The City of Poznań, in cooperation with external partners, undertook numerous initiatives promoting environmental protection among residents.

The measures taken in Poznań in 2017 to promote environmental protection included:

“EKO-LOG” – the “Waste Management in the Metropolitan Area of Poznań” Inter-Municipal Association participated, under a partnership agreement with the Poznań School of Logistics, in the “EKO-LOG” project, co-financed by the European Social Fund, which is an unconventional module of classes for secondary school students, developing their competences and arousing their curiosity, creativity and willingness to deepen knowledge in the area of conscious participation in complex processes of the waste management logistic chain, while promoting environmental protection.
Wielkopolska Environmental Protection Day – held in the Botanical Garden of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, for the 4th time on such a large scale. The main organisers of the event included: Centre for the Promotion of Sustainable Development Association, Botanical Garden of the Adam Mickiewicz University and the Landscape Park Group of the Wielkopolskie Province. Those attending the event could listen to lectures dedicated to environmental protection, take part in workshops, watch wildlife films and visit numerous stands of the organisers that provided the participants with a great deal of attractions.
A pilot biodegradable waste collection programme – ZZO carried out, in cooperation with Ekoforum, a comprehensive educational campaign related to the introduction of a pilot BIOwaste collection programme. The programme aimed at obtaining kitchen waste from the stream of biodegradable waste, to activate the fermentation chambers of the biocomposting plant which was in the start-up phase, and increasing the residents’ ecological awareness as regards selective biodegradable waste collection, with particular emphasis on biowaste.
“Second life through reuse” point – an initiative conducted by ZZO. Its aim is to persuade the city’s residents to leave no longer used, but still functional household equipment at the collection point. Functional equipment is passed on to other users for a small fee.
“Keep warmth” – the City of Poznań, together with Veolia, carried out the 9th edition of a project under which free thermal imaging tests of 455 single-family houses and 25 tenement houses throughout Poznań were carried out. The aim of the project was to draw attention to heat losses in buildings that cause emission of pollutants into the environment and entail unnecessary costs for the residents.
“Eco forecasts” – are prepared with the residents in mind, to show the spread of PM10 for Poznań and for Poznań compared with the rest of the province for three subsequent days. “Eco forecasts” are provided with explanations and pictograms which explain in a straightforward way how we should behave and what behaviours should be avoided when high concentrations of PM10 are predicted.
“Atmosfera dla Poznania” (Atmosphere for Poznań) – the City has launched a website for the residents that presents, among other things:
- a three-day PM10 eco forecast for Poznań compared with the rest of the province, with an animation of daily changes in the spread of PM10
- current (updated every hour) basic meteorological data: air temperature, wind force and direction
- ongoing monitoring for Poznań – values of concentrations of particulate matter and gaseous pollutants (updated every hour) with reference to applicable standards and permissible, information and alarm levels
- a three-day eco forecast for Europe, regarding ozone, PM10 and mineral dust from the Sahara
- information on fees for using the local public transport of the City of Poznań in zone A. In accordance with Resolution of the Poznań City Council No. XLII/736/VII/2017 of 21 February 2017, passengers travel for free from 3:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. after a day when the information level of PM10 was exceeded (200 μg/m3) at any measuring station of the Provincial Environmental Protection Inspectorate, and there is risk that this value will be exceeded on the following day.
“Eco driving in safe Poznań” – once again 200 residents of Poznań participated in free training in the field of eco driving, i.e. a modern driving style allowing for economical, smooth and safer driving, saving fuel and reducing emissions by 20% on average. Over the last three years, 600 residents of Poznań have taken part in free eco driving training.
“Spring-cleaning” and “Clean the World” – initiatives promoting environmental protection, during which more than 260 tons of waste were collected in total in the city. Within the year, the initiatives were joined by nearly 200 entities, including Poznań schools, kindergartens, housing estates, local entrepreneurs, allotment gardeners, associations as well as homeless people and the Roma community. Under each initiative over 300 different areas are cleaned every year.
“KAWKA Programme” – the programme was implemented in 2015-2017 and provided for co-financing of elimination of onerous furnaces and boilers fired with coal and replacing them with system heat, gas or electricity. As part of the programme, educational activities were also conducted to encourage the residents to participate in it and inform them about the problem of emission of air pollutants and the ways to reduce it. In 2017, as part of the programme, 127 grants were awarded in the total amount of PLN 1.6 million. As many as 508 coal- and wood-fired furnaces were eliminated, and solid fuel burning was reduced by 1,171.17 tons. 257 furnaces were replaced with system heat, 226 ones with gas heating and 25 ones with electric heating. Emission of exhaust gases to the air was reduced: by 9.43 tons of PM10 and 5.8 kg of benzo(a)pyrene.
Poznań Energy Day – in 2017, the event was organised for the second time, in the form of a family picnic with a number of interesting interactive attractions. Its aim was to increase the energy awareness of the residents of Poznań. During the picnic, a large group of the event partners gave the residents practical advice on the conscious, efficient and economical use of energy.

