Development and Activation of the Commune and Its Residents Based on Local Renewable Energy Sources.
Implementation period: 01.01.2008 – 30.04.2009
On April 30, 2009, the Science for the Environment Foundation completed the implementation of the project „Development and activation of the commune and its residents based on local renewable energy sources,” implemented from the funds of the Financial Mechanism of the European Economic Area and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, as well as 1 from the funds of the budget of the Republic of Poland under the Fund for Non-Governmental Organizations.
Operating in a multi-sector partnership (Science for the Environment Foundation, Koszalin University of Technology, local government units and biomass producers – farmers), the organization undertook the implementation of a pilot project aimed at:
- building local development using renewable energy sources from biomass,
- developing paths of cooperation between farmers and local government units – building a local renewable energy market,
- drawing attention to the need for sustainable development in rural areas,
- full use of local natural resources in combination with existing technical infrastructure, human and social capital,
- preserving biodiversity.
The project was of an information and training nature, with a focus on the sustainability effect, which is expressed in the developed analyses both in relation to specific farms – declared areas and five poviats.
The project stages included:
Preliminary activities: development of full visualization and preparation of information materials. As part of the activity, 4 poviat information conferences were organized to launch the project and a media promotion campaign was launched, based on the principles of „green marketing.”
Training activities: the project assumed the recruitment of participants, and then the implementation of a series of specialized training in the field of:
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- training: „Environmentally friendly business,”
- workshops: „Financing renewable energy,”
- training: „Renewable energy sources – biomass” (cultivation of energy crops),
- training: „Renewable energy sources – regional development potential,”
- study visits by farmers and representatives of local government units, the purpose of which was to exchange good practices.
Sustainable activities: included the development of individual analyses and expert opinions for individual recipients of activities:
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- documentation specifying the practical possibilities of biomass production in the area of farms covered by the project, taking into account individual biotic and abiotic conditions,
- analysis of the energy potential of biomass from agriculture and the possibility of establishing perennial energy crop plantations for the Sławno, Białogard, Koszalin, Kołobrzeg and Szczecinek poviats.
The summary of the adopted activities was a conference / seminar summarizing the results of the conducted analyses and the entire project, enabling the exchange of experiences. At the same time, it became a forum for discussion with the possibility of formulating specific conclusions, which will be the premise for actions aimed at using the potential of RES to build local value-added markets.
