Święciechowa (Wielkopolskie province) is a rural commune inhabited by 9116 individuals. It is made of 12 sub-communes, with an NGO functioning in nearly each of them. The results of our local diagnosis show that most of them face problems with raising funds for their activities, which results in poor offer for villagers and limited potential to solve local problems. Social activities outside the village are sporadic, while local leaders do not have sufficient knowledge on how to obtain funds, engage local community or run grassroot activities.
We will address these needs by recruiting and supporting 12 local leaders representing each sub-commune. In each of them we will conduct a workshop devoted to local cooperation and social participation, followed by an exploratory walk. Inhabitants will prepare social diagnosis of their village during these meetings and will identify the key pain points which the proposed initiatives are to address. We will engage residents, volunteers, as well as NGOs and institutions. Local leaders will take part in a cycle of training sessions devoted to cooperation in the local community, development of social projects, inhabitant activation, and participation processes. By taking part in the exploratory visit to Dolny Śląsk, including visits cultural centres, social organisations and thematic villages, participants will have an opportunity to familiarise themselves with practical forms of rural activities in the field of culture and ways of engaging citizens in public matters. Finally, we will organise an event integrating all leaders and inhabitants of the Święciechowa commune, inviting sub-commune administrators and representatives of social organisations to join in. The form of the meeting will be designed together by project participants.