Funded under the Swiss Block Grant, Mapping for Change in collaboration with the Centre for Training and Personal Development MERITUM, the Cultural Authority City of Gardens and Highways 4 Elements carried out a two year training programme in the Silesia region of Poland.
The project set out to increase the participation of citizens in shaping local policy created in the Silesian-Cracow Europol.
Our Role
Mapping for Change were commissioned to train forty-two trainers and coaches in sustainable development of the area outlined in the Development Strategy for the South Polish region. Mapping for Change equipped trainers with the ability to not only train others, but also to run engaging workshops across the community.
Impact
Mapping for Change developed a Polish version of their interactive Community Maps platform and trained participants enrolled in the programme in how to utilise a range of participatory mapping methodologies. The information collected during the mapping process formed the basis for developing written recommendations to take concrete actions for change in local communities and that aim to enable people to feed into local plans for sustainable development.
Community Maps allowed citizens to take action about problems which affected them in their local area, including dog fowling.
Related Projects
UK Climate and Community Action Map
Mapping for Change produced a Climate and Community Action Map, to inform people about initiatives happening in their local area. As there are thousands of organisations and projects that could be displayed, there is no one organisation that has a comprehensive list so any mapping will need to rely on local people’s knowledge and readiness to add their work to the map.
Urbex - Engaging Young People Through Urban Exploration
This is a project which used urban exploration as an innovative way to engage young people at risk of social exclusion and encourage their participation in civic issues. Each partner organisation worked in a specific pilot neighbourhood to test and deliver different approaches and applications of urban exploration.
Planting Healthy Air in Schools
Mapping for Change is working with pupils and teachers to monitor nitrogen dioxide levels around each school using citizen science. Together, we have installed diffusion tubes at 10 locations around the school which will be changed over by the EcoClub every month for 12 months.