NFEP & WM has refused to co-finance the Integrated LIFE project for Malopolska

According to unofficial information, on Friday, February 19, the supervisory board of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management declined to co-finance the Integrated LIFE project “Implementation of the Air Quality Plan for the Malopolska Region – Malopolska in a healthy atmosphere”, implemented by Malopolska Region along with 44 partners. The grant of the Fund to the project was to amount to over PLN 20 million.

The Malopolska Region will fight for the implementation of the LIFE project despite the lack of co-financing from the NFEP & WM. Some of the missing costs will be covered by the partners who have declared their participation in LIFE and increasing their financial participation. Currently, 28 partners (including 22 municipalities) have confirmed their participation in the project and 17 partners (including 16 municipalities) have withdrawn. In this situation, the Marshal of the region, due to great interest in joining LIFE from other municipalities, proposed to join the project on the new terms to all other municipalities in the Malopolska Region.

For the new instrument of the European Commission – integrated projects LIFE, the NFEP & WM prepared a priority program in 2014 under which it assumed co-financing of potential Polish projects in the form of grants up to 30%. The binding rules were the basis for constructing the budget of the LIFE project in the Malopolska Region. The NFEP & WM, after thorough evaluation and analysis of the Malopolska project, declared a co-financing of PLN 20 million already in April 2015. The decision was also made by the NFEP & WM management board in December 2015, but it required confirmation from the supervisory board.

Co-financing by the NFEP & WM provided the full budget of the project and was an indispensable element of the application submitted by the Malopolska Region to the European Commission. The Malopolska LIFE project was voted the best of the 39 EU-wide nominations and it was one of the six selected for being funded by the European Commission. It turns out, however, that at present it has not earned the understanding at the national institution which aims to finance pro-environmental activities.

In the period from May 30 to June 5, 2016, the next edition of the European Sustainable Development Week will take place. The aim of the initiative is to promote the concept of sustainable development in all its aspects – economic, social and environmental.

To participate in the project, it is enough to organize, from 30 May to 5 June this year, an event (a conference, exhibition, film project, social action, business initiative, educational project, etc.) that covers at least one aspect of sustainable development and register the idea on the European platform www.esdw.eu.

Municipalities participating as a co-beneficiaries in LIFE integrated project met with Jacek Krupa, Marshal of the Małopolska Region, to discuss the current situation with the financing of the project. It was agreed that in two weeks will be taken decisions on the continuation of the project.

LIFE Integrated Project “Implementation of the Air Quality Plan for Małopolska Region – Małopolska in a healthy atmosphere” in September 2015 was selected by the European Commission as the best project in Europe, and received 10 million Euro funding from the LIFE program. Its aim is to support municipalities in Małopolska in the tasks related to the protection of air. Implementation of the project, however, is delayed and uncertain due to the wait for the decision of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management about co-financing the project.

The Marshal Office of the Malopolska Region has launched a new website presenting information on the forecast of air quality in the Malopolska Region. It will replace the existing site on the Gateway of Malopolska.

The service is very popular with the inhabitants of the region because, due to the publication of forecasts, such particularly sensitive people as children, the elderly and people with respiratory illnesses can avoid excessive exposure to pollution. Within 5 years of its existence, the service has been visited by approx. 30 thousand users and about 240 thousand view were recorded. At that time, over 7 thousand email addresses were registered to receive a newsletter concerning poor air quality.

The new version of the site has gained a new layout and functionality. Anyone interested can get acquainted with the current quality of air pollution and a 3-day forecast for the whole region or part of the Malopolska Region. The website also includes information on the degree of the threat caused by air pollution (https://powietrze.malopolska.pl/en/air-quality/announcements/).

Within the service, there is a possibility to receive a newsletter with the information about the measured and forecasted level of air pollution in three options: daily, warning and alarm, as well as the possibility of choosing the area of the region to be informed about.

The air quality forecast service in the Malopolska Region has been operating since 1 November 2010. The air quality modeling is conducted by the Faculty of Environmental Engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology.

The new site is available at: powietrze.malopolska.pl/prognozy

The project was co-financed by the Regional Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in Krakow.