Did you know that this year's edition of the Wrocław Participatory Budget in the Plac Grunwaldzki estate is the result of a two-year project we implemented to increase the involvement of the local community in matters important to our estate? "Civic Workshop – Green Plac Grunwaldzki OD NOWA" is a process that we implemented thanks to financing from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway from the EEA Funds as part of Active Citizens Programme – Regional Fund.
Engaging residents of a housing estate seems simple enough – simply assemble a group of local leaders, provide them with the tools they need, and wait for results. In reality, participation processes are much more complex and require significant work, a tremendous amount of motivation, and energy directed toward the local community. Participation is an area where flexibility and a willingness to embrace constant change are essential, as well as grounding our actions in empathy and openness to others. While preparing for this year's WBO campaign, we experienced this more than once, both during our work with the working group, as we finalized projects submitted as part of the Wrocław Participatory Budget, and as we implemented the voter turnout campaign.
Our goal was very clear from the outset – we wanted to strengthen civic engagement in a neighborhood that had been lacking local leaders for years. Plac Grunwaldzki is a part of Wrocław perceived as an academic, transit, and temporary housing estate. According to residents of the capital of Lower Silesia, Grunwald is primarily inhabited by seniors. The local community is very small, and most apartments are rented by students. Our team has been actively working with people living, studying, or working in Grunwald for some time now, so we know the potential of the local community in this part of Wrocław's Śródmieście district.
Until now, however, none of the grassroots groups had the resources and time to properly address the WBO issue—conducting a specific local diagnosis of the neighborhood's infrastructure, gathering ideas from residents, and then consulting on the final project proposals with the local community. Previous attempts to harness the community's energy in Grunwald have been fragmented, lacking an institutional—and in this case, non-governmental—leader who would help systematize knowledge of the needs, translate it into concrete proposals, and then support local leaders in gathering votes for their proposals.
Another important aspect of this project for us was the gap between the student community, who use and live in the estate, and the seniors of Grunwald. Both age groups had a rather stereotypical view of each other, essentially living side by side without integration or cooperation. Our project allowed students from various Wrocław universities – Wrocław University of Science and Technology, the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts, and the University of Wrocław – to be involved in the life of the estate, creating a space for them to utilize and develop their skills and knowledge with and for the local community.
„Citizen Workshop – Green Plac Grunwaldzki OD NOWA” is a project in which we managed to:
- to carry out over 50 educational, mentoring and consulting events, attended by over 50 people of all ages – both students, young adults and people aged 60+,
- develop and submit two projects to the Wrocław Citizens' Budget,
- propose – in cooperation with the Habitat NOW Student Association and the working group of students – specific solutions for the public space of the Plac Grunwaldzki housing estate; we plan to submit these solutions, divided into several stages, as part of the WBO in the following years,
- prepare and implement a promotional campaign around projects no. 200 and 204,
- increase the level of participation of the estate's residents in the participatory budget of Wrocław.
The project partners are Association of Polish Architects – Wrocław Branch, Menthol Architects, Rada Osiedla Plac Grunwaldzki and Habitat NOW Student Science ClubActivities around the "Citizen Workshop – Green Plac Grunwaldzki OD NOWA" also support Pasaż Grunwaldzki – a shopping mall located in our estate and Academic Radio LUZ – a non-commercial radio station operating at Wrocław University of Science and Technology.
„Citizen Workshop – Green Plac Grunwaldzki OD NOWA” is a project that we implemented in five stages:
STAGE I – completed (November 2021-May 2022) – we are initiating the operation of the leadership workshop and mapping the resources, needs and priorities related to green projects in the Grunwaldzki Square area.
STAGE II – completed (June 2022-January 2023) – at this stage, we focus primarily on consulting the results of the local diagnosis and mapping together with the residents of the estate, and as a result of the consultations, we create a draft for the WBO.
STAGE III – completed (February 2023-July 2023) – we dedicated this stage to creating a promotional campaign from scratch for our project, but before we create the campaign, we need to raise our level of competence in the field of promotion and building narratives in social campaigns.
STAGE IV – completed (August 2023-September 2023) – at this stage, we are investing all our local forces and resources into promoting the project we have prepared and encouraging the residents of Wrocław to vote for it.
STAGE V – completed (September 2023) – this stage is primarily a comprehensive evaluation of the task.
Click here to learn more about individual events that we have implemented over the last two years.
You can read more about the projects we submitted to WBO 2023 here.
Housing estate project no. 200 "Renewal on Ładna and Miła Streets"„
Housing estate project no. 204 "Renewal on Pasteur Street"„
„Civic Workshop – Green Plac Grunwaldzki OD NOWA” is a project financed by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway from the EEA Grants under the Active Citizens Programme – Regional Fund.
