KOSZALIN CITY OF EUROPEAN BICYCLE ROUTES
The Foundation was a partner of the Koszalin City Hall in a project financed by the Small Projects Fund Phare 2001 – Cross-Border Cooperation Program Poland-Germany.
The main goal of the project was to introduce tourist infrastructure in the city, related to the development of bicycle tourism. Subsidiary goals were: reducing noise levels in the city, increasing the attractiveness of the region, popularizing activities consistent with the pro-ecological policy of the European Union, as well as developing the structures of civic organizations.
The project was the first initiative based on broadly understood social dialogue and created thanks to close cooperation between city authorities and a non-governmental organization.
The project implementation included the following activities:
– preparation of an information and promotion campaign in the media
The following were involved in the undertaking: „Głos Pomorza”, „Kurier Szczeciński”, Radio Koszalin, Koszalin Cable Television.
– conducting social consultations
The Foundation organized and conducted three meetings with residents of Koszalin and the region as part of social consultations. In total, approximately 200 participants took part in the meetings directly, however, information and prepared questionnaires (on which residents could indicate their proposals) reached the majority of Koszalin residents.
– demarcation and verification of pedestrian and bicycle routes
The selection of optimal route proposals submitted during the social dialogue took place during the verification of routes by foundation experts with qualifications in the field of creating and marking routes.
– marking of pedestrian and bicycle routes
The aim of the project was to mark pedestrian and bicycle routes with horizontal signs (500 pieces) in the shape of a bicycle on an area of 0.7 m2 each and vertical signs (150 pieces).
The project also resulted in the placement of two city maps (2.5m x 1.5m) in Koszalin.
– preparation of information and promotional materials
4,000 city maps with marked routes and 2,000 alternative communication folders were developed and made available free of charge. It was a multilingual vademecum of safe movement combined with a description and photos of the city’s architectural, historical and tourist attractions, places adapted for people with disabilities and a list of available accommodation and catering facilities.
– conducting a tourist and sports event
The finale of the project implementation was a multinational tourist and sports event, which was the culmination of the project’s activities, in which approximately 1,000 residents participated. In the planned event, in addition to the main bicycle rally, a number of accompanying events were organized, including ecological and knowledge competitions about the sightseeing and tourist values of the Pomerania Euroregion.
