Abstract
Increasing the participation of inhabitants in the activities of local authorities has been one of the topics in the discussion on sustainable development for a long time. In rural development, there is also a demand for increasing the participation of inhabitants. This is possible thanks, among other things, to tools that enhance bonds in local communities, encompassing processes based on the mechanisms of the co-creation and co-production of public services, or various forms of participation in the decision-making processes of self-government. In Poland, some regional self-governments (voivodeships) have introduced solutions based on a system of grants for small local communities (villages/sołectwa) linked to deliberative participation, co-creation, and co-production processes. The goal of this article is thus to analyse the design, operation, and scale of grant mechanisms implemented by regional authorities for local communities in Poland’s rural areas (sołectwa). The first stage of the research process was a review of the literature, followed by analysis of the existing solutions and mechanisms for supporting small local communities in individual regions of Poland by financing or co-financing projects that engage inhabitants in the co-creation and co-production of public goods or services. Based on this, the key assumptions considered when creating this type of mechanism of support by voivodeship self-governments were determined. A subsequent stage of research involved analysing the case study of a solution introduced in 2016 by the Łódź regional self-government. The research results indicate that the analysed grant system model stimulates local communities that were previously passive/excluded by other programmes and that, as a result of the stable conditions of a grant contest, the process of “learning” and “imitating” the actions of the communities that succeeded occurs. The research results indicate that the proposed system of grants, which is conditionally based on the participation and co-operation of the inhabitants, seems to be an effective means of activating communities. The findings also point to features that could determine the success of the introduced grant model, such as its simplicity, limiting the bureaucracy (partially limiting the influence of local authorities on who obtains grants), and the transparency of the procedure.
Highlights
One of the issues emerging in the subject literature, as well as in practice, is the formation of social capital [1,2,3] as a factor that might positively impact regional development
The solution introduced by the Łódzregional self-government is characterised by a significant similarity to the features of participatory budgets applied in municipal areas
The goal of this article was to analyse the design, operation, and scale of grant mechanisms implemented by regional self-governments for local communities in Polish rural areas
Summary
One of the issues emerging in the subject literature, as well as in practice, is the formation of social capital [1,2,3] as a factor that might positively impact regional development This thematic area may be encountered, among others, in the framework of actions financed from European Union (EU) resources—that is, the EAFRD or ERDF—or as part of national (Polish) regional actions—for instance, those defined in the Strategy for the Sustainable Development of Rural Areas, Agriculture and Fisheries 2012–2020. One of the priorities of the initial goal is to prevent and hinder social exclusion, and to activate the inhabitants of rural areas This corresponds to the tasks indicated in the National Development Strategy 2020 “Active society . Strengthening social capital is possible thanks to the use of tools that, among other things, enhance bonds in local communities [4,5,6], and which encompass processes based on the mechanisms of co-creation and co-production of public services, or various forms of participation in the decision-making processes of regional self-governments
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