Public participation and social consultations

In 2017, the amount allocated for the implementation of projects under the Poznań’s Participatory Budget amounted to PLN 18 million.

Public consultations

As part of its activity consisting in broadly understood activation of residents, the City of Poznań carried out the following activities:

• supporting the process of social participation
• organisation of public consultations
• cooperation with municipal organisational units and external entities in the development and implementation of 79 consultation projects
• conducting research and surveys in the city
• coordination of mediation activities aimed at solving social problems and local conflicts

In the course of the above activities, each time the concept of conducting social consultations was agreed upon in cooperation with the departments of the PCH and municipal organizational units. Communication and promotion activities were also carried out. Each time the residents were informed about consultations being conducted, among others, by means of electronic communication or through information posters.

To improve communication with the residents and make it more transparent and user-friendly, the consultation website of the City www.poznan.pl/konsultujemy was redesigned. Individual consultations have been arranged thematically, the thematic tabs have been separated and functionality has been added in the form of the ability to mark given consultations on the map of Poznań.

The average number of people attending consultation meetings in 2017 was 40, with some meetings being attended by 100-150 persons. The number of public consultations organised in 2017 was 79, a decrease of 20 compared to the previous year. The decrease in the number of consultations results from a deeper analysis of the applications and comments submitted by residents, more extensive consultation projects, as well as more meetings for residents or extension of their deadlines in order to ensure increased public participation. In 2017, there was also a change in the provisions governing public consultations. The Resolution of the City Council of Poznań no XLVIII/844/VII/2017 of 16 May 2017 on the principles and procedure of conducting public consultations in the City of Poznań introduced changes in the procedures of conducting public consultations in the city, to which the departments of the Poznań City Hall and municipal organizational units had to adapt.

As part of its consultation activities and increasing social participation, the City carried out re-granting concerning the Local Initiative Centres, and also implemented an innovative online tool – the Otwarty Poznań (“Open Poznań”) participative platform, which will provide the City with a new communication and consultation platform. The new platform of public consultations is to contribute to the increase of citizens’ involvement in the consultation process.

In 2017, the following activities were organised and carried out:

• consultation meetings concerning local spatial development plans with the participation of auxiliary units of the city, appropriate for a given area
• meetings between the Mayor of Poznań and members of estate councils and residents in order to gain knowledge about the needs and problems of estate residents, to familiarise with the residents’ postulates, motions and initiatives concerning the functioning of housing estates, and to strengthen the contact between the Mayor of Poznań and estate residents
• consultation meetings on road remodelling projects
• consultation meetings concerning draft resolutions of the City Council of Poznań on the “Poznański Program Wspierania Rodziny i Rozwoju Pieczy Zastępczej na lata 2017-2020” (“Poznań Programme for Supporting Families and Development of the Foster Care for the years 2017-2020”), “Polityka Senioralna Miasta Poznania na lata 2017-2021”, (“Senior Policy for the City of Poznań for the years 2017-2021”), “Program zrównoważonego rozwoju kultury dla Poznania”, (“Programme for the sustainable development of culture for Poznań”), “Polityki mieszkaniowej Miasta Poznania na lata 2017-2027” (“Housing Policy of the City of Poznań for the years 2017-2021”), “Park Kulturowy Stare Miasto” (“Old Town Culture Park”) and the “Gminny Program Rewitalizacji dla Miasta Poznania” (“Municipal Revitalisation Programme for the City of Poznań”)

Poznań’s Participatory Budget

In 2017, under the Poznań’s Participatory Budget (PPB):

• workshops on writing applications to the PPB were organized as well as lectures at the Centre for Senior Initiatives and Poznań’s upper secondary schools
• as part of the “Poznaj Poznań tej” high school project, a meeting devoted to the topic of PPB 2018 and the city’s budget was held at the Centre for Family Initiatives.
• the “Application Writing Marathon” was held, during which residents were instructed on how to correctly fill in the application to the PPB and familiarized with the PPB process
• consultation centres were set up in the areas most frequented by Poznań’s residents, where they had the opportunity to receive practical advice on how to submit their applications.
• a social campaign promoting the idea of the PPB was organized, addressed to students of lower secondary schools and upper secondary schools in the form of a PPB film competition related to the dissemination of knowledge about public consultations
• 42 voting points were opened in each auxiliary unit of the City of Poznań in order to enable those residents who do not have the possibility to vote from their own device to vote (since the 2017 edition of the PPV, voting has been carried out exclusively by electronic means)

In 2017, the PPB was increased by PLN 0.5 million, i.e. to PLN 18 million. A total of 218 people submitted their proposals to the participatory budget, i.e. 16 less than in 2016, while in the 2018 edition 1 person could submit 3 projects – and in the PBO 2017 edition 1 project.

Poznań residents submitted 325 projects related to the city budget expenditure on social and economic activities (91 projects more than in 2016). After verification, 47 city-wide and 113 district-wide projects were accepted for voting, out of which 34 were selected by the residents, including 3 city-wide projects.

Over 45.1 thousand people took part in the vote (6.2 thousand more than in 2016).

Projects submitted to the 2018 PPB

Source: Poznań City Hall

Active Citizens of the Poznań Metropolitan Area – Metropolitan Public Consultation Website

The City of Poznań, together with the Poznań Metropolis Association, the Poznań Local Tourist Organisation and the “Piast Trail in Wielkopolska” Tourist Cluster implemented the project “Aktywni Obywatele Metropolii Poznań – Metropolitalny Portal Konsultacji Społecznych” (“Active Citizens of the Poznań Metropolitan Area – The Metropolitan Social Consultation Website”), the aim of which is to increase social participation and involvement of citizens of 23 local governments that are members of the Poznań Metropolis Association, and primarily residents of the City of Poznań.
In 2017, a website was launched at www.konsultacje.metropoliapoznan.pl, presenting information on public consultations organized by local governments belonging to the Poznań Metropolis Association.

325 projects were submitted to the Poznań’s Participatory Budget
45.1 thousand people voted in the Poznań’s Participatory Budget