Completed

Hajnówka Od Nowa – Green Transformation

Hajnówka City Commune -LD ·Poland

€4.3m

Grant awarded

Local Development

Programme

21 December 2021

Signed

About this project

Hajnówka is among 7 medium-sized cities in the Podlaskie Voivodeship, losing their socio-economic functions in the following areas: economic control, industrial, tourist, commercial, culture, access to higher education and the risk of depopulation. The new Hajnówka Development Path will change the image of the city, its managers and residents. Development tasks are implemented through 4 directions:: • New Spatial Order - New Center of Hajnówka,  • Make a business in Hajnówka - Diversification of business activities based on local resources and products: • Green transformation - environment and climate not only in the Białowieża Forest • Integration and identity for a strong community Main design assumptions: counteracting depopulation, raising the standard of living of the city's inhabitant, fostering the improvement of dialogue between the municipal government and its inhabitants, responding to their needs to a greater extent. The result of the project implementation will be the creation of incentives stimulating socio-economic development based on the main potentials of the city: natural, related to the immediate vicinity of the Białowieża Forest as a UNESCO site and related to cultural heritage, local products and local authenticity. The activation of residents, leaders of social organizations and entrepreneurs in the process of implementing the New Development Path is expected, as well as the creation of new jobs, a new educational offer for secondary and primary school students, new functions will be assumed by public spaces and places for rest and recreation. Another effect of the project implementation will be the improvement of the work of the City Hall. The partnership in the project assumes sharing experience and knowledge as well as mutual learning how to introduce changes in the city in order to improve the quality of life of the inhabitants.

Bilateral cooperation results

The cooperation with the partner city Alta turned out to be a great success. First of all, the cities were perfectly matched in terms of similarities. During the period of bilateral cooperation, 2 study visits were held in Hajnówka. The partner from Alta visited in May 2023 and March 2024 . 3 study visits were held in Alta: in September 2022 , March 2023 and August 2023 . Within the framework of bilateral cooperation, the following issues were planned and successfully implemented: • Establishment of the Academy of Nature as a center for ecological education • Designation of the New Center of Hajnówka • Local administration As part of the cooperation and study visits, it was possible to additionally start cooperation and obtain advisory support in the following activities: • Erasmus program - youth exchange (Alta-Hajnówka) • Waste management system - innovations • Local Activity Places - youth involvement • Volunteering stages • Cultural events based on local heritage • Protection of local micro-languages and national minorities The cooperation with the city of Alta was carried out fluently, cooperation with the partner from Alta will be continued in the implementation of the ERASMUS programme - intergenerational exchange.

Project partners

Alta kommune Donor project partner· Norway
Mammal Research Institute Polish Academy of Sciences Białowieża - LD Project partner· Poland
Hajnówka County (Powiat Hajnowski)- LD Project partner· Poland
Hajnówka Commune (Gmina Hajnówka) - LD Project partner· Poland
Hajnówka Forest District (Nadleśnictwo Hajnówka)- LD Project partner· Poland
Białystok University of Technology - LD Project partner· Poland
Białowieża National Park (Białowieski Park Narodowy) - LD Project partner· Poland
Podlaskie Voivodeship (Województwo Podlaskie) - LD Project partner· Poland

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