In 2017, subsequent episodes of the “Zielony Serwis Poznania” and “Zielony Serwis Poznania – KAWKA” television series were broadcast by WTK Poznań television station. Both series presented measures taken by the City of Poznań as regards environmental protection. A cartoon entitled “Lepsza atmosfera dla Poznania” (Better atmosphere for Poznań) was produced to inform the residents what air pollution is, what are its causes and how it can be prevented. The film was shown on WTK Poznań and is available at Poznan.pl/srodowisko.

Information, educational and promotional spots concerning, for example, low emission of pollutants and the ways to reduce their emission, were also broadcast by radio stations such as Radio Pogoda, Radio Złote Przeboje, Radio Eska.

Information presented on the “Środowisko” (the environment) vortal, which is part of the official website of the City of Poznań (Municipal Multimedia Guide) was also edited on a regular basis. The vortal includes thematic sites related to measures taken by the City in the field of environmental protection and ongoing projects concerning e.g.: eco forecasts, the KAWKA programme and the “Poznań, Fair Trade Town” programme.

In 2017, continuous educational activities were carried out in Poznań, including:

meetings, talks, workshops dedicated to environmental protection and competitions concerning waste segregation, rules of municipal waste management and efficient water management in organised education facilities; the offer for schools also includes educational trips to Poznań landfills, which helps increase students’ awareness as regards rational management of environmental resources
municipal bulletin entitled “Ekologiczny Poznań” (Environment-friendly Poznań), in which selected issues regarding environmental protection in Poznań are presented.

In 2012, Poznań, as the first city in Poland, was awarded the title of “Fair Trade Town”. In 2017, the city was awarded this title once again. So far, Poznań is the only city in Poland to be awarded this title.

Poznań received co-financing for the CONNECTING Nature project (COproductioN with NaturE for City Transitioning, INnovation and Governance) under the Horizon 2020 Programme (in the period 2015-2020, the project’s value is PLN 2.6 million). The aim of the project is to popularise innovative nature-based solutions in cities, with which cities will develop in a sustainable way, and the quality of residents’ lives will improve despite the progressing negative effects of climate change. The project is based on the assumption that the economy will develop in accordance with effective models of inter-sectoral cooperation and will foster the development of services in the area of green infrastructure.

For measures taken to develop in a sustainable and environment-friendly way the City of Poznań was awarded in 2017 the title of the Most Environment-friendly City in Poland and the Eco City distinction.

Environmental protection in Poznań

	2000	2005	2010	2014	2015	2016	2000=100
Municipal sewage treated within a year (in dam³)	47919	34993	32095	30346	29824	30161	62,9
Industrial wastewater treated within a year (in dam³)	2256	2057	1465	1140	1964	2171	96,2
Treated municipal and industrial wastewater (in %)	x	99,9	100	100	100	99,9	x
Total emission of particulate matter pollutants in tons/year	1863	900	431	404	301	205	11
Total emission of gaseous pollutants in thous. tons/year	2013	1980	1689	1491	1556	1508	74,9
of which: sulphur dioxide	7,8	6,8	3,9	2,2	1,9	1	13,2
nitrogen oxides	3,3	4,3	2,9	2,3	2,5	2,5	77,1
carbon oxides	1,1	0,4	0,3	0,4	0,4	0,5	40,1
carbon dioxide	2000	1854	1681	1485	1550	1501	75,1
Industrial waste in thous. tons	377,8	385,5	692,5	399,7	513,5	599,6	158,7
Municipal waste in thous. tons	271,9	240,1	209	171,3	170	177,7	65,4

Source: Polish Central Statistical Office

Environmental protection in large Polish cities

	Poznań	Kraków	Łódź	Warszawa	Wrocław
Area subject to legal protection (in %)	4,2	14,9	9,4	23,6	6,3
Intercepted or neutralised particulate matter pollutants (in %)	99,8	99,7	99,9	99,9	99,8
Intercepted or neutralised gaseous pollutants (in %)	27,6	45,2	44,5	65,8	73,9