Summary of LIFE Malopolska – April 2023

Main events

On April 3 and 4, at the Marshal’s Office of the Małopolska Region, an informational meeting was held on piloting the introduction of so-called “operators” in the government’s Clean Air program, opened by Deputy Marshal of the Małopolska Region Józef Gawron. The meeting was attended by representatives of the National Environmental Protection and Water Management Fund (NFOŚiGW) with Deputy Chairman of the Board Paweł Mirowski; the National Environmental Protection and Water Management Fund (WFOŚiGW) with Chairman of the Board Kazimierz Koprowski; as well as representatives of municipalities, installation and consulting companies and non-governmental organizations from the Małopolska province.
A conference on investments to increase energy efficiency in buildings was held at the Polish Aviation Museum in Cracow on April 12. The meeting was attended by more than 200 employees of municipalities and district offices, who deal with improving the energy efficiency of buildings, air protection and climate change adaptation on a daily basis. The conference was officially opened by the Deputy Marshal of the Małopolska Region, Józef Gawron.
A plenary meeting of the Provincial Council for Social Dialogue (WRDS) was held on April 13. During the meeting, Mr. Piotr Łyczko – Deputy Director of the Department of Environment presented the current situation in the implementation of the anti-smog resolution.
An online workshop entitled “Smartphone – how to use it safely and what to install” was held on April 19 as part of the Week with the Internet campaign aimed at users of digital devices. One of the elements of the workshop was a presentation of the Ecointervention application. Katarzyna Stadnik from the Department of Environment of the Marshal’s Office of the Malopolska Region told about the functionality of the Ecointervention application.
The 6th edition of the online conference “Clean Energy for People” took place from April 24 to 28. This year’s event traditionally focused on building renovation, sustainable heating, clean air and a greener future for district heating systems. One of the speakers at the conference was Mr. Tomasz Pietrusiak – Deputy Director of the Department of Environment. He introduced the participants to the topic of anti-smog resolutions. He discussed the challenges and possibilities of applying the developed solutions in other regions, as well as the scale of the effects of the measures taken. The conference was organized by the environmental association Za Zemiata – Friends of the Earth Bulgaria in cooperation with E3G – Third Generation Environmentalism and CEE Bank-watch Network. The conference was attended by representatives from Bulgaria, Belgium, France, Germany, England, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary and Poland.
The eco-managers distributed a total of more than 16,000 informational and educational materials and provided more than 13,000 pieces of advice to residents of Malopolska.

C.1. Eco-managers

Advice and help for residents

In April, Eco-managers employed under the LIFE program provided counseling assistance to residents of Malopolska:

6,048 persons admitted in the office
5,973 by telephone
532 in writing or by e-mail
854 during on-site visits

298 inspections were carried out with residents regarding waste incineration. In 11 cases, violations were found.

Surveys from residents and applications for funding

Eco-managers were involved in collecting applications for funding from residents. In April 2023:

655 applications were collected from residents interested in benefiting from subsidies for heat source replacement.

The eco-managers entered or updated data on 13,027 properties in the Central Energy Efficiency Building Heating Register (CEEB).

C.2. Competence Centre

,,Eco-intervention” application

In April, 436 applications were accepted. The application is available at https://ekomalopolska.pl/app/ekointerwencja/index.html.

It can be listed:

202 reports of air pollution,
161 illegal waste disposal,
51 related to sewage and waste discharge,
22 were classified as other notifications,

The Competence Center responded to more than 120 inquiries addressed to UMWM in the form of e-mails and 135 telephone inquiries.

Meeting with an expert

The National Energy Conservation Agency, as part of its online training courses titled “Meet the Expert,” held two events in April with eco-managers:

12.04 – Changes in the Clean Air Program,

26.04 – Thermal imaging camera survey.

Conference on investments to increase energy efficiency of buildings

A conference on investments to increase energy efficiency in buildings was held at the Polish Aviation Museum in Cracow on April 12. The meeting was attended by more than 200 employees of municipalities and district authorities, who deal on a daily basis with improving the energy efficiency of buildings, air protection and adaptation to climate change.

Meeting of the Committee on Environmental Protection and Public Safety of the Małopolska Regional Assembly

On April 20, the Deputy Director of the Environmental Department took part in a meeting of the Committee on Environmental Protection and Public Safety of the Małopolska Regional Assembly, during which he presented activities carried out under LIFE projects.

4th Steering Committee Meeting

Representatives of the Competence Center took part in a number of meetings, including the April 13 Fourth Meeting of the Steering Committee of the “Poland’s Road to Clean Air” project and the April 14 meeting on the functionality of the ZONE system.

E.2 Local air protection information and education activities

Educational materials on air protection

Eco-advisers in the municipalities:

distributed 10,884 leaflets and brochures and 482 posters,
prepared and distributed 5,244 other educational and promotional materials (promotional materials, leaflets related to the Clean Air Program, board games and school materials for children).

Meetings & Events

Eco-managers organized meetings and events:

12 competitions for children and young people, with 519 participants,
142 meetings in schools and kindergartens, attended by 3,083 people,
19 meetings with local residents, attended by 450 people,
61 meetings with local leaders, with a total of 177 people,
41 other events on air protection, attended by 7,462 people.

Ecological competition in the municipality of Koscielisko

Use of media

Eco-managers in the municipalities have prepared:

27 articles in the press,
165 articles and posts on the Internet and social media,
45 times used other media

and took part in media information related to the project:

2 radio or TV broadcasts.

E.3. Networking with other projects

Government Clean Air Program-pilot meeting

On April 3 and 4, an informational meeting was held at the Marshal’s Office of Małopolska Voivodeship regarding the pilot of introducing so-called “operators” in the government program Clean Air. The meeting was attended by representatives of the National Environmental Protection and Water Management Fund (NFOŚiGW) with Deputy CEO Pawel Mirowski; the National Environmental Protection and Water Management Fund (WFOŚiGW) with CEO Kazimierz Koprowski; as well as representatives of municipalities, installation and consulting companies and NGOs from the Małopolska province.

Implementation of the anti-smog resolution

A plenary meeting of the Provincial Council for Social Dialogue (WRDS) was held on April 13. During the meeting, Mr. Piotr Łyczko – Deputy Director of the Department of Environment presented the current situation in the implementation of the anti-smog resolution.

“Clean energy for people” conference

The 6th edition of the online conference “Clean Energy for People” took place from April 24 to 28. This year’s event traditionally focused on building renovation, sustainable heating, clean air and a greener future for district heating systems. One of the speakers at the conference was Mr. Tomasz Pietrusiak – Deputy Director of the Department of Environment. He introduced the participants to the topic of anti-smog resolutions. He discussed the challenges and possibilities of applying the developed solutions in other regions, as well as the scale of the effects of the measures taken.

Traffic pollution in cities

A meeting of experts on urban traffic pollution was held on April 24. One of the speakers at the event was Mr. Piotr Lyczko – Deputy Director of the Department of Environment, who discussed the role of air protection programs in reducing linear emissions.

Meeting with experts from Ukraine

On April 27 we hosted experts from the Ukrainian Environment People Law project from Lviv. During the meeting they discussed LIFE programs implemented in Malopolska, in the context of planned environmental activities in Ukraine.

E4. Promotion of project implementation

An online workshop entitled “Smartphone – how to use it safely and what to install” was held on April 19 as part of the Week with the Internet campaign. One of the elements of the workshop was a presentation of the Ecointervention application. Katarzyna Stadnik from the Department of Environment of the Marshal’s Office of the Malopolska Region talked about the functionality of the Ecointervention application.