In 1997, Partners-Poland conducted a cooperative planning and problem-solving process in Opole-Lubelskie, a city of 10,000 people in eastern Poland. The goal of the project was to encourage citizens and local government to work together to identify and address issues of local concern.

The project began through Partners-Poland's contact with the city's mayor, who demonstrated a strong interest in increasing citizen participation in municipal affairs. Partners-Poland then conducted a survey among the city's elected officials to determine possible areas of citizen-government cooperation. A group of active and concerned citizens was identified for participation in the project, followed by an outreach campaign in which the Partners-Poland team explained to government officials and citizens the benefits of building a cooperative dialogue.

Partners-Poland facilitated numerous meetings with the citizen-government group, consisting of citizens, the mayor, city council members, directors of municipal institutions, school officials, entrepreneurs, and media representatives. Partners-Poland divided the participants into two working groups, each of which was asked to identify an issue of local importance. The first group selected the construction of a new sewage system in an underdeveloped neighborhood, while the second group chose the development of a day care facility and youth club for disadvantaged families.

Once the groups were organized, Partners-Poland provided effective communication, negotiation facilitation training for the participants. These skills enabled Opole Lubelskie’s various sectors to work collaboratively during the subsequent cooperative planning sessions conducted by the Partners-Poland team.

One important outcome of the process was the establishment of the Opole Development and Promotion Forum (ODPF), an advocacy group through which citizens can voice their concerns to local government. As Eugeniusz Fijolek, Opole Lubelskie’s mayor, later said, residents of the town were awakened to the possibilities of civic involvement by this project. Furthermore, local officials realized that “solutions to the most essential issues of the community’s social and economic life are only possible as a result of collaboration between citizens, local administration and elected officials.”

As a result of Partners-Poland’s involvement, a number of local residents created a civic group to build community-wide support for the sewage system project, while the day care and youth club were opened in September 1997. These initiatives, in the words of Mayor Fijolek, “help prevent alcoholism and drug addiction, and create a good environment for the healthy development of our youth.”

Additional Resources
Letter from the Mayor of Opole Lubelskie on Program (Microsoft Word Document)