Bottom-up initiatives to counteract climate change, on the example of creating local water partnerships and energy cooperatives in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship

Abstract

The text describes local and regional initiatives responding to global challenges related to climate change. Climate change, until recently commonly treated with a pinch of salt, is becoming more and more burdensome and threatening to the inhabitants of the entire globe. Actions counteracting these phenomena are usually global projects of international organizations or at least individual governments. However, also on a local scale, actions can and should be taken to counteract climate change and allow local rural communities to adapt to new external conditions. The most important purpose of the text is to present a case study of initiatives of this type implemented in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship. This is the nature of the local water partnerships that have been established for several years, associating various stakeholders tackling the challenges related to the shortage of water for agriculture and local communities. One of the sources of the economic crisis is the so-called energy poverty, which can be opposed by the so-called local energy communities aiming at energy self-sufficiency. In Poland, the first initiatives of this type take the form of energy cooperatives. The text describes the beginnings of creating local water partnerships and energy cooperatives in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodeship.