From Single-Use Community Facilities Support to Integrated Sustainable DevelopmentThe Aims of Inter-Municipal Cooperation in Poland, 1990–2018

Furmankiewicz Furmankiewicz,Campbell Campbell

doi:10.3390/su11215890

Abstract

The paper explores and compares the aims of the three most common legal forms of inter-municipal cooperation in Poland (engaging rural, urban-rural and urban municipalities) during the years 1990–2018: Mono-sectoral Special Purpose Unions, Municipal Associations and cross-sectoral Local Action Groups. Content analysis was applied and development priorities from the statutes and strategies were studied. The main form of territorial association evolved from, initially, mono-functional bodies concerned mainly with local infrastructural investment and managed solely by a group of local authorities, to a devolved type, consisting of multi-purpose associations managed with the participation of economic and third sector representatives. This was the result of the European Union policy of promoting territorial governance and integrated development in functional regions, this being considered as part of the process of Europeanisation. However, these successive forms of municipal cooperation do not appear to have replaced the pre-existing forms, but they have introduced additional modes of governance of local resources. The findings show that the most "integrated" and "sustainable" management of local resources is observed mainly in cross-sectoral partnerships, like Local Action Groups, but not so often in mono-sectoral municipal unions and associations led solely by local government and focused more on hard infrastructure and municipal facilities. However, given the specialisation shown by each of the three types of association, it is likely that the full range of development possibilities in the areas concerned can only be realised if all three forms of cooperation are present. The analysis confirms the positive role of local economic and social sector participation in shaping sustainable development. The findings also indicate the utility of the concept of cross-sectoral territorial partnerships in post-socialist and post-authoritarian countries lacking traditions of grassroots or participative development.

Highlights

In recent decades, best practice in public policy and administration has been declared to be undergoing a gravitational shift from top-down state intervention to bottom-up participation and co-management with collaboration across agency, state and non-government organisation boundaries, a trend associated with the growing popularity of the territorial governance concept [1,2,3]
Inter-Municipal Cooperation (IMC) analyses available in the literature suggest that former Eastern Bloc countries may have similar experiences, while countries with long democratic traditions and continually existing local government may slightly differ in the priorities of similar forms of territorial cooperation of local municipalities [18]
We analysed the evolution of development priorities in three main forms of domestic municipal cooperation in Poland: mono-sectoral Special Purpose Unions and Municipal Association, and in cross-sectoral Local Action Groups, which are common in other European countries

Summary

Introduction

Best practice in public policy and administration has been declared to be undergoing a gravitational shift from top-down state intervention to bottom-up participation and co-management with collaboration across agency, state and non-government organisation (third sector) boundaries, a trend associated with the growing popularity of the territorial governance concept [1,2,3]. The place-based, neo-endogenous model implies central government support for regional and local bottom-up initiatives for development and well-being, facing one particular territory (natural or economic region, agglomeration, etc.), often requiring cooperation between stakeholders from fragmented administrative areas [7,8,9]. Integrated planning in this context is understood to involve drawing together local social, economic and ecological issues, rather than focusing only on, for instance, technical infrastructure [10]. In the countries where these processes first emerged, they were rooted in pre-existing democratic traditions, whereas in the European post-socialist countries such principles have largely developed since the beginning of the 21st century where they were disseminated, mainly with the support of European Union (EU) policy and funding as a means of achieving social, economic and environmental regeneration [14,15,16]

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Discussion

Conclusion