The JESSICA initiative was set up to provide a more sustainable and efficient response to the needs of urban areas, as compared to non-repayable grants. Anchored in the literature on place-based policy and territorial cohesion, this paper addresses the question how the JESSICA funds were allocated among Polish cities – whether, intuitively, only to key urban centres, or to smaller cities as well. The results illustrate that the repayable assistance of JESSICA was dispersed throughout the regions, although the degree of dispersion remains mixed across them. Almost half of the JESSICA funds was transferred to small and medium-sized cities. It was also found that the bulk of the assistance went to the projects that were implemented in cities situated within metropolitan areas of the regional capital cities.
Decentralisation in Ukraine is an important factor in the development of a democratic system of government. The reform of local self-government aims to create new relations between citizens, local authorities, and the state. The aim of the article is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the local government reform in Ukraine and other countries in order to identify its main advantages and disadvantages as well as indicate ways to overcome the existing shortcomings in this area. The study determined that decentralisation in the country leads to democratic transformations of society based on civic initiative and responsibility, as well as provides a decent standard of living and quality services at the local level. The introduction of decentralisation can be observed in almost all areas, including administrative, political, financial, and social. This significantly affects the potential of the population and increases the responsibility of public authorities to the population. There is an increase in the level of public services with regard to economic, legal, political, social, and ethnic issues. Finally, proposals were made to make changes in the field of local self-government in order to overcome the existing problems in this area.
The article presents the phenomenon of contemporary food cooperatives in Poland, which draw inspiration from cooperative movement. The cooperatives were examined in the context of cooperative principles and values, goals and motivations as well as their attitude to formalisation as cooperatives. A key part of the paper is the results of an empirical survey, conducted using the CATI method. The survey covered 25 food cooperatives in Poland. Preliminary analysis showed that they are initiatives focused on: joint sourcing of hard-to-find food products, self-help or assistance to other people looking for healthy food, a desire to oppose modern consumerism and capitalism, care for the environment, and local activity is also key for them.
The article examines cooperation between cities from Poland and the South Caucasus, focusing on its forms and joint projects. The analysis is based on the results of a questionnaire sent out to Polish cities with a population of more than 50,000. It included questions about the nature of cooperation, initiatives underway, and the importance of regional issues in these relations. This allowed for a detailed understanding of their involvement in international contacts. The main purpose of the article is to show how Polish cities – through projects with cities in Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan – support intercultural dialogue and regional development, highlighting the growing role of local diplomacy.
The article discusses the idea of co-production, understood as informed and intentional participation of citizens in the organisation and provision of public services in the context of the global ageing process, a phenomenon which necessitates actions aimed to secure the needs of older people. The basis for the empirical investigation was a study carried out under the aegis of a WHO agency, the Centre for Health Development in Kobe, Japan. It offers an analysis of the case studies of initiatives addressed to elderly people in the local communities of 10 selected developing countries (Chile, China, Iran, Libya, Russia, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine, Vietnam). The key criterion in the selection of the analysed projects was direct involvement of institutional and non-institutional representatives of local communities in their implementation. As a participant (researcher) of this international survey, the author analyses the observable manifestations of silver co-production characterising the individual initiatives.
In the past twenty years, research on the measurement of social capital has been among the leading areas of interest in social sciences. The impact of ethnic diversity on the level of social capital is an interesting aspect of this research. According to Robert Putnam, in the U.S. context, ethnic diversity has a negative influence on the level of social capital. Various research initiatives implemented in Europe indicate, however, that ethnic diversity does not have a significantly negative correlation with social capital, and, that examples of its positive impact on social capital can be found. The article presents a quantitative analysis conducted in 20 municipalities of the Opolskie Voivodship (10 of them ethnically homogeneous, and 10 – ethnically diversified) in order to analyse this relationship. On the basis of the data collected in the analysis, it can be stated that in the surveyed region, ethnic diversity is not a factor with a negative impact on the level of social capital, and it is also highly probable that it is a factor that enhances social capital, at least its bonding dimension.
The Act of 11 January 2018 amending certain acts in order to increase participation of citizens in the process of selecting, functioning and controlling certain public bodies (Journal of Laws 2018, item 130) obliged all local government units to establish a citizens’ resolution initiative and to regulate the basic procedures related to the preparation and submission of applications by a resolution of their law-making body. The article analyses the implementation activities undertaken in cities with county rights. It indicates that before the entry into force of the Act, 55 cities out of 66 had already implemented such an arrangement, and, in their case, the Act helped unify the procedures. The article also points out that some cities did not implement these regulations before the beginning of the 8th term of office of local governments, and in several cases there were problems with the implementation, which prevented citizens from exercising their resolution initiative. The article presents the legal status as of 31 December 2019.
Migration management is one of the key tasks faced by regional authorities in Poland, which experience deepening processes of shrinking and ageing of population. The aim of the article is to determine whether policy makers are aware of the role of migration processes and migration policy, to show their presence in demographic development strategies, and to describe the activities undertaken at the regional level in response to the ongoing demographic processes. The analysis is based on the example of the Łódzkie, Opolskie, and West Pomeranian voivodships. The article proposes an analytical model assuming a gradual process of decision-makers’ reaction to demographic changes. An analysis of documents and interviews with people responsible for regional demographic policy confirms they are aware of ongoing population processes and their consequences, at the same time, however, there is a lack of actions aimed at stimulating inflows of foreigners. The initiatives aimed at stopping the population from emigrating are more important.
Local communities worldwide rely on cultural values, and Indigenous institutions to recover from social conflict; however, the process by which social awareness is constructed as a peacebuilding mechanism remains insufficiently theorised, particularly in post-colonial island societies. This study examines how social awareness is constructed and mobilised in resolving recurring social conflicts in the Kei Islands, Maluku, Indonesia. Employing a qualitative phenomenological approach, data were collected through in-depth interviews and observations involving community leaders, customary elders, religious figures, and local residents. The findings reveal six interrelated forms of social awareness – sense of brotherhood, participation in joint activities, social interaction, problem-solving through deliberation, the ability to listen and communicate, and tolerance – which collectively shape everyday peace practices in the community. Drawing on Berger and Luckmann’s theory of social construction, this study demonstrates that while processes of internalisation and externalisation are increasingly challenged by modernisation and social pressures, objectification through strong customary institutions functions as the primary stabilising anchor in conflict resolution. The study extends social construction theory by proposing a communal–institutional variation, in which collective institutions play a corrective role in sustaining social cohesion. These findings underscore the importance of strengthening Indigenous institutions and culturally embedded practices in locally grounded peacebuilding initiatives.