scrutiny with recommendations for tested municipalities; - participation of the FIVH representative in the final conference in a role of a speaker. He presented good practices from Norway regarding: - municipality planning processes for emission reduction activities / low carbon development/ climate protection/air quality, - and inclusion of citizens/NGOs in those planning processes.