Description
Youth in the city of Puławy will commit to improve the quality of life in their community with a focus on environment. Members of the Local Youth Council and student councils will take part in 10 workshops and leadership skill development tasks. Young people will develop a 2015 year sustainability vision for the community and will run campaigns to encourage community members to take action do develop more sustainable life styles. Debates with local council members and other community leaders will be held to address local growth priorities and the implementation of best possible strategy. A policy document will be developed outlining the sustainability vision designed by the local youth and social campaigns currently conducted by young people. A proposal to create a Sustainability Centre will be drafted.Participants will get inspiration from study visits and workshops. A group from Poland will visit Kristiansand, Norway, a member of the “City of the Future" programme and Norwegian peers will visit Puławy.
Summary of project results
"Legionowo is called ""the largest bedroom of the Polish capital city"". Because of its close vicinity and good transport connection, thousands of Legionowo residents travel to Warsaw each day. Many young people prefer to use the capital's cultural offer and participate in the life of their local community to a lesser extent. On the other hand, Legionowo municipality has outstanding natural and landscape features. Forests cover 10 per cent of the town's area and over 30 per cent of the municipality. It is situated between two rivers - Wisła and Narew - and close to a water reservoir. Environmental education activities could thus enhance the participation of young people from Legionowo in the social life of their town. The aim of the project was to increase young people's active engagement in the social life of their community and to increase their participation in environmental activities and in decision-making processes related to public space development. Thanks to the project implementation, groups of young people in 8 schools in Legionowo organize environmental campaigns in their schools and in the town. Several project participants created an editorial board of the “Young Leader"" publication and started cooperating with the local non-governmental organizations. The project participants took part in training on developing social competences and in workshops on journalism and sustainable development. They organized several environmental campaigns and initiated cooperation with the Town Hall. They developed several concepts of the Centre of Sustainable Development in Legionowo and presented them during a conference summarising the project implementation. Student of the local secondary schools also benefited from the project. A Norwegian organisation Klimaalliansen, the project partner, was responsible for preparing a study visit and workshops for the Polish participants and for supporting the developing the workshops programme using the Norwegian experiences resulting from the Town of the Future."
Summary of bilateral results
The Foundation contacted Green Centre at the Foundation Climate Alliance of Norway, which has a great experience in implementing youth projects concernig sustainable development. During the study visit in Norway, representatives of the Foundation discussed the objectives of the planned project and the role of partner, and - thanks to visits to in the city hall and at the university - they learnt about strategies and methods of cooperation with the local government while engaging residents to implement sustainable development policies with a special focus on youth engegement. The Foundation submitted - jointly with a Norwegian partner, Foundation for Climate Alliance - an application in the third edition of the call. The project was awared with a grant.