Since 2015, Chojnicki District has been the only one in Pomorskie Voivodeship without a District Council for Non-governmental Organizations. According to the voivodeship-level research it was the district with the lowest level of collaboration between its citizens and NGOs and the lowest overall level of civic engagement. Currently, according to the data from the District Office, there are 280 organizations registered in Chojnicki District, however many of them remain inactive. According to our research, low engagement of the NGOs in the region is a result of a lack of regular initiatives from already existing organizations, low collaboration between them and little knowledge and skills in securing financing and managing an organization of individuals who are already active. These factors result in a low civic engagement of the citizen of the district and their low involvement in the work of already existing organizations.

We will address these problems by engaging already existing organizations and citizens of the Chojnicki District in collaboration on methods for organizing local initiatives. Representatives from interested organizations will create a collaborative team that will participate in eight initiatives being realized across the district. Together, we will discuss all the stages of preparation and the separate stages of the project. By organizing two visits to neighboring districts we will engage in collaboration with other organizations and exchange experiences. We will also conduct a series of workshops on civic engagement, building of local partnerships and planning of civic initiatives. Based on these actions we will create a model for local engagement – a collection of good practices and ideas for implementation of civic projects, which we will implement by organizing four initiatives in our region. We will also produce radio programs and a guidebook presenting our model and different ways of developing local engagement.