Summary of LIFE Małopolska – September

Main events

• On 28 September this year, the Council of the Małopolska Region adopted the Air Protection Programme for the Małopolska Region. The main assumption of the Programme is the air quality improvement in the shortest possible time. According to the assumptions, in 2023 the dust content standard in the atmosphere will be achieved. In 2026, the emission of carcinogenic benzo(a)pyrene will reach the target standard. The adoption of the document was preceded by many months of public consultations and work on the programme.
• From 16-22 September this year, Sustainable Transport Week was celebrated. This year, the campaign was held under the slogan Clean, Shared and Intelligent Mobility. As part of the event, the communes of Małopolskie Voivodship organised a number of events during which they promoted ecological forms of mobility.
• From 21-27 September this year, the European Green Week was celebrated. The main theme of this year’s edition was nature and biodiversity, as well as their impact on society and the economy.
• The eco-advisers distributed a total of over 6,000 information and educational materials and provided advice to almost 7,000 inhabitants of Małopolska.
• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, implementation of activities the eco-managers under the LIFE project has been reduced. Full-time tasks were difficult to carry out, due to remote working and restrictions on the reception of stakeholders and organisation of events.

C.1 Ecomanagers

Advice and support for residents

In September, the Ecomanagers employed under the LIFE programme provided advisory assistance to the inhabitants of Małopolska:

• 2 314 people admitted to the office
• 3 626 by telephone
• 322 in writing or by e-mail
• 524 during visits

148 inspections have been carried out on residents for waste incineration. In 21 cases, violations were found.

Questionnaires from residents and applications for funding

The Ecomanagers were involved in collecting questionnaires from the residents and processing applications for funding.

In September 2020:

• 156 questionnaires from residents interested in receiving funding were collected,
• 246 applications of residents or entities for funding were considered,
• 249 agreements with residents or entities for co-financing were signed and 164 such agreements were settled.

The Ecomanagers have entered or updated data on 2,654 buildings in the heating base.

C.2 Centre of Competence

List of low-emission heating devices

The list of low-emission solid-fuel heating appliances meeting eco-design requirements, available at www.powietrze.malopolska.pl , includes a total of 347 boilers and space heaters.

The “Eco-intervention” application

In August, 299 applications were received. The application is available on the website https://ekomalopolska.pl/app/ekointerwencja/index.html .

It can be specified:

• 189 reports on air pollution,
• 86 illegal waste exports
• 24 other applications.

The information line operated by the Competence Center of the Marshal’s Office has answered over 250 telephone calls.

C.3 Support for the implementation of the prohibition of solid fuels for heating in Krakow

The staff employed in the LIFE project are involved in the verification of applications and accounting for grants to replace boilers. In September:

• they carried out 5 sustainability checks,
• They have carried out 196 pre-execution checks,
• 38 grant agreements have been signed.

E.2. Local information and education activities in the field of air protection

Educational materials on air protection

The Ecomanagers in municipalities:

• prepared 2915 leaflets and brochures and 554 posters,
• They distributed 3886 leaflets and brochures and 754 posters,
• prepared 3815 and distributed 1943 other educational and promotional materials (promotional materials, leaflets related to the Clean Air Programme).

Meetings and events

Eco-managers organized meetings and events:

• 12 competitions for children / youth, in which 242 people took part,
• 11 meetings at school and kindergartens, attended by 819 people (including online classes),
• 26 meetings with residents attended by 1484 people,
• 22 meetings with local leaders (teleconferences with councillors, mayors) including 297 people,
• 23 other air protection events attended by 577 people.

The Ecomanagers have transferred part of their activities to the Internet. They organised various competitions and workshops using social networks.

E.3 Creating networks for the exchange of experience with other projects.

Sustainable Transport Week

From 16 to 22 September this year, as part of the Sustainable Transport Week, a number of events related to this took place in the municipalities of the Małopolska region. The aim of the activities is to promote ecological forms of mobility, such as: means of public transport, bicycle, pedestrian traffic and multimodal transport, i.e. combining various branches of transport. This years’ edition of the campaign was held under the motto Clean, shared and intelligent mobility.

E-visit to Brussels

On 17 September this year, the ecomanagers and employees of the Centre of Competence had the opportunity to take part in an e-visit organised by the European Commission’s Visit Centre in cooperation with the Marshal’s Office of the Małopolska Region. The main theme of the meeting was biodiversity, Green Deal and energy policy.

Green Week

The European Green Week (Green Week) was celebrated from 21-27 September. This year, the main topics were nature and biodiversity, as well as their impact on society and the economy. This year’s edition was an opportunity to assess the impact of our daily choices on the environment, and to highlight the importance of biodiversity for society and the economy.

Conference at the Regional Inspectorate of Environmental Protection in Cracow

On 24 September this year, a conference entitled Sources of air pollution and their impact on air quality in Krakow in 2018-2019 was held at the headquarters of the Regional Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Krakow. During the conference, the results of research conducted by scientific teams of the AGH University of Science and Technology were presented, as well as an assessment of the effects of air protection programmes implementation.

During the conference, the support of the Inspectorate for the provisions included in the draft of the new Air Protection Programme for the Małopolska Region was emphasized.

Adoption of the Air Protection Programme for the Małopolska Region

On 28 September 2020. The Council of the Małopolska Region adopted a new Air Protection Programme for the Małopolska Region. The main assumption of the Programme is the improvement of air quality in the shortest possible time. According to the judgment of the EU Court of Justice, issued due to exceeding air quality standards in Poland, these measures must be adequate to the level of pollution. In accordance with the air protection programme, the dust content standard in the atmosphere will be met already in 2023. In 2026, the emission of the carcinogenic benzo(a)pyrene will be reduced, meeting the target standard. The adoption of the project is the end of many months of consultations and work on the programme.

E.4 Promotion of project implementation

The Ecomanagers in the municipalities have prepared:

• 14 press articles,
• 163 articles and posts on the Internet and community media,
• They have used other media (e.g. wall newspapers and information boards) 39 times,

and took part in the media information related to the project:

    8 radio or TV programmes.