Until 2015, the Chojnice County was the only county in the Pomeranian Voivodeship that did not have a District Council of Non-Governmental Organizations. Additionally, according to regional research, it was the county with the weakest cooperation between residents and non-governmental organizations, and the lowest level of civic activity. According to data from the County Office, there are 280 organizations operating in the Chojnice County, but many of them are inactive. Our research indicates that the low activity of non-governmental organizations in this region was a consequence of the lack of regular actions by already existing organizations. The individuals already active had a low level of knowledge and skills in acquiring funding sources and running organizations and rarely collaborated with each other. Such a state of affairs translates into low civic activity among the residents of the Chojnice County and their limited engagement in the activities of existing organizations.

We reacted to these problems by involving existing organizations and residents of the Chojnice County in joint work on methods of organizing local initiatives. This project was a result of our efforts and further work to increase the activity of non-governmental organizations in the life of the Chojnice County. Representatives of interested organizations formed a project team that participated in eight initiatives implemented in the county. Together, we discussed the stages of their preparation and the course of events. By organizing two trips to neighboring counties, we established cooperation and exchanged knowledge with organizations that are active there. We conducted a series of workshops on civic activity, building local cooperation, and planning social actions. Based on these activities, we jointly created a model of local activity – a collection of best practices and ideas for implementing social projects, which we implemented by organizing four initiatives in our region. We prepared radio programs and a guidebook presenting our model and possibilities for developing local activity.

The evaluation surveys show that thanks to the workshops, the participants increased their knowledge on topics related to planning and implementing local initiatives. Due to the implemented initiatives within the project, local organizations could get to know each other better and integrate more effectively.