Citizens and the space shaping

About this project

<p>Residents of the Slupsk city are only to a limited extent engaged in public issues and participate in public consultations very rarely. This makes it difficult for the city authorities to take decisions on shaping urban space. Planned investments evoke a reaction from residents too late, and then possible modifications to projects are too difficult to carry out. Despite the openness of the authorities and officials to the opinions of residents, the city lacks friendly solutions to facilitate the submission of ideas and concerns. The procedures for public consultation are too difficult and not very attractive to residents, who do not believe that their votes will be taken into account. That is why in this project we want to create good opportunities to involve residents in the process of making decisions about space in the city. Together with officials and residents, we will launch the ‘Our Common Space’ programme and select the areas to create recreational spaces with elements of blue-green infrastructure. We will invite experts in planning spatial solutions in a participatory way. We will involve anyone interested in designing specific solutions for selected spaces. We will encourage all residents to take action to maintain urban spatial order – we will learn together and develop standards for shaping, designing and maintaining urban spaces. The project is implemented in cooperation with partners from Iceland and Croatia.</p>

Bilateral cooperation results

During the meetings, we exchanged views on the issues addressed by our organizations and those from the point of view of this project. We planned a visit to Reykjavik together. Margrét Steinarsdóttir - the head of Mannréttindaskrifstofa Íslands introduced us to the issues of organizing her work and raising funds for the implementation of statutory goals or cooperation with other associations in the city. An organized meeting with representatives of the Reykjavik City Office, the Human Rights and Democracy Office - Sigurlaug Anna Jóhannsdóttir - director of democracy. We were introduced to programs run by the City of Reykjavik ("My Neighborhood", "Neighborhood Plan", Democratic Policy of the City of Reykjavik 2021-2030); The meeting with Citizens Foundation Iceland and president Robert Bjarnason allowed us to get to know the mission of the foundation, which is to engage people in dialogue and jointly develop innovative ideas that serve the community. The main goal of the foundation's activities is to help the residents of Reykjavik by creating opportunities for them to speak publicly and encouraging them to participate in management. Without participation there is no democracy, this is a statement that accompanies the members of the organization in all their activities. We learned about ways to engage residents, such as the "Better Reykjavik" campaign/action. The visit was enriched by visits to Grasagaróurinn - a botanical garden in the city center; Óskjuhlio and Perlan - a beautiful forest area / Innovative use of raw materials - Recycled House / Hófói - a famous house in Reykjavik / Odin Square - small, green fingers of the district squares, as well as the Lakjatorg District - living statues, museum art in public space; revitalization of the urban space.

Project partners

• Icelandic Human Rights Centre Donor project partner· Iceland