Most of the meetings took place in various building of the city administration. We also had the occasion to attend a participatory debate around the future strategy (and setting of the Gdansk metropolitan area).<\/p>\n Our encounters were rich of reflexions, contextualisation and concrete examples of the philosophy and strategy of the city in terms of social innovation.<\/p>\n So, how can a city embrace social innovation?<\/strong><\/p>\n The city of Gdansk envisages Social innovation as a new vision for city life. Such an approach puts citizens are the heart of city policies, but not only as a target, which should have always been the case, but rather as an actor, a co-creator of its environment. This means that not only does the city seek to empower citizens in their new role, to enhance and deepen partnerships with NGOs but also to place the administration in a new position: the administration remains the organizer of city life. However, it does not do it in an isolated manner anymore and seeks to achieve wider societal goals, and more importantly, citizens\u2019 happiness, through learning, with an open mind, adopting a positive attitude and \u2013 crucially \u2013 a holistic approach to situations.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Where has the impulse come from?<\/strong><\/p>\n In Gdansk, this is a process that is strongly borne by a few key people. The Mayor, Pawe\u0142 Adamowicz, is strongly in favour of bringing in new changes, necessary for adapting the society of Gdansk but also the administration to nowadays challenges. According to him, the administration has a crucial role to play in brining happiness to citizens. Other high level officials, such as Ewa Kami\u0144ska – vice mayor of the city of Gdansk for social policy, Andrzej Bojanowski – vice mayor of the city of Gdansk for economic policy or Piotr Kowalczuk – Director of the department of social development, strongly share this view, and each of them with his or her own background \u2013 psychology, journalism or economics, personifies a vision that seeks to take risks, without knowing what the future will bring, but surely positive inputs.<\/p>\n In this respect, leadership for social innovation does come from the city administration, from high level positions. The administration bears the overall navigating responsibility, as a very top-down approach. However, it moves away from the traditional hierarchical and vertical structure to a more horizontal sharing of tasks and responsibilities in the city.<\/p>\n What is the ecosystem for social innovation in Gdansk?<\/strong><\/p>\n The administration is not limited to its own skills, capacity and knowledge. It now seeks external support, also recognizing to ability of others \u2013 better suited \u2013 institutions and actors. It can be a consultant<\/strong> being hired to facilitate participatory processes (also crucial to ensure neutrality) or an structure \u2013 the Institute for city culture<\/strong> \u2013 created for getting closer to citizens, empowering them and \u2013 eventually – making the connexion between citizens and city administration. The role of NGOs<\/strong> is growing as well, where there are given increasingly \u2013 and more sustainable \u2013 funding and tasks to work on the ground, with citizens, as well as co-creating city strategies and policies.<\/p>\n Citizens<\/strong> are increasingly involved. The first step is to consult them, to get advice on strategies or proposals already prepared. The second step is to actually start from their needs and wishes \u2013 giving them a white card \u2013 to build strategies. The administration is also seeking to empower citizens through culture, to make citizens responsible for the place where they live and to get a feeling of identity. In a city which has seen its population extinguished by 95% after World War II, this question of identity is crucial. The city also wants to show citizens they are listened to and their needs and wills are taken into account and can become a reality.<\/p>\n The staff<\/strong> is \u2013 but also needs \u2013 to be highly motivated and engaged. Although no new skills are really necessary as it works with other organizations, this is more than anything else a change of mentality that has been \u2013 and is \u2013 necessary.<\/p>\n It goes without saying that the integration of social innovation is a long process which requires organisation changes and changes of mindset. Key crucial elements which have been developed and will seek to be further enhanced are:<\/p>\n \u00a0What does it mean in practice?<\/strong><\/p>\n In our in-depth analysis, we are foreseeing to investigate the following examples, where an approach social innovation had been undertaken:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n _Targ w\u0119dlowy<\/strong>\u2026 where city needs were identified with the help of citizens, through the Institute of city culture, and cooperating with the city administration to change the role of a parking, resulting into a resting area (www.targweglowy.ikm.gda.pl<\/a>)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n _ Strategia Gda\u0144sk 2030 Plus<\/strong>\u2026 where for the first time the new strategy of the city has been designed on what citizens want, while providing them with a white card (http:\/\/www.gdansk.pl\/strategia<\/a> ). <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n _ Klub Gda\u0144ski<\/strong> \u2026 where an internal group of reflexion, \u2018think tank\u2019, was set up to work on common values and principles, creating a vision for the administration.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n _City and directors\u2019 Facebook<\/strong> pages<\/strong>\u2026 where social media serves as an interface between citizens and administration, providing a human face to bureaucratic work, getting to know each other and learning from citizens\u2019 needs and expectations (https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/zGdanska<\/a> , https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/piotr.kowalczuk.GDN<\/a> ).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n _ Renovation of facades on ul.Kartuska<\/strong>\u2026 where citizens where consulted for a renovation of facades, in the absence of legislation in harmonization of renovation. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n _ Instytut Kultry miejskiej\/Institute of city culture<\/strong>\u2026 where an organisation funded by the city is managed independently to empower citizens through art (http:\/\/www.ikm.gda.pl<\/a> ).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n _ Reform of the education sector<\/strong>: adopting bottom-up process to ensure a better working and studying environment in the education sector, with higher results.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n _Reform of the organizational structure of the administration<\/strong>\u2026 where the administration applies to itself principles it seeks to apply in the city. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n _ City participative budget<\/strong>\u2026 where citizens are consulted on the budget to be used in the city (https:\/\/gdansk.zetwibo.pl\/voting\/welcome<\/a> ).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"Admin](\"http:\/\/www.sustainable-everyday-project.net\/urbact-socialinnovationincities\/files\/2014\/10\/Admin-Gdansk.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a>\u00a0 <\/a><\/p>\nWe must say, that Gdansk – today 462, 000 inhabitants over 262 km2 \u2013 has been leading in Poland in partnerships with NGOs. It has in particular played a crucial role in pushing the development of legislation ruling the activities of NGOs. It seems that the activist heritage of the city, cradle of the first-free-trade-union based movement led by Solidarnosc burst in 1980 is not without links to this. In relation to this, going back to the complex history of the city \u2013 once a free city – the city is positioning itself as a \u2018City of Freedom\u2019, the moto of its campaign for becoming the European capital of culture. \u2018Freedom\u2019 in particular meaning openness, and the absence of controlled mindset.<\/p>\n\n
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\n_ Gdansk metropolitan association\/Gdanski obszar metropolitalny<\/strong>\u2026 where Gdansk is leading in the improvement of cooperation with key \u2013 institutional, economic and socil \u2013 actors in the development of in designing common and shared services in the region (http:\/\/www.metropoliagdansk.pl\/<\/a> ).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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