Innovative actions regarding space and greenery are already here. That's how an article about the Sendzimir Foundation's latest publication could be titled. We don't have to look to Scandinavian countries or the Netherlands - where can we find them?
small, big solutions
As part of our #ReportThursday series, we present documents, reports and guides on architecture, cities and local government that are certainly worth publicizing and promoting. This week we look at the guidebook "Good Practices of Green Local Government and Non-Governmental Leaders ," compiled by Maciej Kozlowski, Karolina Maliszewska and Maria Wisnicka, and consulted with Dr. Tomasz Jeleński. The document was issued by the Sendzimir Foundation.
Very often, in the pursuit of small innovations (and not only), we reach for solutions used in Western countries, but it is worth noting that small innovations are already used in Poland, and using them as an example and argument can be helpful in promoting good practices.
The guide "Good practices of green local government and non-government leaders" was published by the Sendzimir Foundation
© Sendzimir Foundation
Local examples help break down barriers in the form of arguments about lack of finances or the public's unpreparedness for change. These two are the most common voices with most examples from Copenhagen or Amersfoot. If something can be introduced in Skawina, Cieszyn or the Lesna municipality, it can certainly be done in other places in Poland. What solutions appeared in the document prepared by the Sendzimir Foundation? How were the solutions presented?
The guide is available on the Sendzimir Foundation website.
four aspects
The guidebook is divided into four sectors, which are addressed by the proposed solutions: water, greenery, energy, closed-loop economy. Five examples are cited for each sector. Their significant value is their scalability to centers of different sizes. The list includes Gdynia, Warsaw or Gdansk, as well as small towns - Skawina or Morawica.
For regular readers of Architecture&Business, the solutions proposed in the guide will be nothing new. Among them are river renaturation and rainwater retention projects (an example is the Beaufort estate in Gdansk by Joanna Rayss, which we showed in our pages already in2021), plantings and micro-forests, as well as issues concerning the fight against smog, reducing emissions or introducing solutions for reducing the consumption of materials and raw materials in the spirit of less waste.
Each solution, as in the solution guide for schools, includes a card that explains its pluses, the effects of its introduction, and conclusions combined with the possibility of obtaining more information from specific sources.
Each solution has its own card
© Sendzimir Foundation
important finances, more important direction
"I'll ask how much it's for and why it's so expensive" was one of the most frequently heard texts of the fair and stock market era of the 1990s. It is very common for socialists to hear responses in a similar vein regarding the introduction of blue-green infrastructure from local government officials. It is worth taking into account that the solutions cited can, in the long term, lead to savings related to appropriate energy management, water, improved air quality or well-being issues.
More important than the costs themselves, however, is the question of how should these solutions be implemented? An important lesson from the guide is the need for cooperation between the public, private and non-governmental sectors, as well as the participation of residents in the changes. The role of cooperation in their implementation can allow to break down the barriers that go behind new solutions. The Sendzimir Foundation's guidebook shows everyone on a catalog of interesting and proven ideas for those who are unsure what solutions are valuable for urban space.
The guide is available on the Sendzimir Foundation website.
