Inhabitants Of Commune Research Articles

The role of local government as a stabilizer of the functioning of the state in the period of political and systemic crisis in Poland

In the 2018–2022 (2023) term of office of local government bodies, numerous cases of transferring problems generated by national policy to local governments can be indicated. The commune self-government, being the entity closest to the citizens in terms of handling most matters, experiences the effects of actions taken at the level of systemic and national regulations, as well as being the object of specific actions initiated at the central level. Among the numerous challenges in which the local government plays a stabilizing role in the state, taking over responsibility for solving problems in emergency situations, it is worth paying attention to the activities related to helping refugees after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The decision of the Polish government to open borders to millions of refugees was not preceded by proper preparation. The assumption of this analysis is based on the claim that without bottom-up activation of the local government and its organizational units as well as inhabitants of communes, accepting the largest number of refugees in the history of Poland could have caused the paralysis of the state and a humanitarian crisis. The main question is whether we can talk about the success of the government or the local government in this matter.

Environmental Awareness Among the Rural Population in Natura 2000 Areas, with Bartoszyce and Sorkwity Communes as an Example

Abstract The aim of this study was to learn about environmental awareness among the inhabitants of communes in which Natura 2000 areas had been designated. Field study with the use of an interview questionnaire was conducted in 2013 in two communes of Warmińsko-Mazurskie province, namely Bartoszyce and Sorkwity. The study in-volved a total of 61 inhabitants. The obtained results demonstrated that despite the actual presence of various forms of environmental protection within the areas under study, the depth of knowledge in the subject concerned was relatively low among the local population. Research shows that the respondents perceive the need for pro-environmental measures; however, they rarely take those mea-sures themselves, unless they can see economic profits in it. Even though more than half of the respondents have heard the name Natura 2000, majority of them know nothing thereof.