Project “Shared City” aimed to involve the residents of Świdwin in civic actions. We carried out two parallel initiatives.
As part of the first one (“Active Residents”), we conducted the largest civic engagement campaign in the history of Świdwin, reaching a large number of households. Using the World Café format, we invited representatives from different groups to discuss the needs of the residents. This initiative consisted of four meetings, each targeting a different group: youth, seniors, representatives of neighborhood councils, and cultural community members. All events were highly popular, and the last one had an overwhelming number of participants, surpassing available seats. Topics discussed included participatory budgeting, which generated the most interest among young people and council representatives. Additionally, participants took part in workshops to learn about the main principles of Design Thinking, aiming to develop preliminary concepts for grassroots initiatives.
The second initiative (“Strong NGOs”) provided support to locally active volunteers and strengthened cooperation between the city, residents, and the third sector. Through training sessions (“Project Approach” and “Online Tools for NGOs”), we enhanced their skills, making it easier for them to lead grassroots initiatives. Moreover, we organized an NGO Festival and a photo session to promote the organizations and professionalize the image of the third sector. We are pleased that representatives of the Świdwin authorities also participated in the Festival.
Most importantly, thanks to the project, we initiated genuine dialogue on civic matters. The implemented actions successfully activated the residents of Świdwin. The evaluation surveys also indicate that we improved the skills of third-sector professionals in diagnosing needs and creating project concepts. The workshops for organizations served as a good starting point for integrating the third sector and fostering networking. This resulted in smaller initiatives being jointly undertaken by project participants.
