Expansion of Nature Conservation Areas: Problems with Natura 2000 Implementation in Poland?

In spite of widespread support from most member countries’ societies for European Union policy, including support for the sustainable development idea, in many EU countries the levels of acceptance of new environmental protection programmes have been and, in particular in new member states, still are considerably low. The experience of the countries which were the first to implement union directives show that they cannot be effectively applied without widespread public participation. The goal of this study was, using the example of Poland, to assess public acceptance of the expansion of nature conservation in the context of sustainable development principles and to discover whether existing nature governance should be modified when establishing new protected areas. The increase in protected areas in Poland has become a hotbed of numerous conflicts. In spite of the generally favourable attitudes to nature which Polish people generally have, Natura 2000 is perceived as an unnecessary additional conservation tool. Both local authorities and communities residing in the Natura areas think that the programme is a hindrance, rather than a help in the economic development of municipalities or regions, as was initially supposed. This lack of acceptance results from many factors, mainly social, historic and economic. The implications of these findings for current approach to the nature governance in Poland are discussed

The needs and teaching methods for sustainable development in Poland

A number of studies indicate that proper education for sustainable development both in formal and informal sphere has been neglected and the implementation of the sustainable development principles is definitely insufficient and ineffective. The presence of the sustainable development contents in the education system results mainly from the interdisciplinary training pathway „Environmental education” realised in recent years. It is focused mainly on the environment and nature issues while the social and economic issues are poorly addressed if at all. A realistic implementation the sustainable development principles into practice can take place only through intensive training and information efforts in the sector of formal and informal education. The effectiveness of these efforts will be high on condition that they are subject to careful planning at each stage of their realisation

Partycypacja społeczna na przykładzie programów Leader i Natura 2000 : zbędna bariera czy wytyczna zrównoważonego rozwoju w Polsce

Popularyzacja zagadnienia partycypacji społecznej jako strategicznego podejścia do procesu podejmowania decyzji związanych ze zrównoważonym rozwojem nastąpiła w szczególny sposób po opublikowaniu Brundtland Report w 1987 roku. W konsekwencji już na początku polskiej transformacji Unia Europejska pełniła aktywną rolę w przemianach społeczno-ekonomicznych obszarów wiejskich, przede wszystkim poprzez systematyczne wdrażanie nowych kierunków ich rozwoju, poparte stosownymi mechanizmami finansowania. Po roku 2004 wsparcie Unii Europejskiej dla inicjatyw rozwoju wsi promujących partycypację społeczną uległo znacznej intensyfikacji. Dotyczy to zwłaszcza tych programów, które podkreślają wartość i znaczenie wiedzy oraz społeczności lokalnych w procesie zrównoważonego rozwoju. Dotyczy to m.in. programu Leader, który promuje nowe formy governance poprzez rozwój bazy do partnerstwa między sektorami publicznym, prywatnym i społecznym (Lokalne Grupy Działania). Duże znaczenie posiada w tym względzie również Europejska Sieć Ekologiczna Natura 2000 – najnowsza forma ochrony przyrody utworzona dla ochrony bioróżnorodności w krajach UE.Over the past two decades Poland has experienced socio-economic and political changes with the most important stepping stone toward transition from a communist to a democratic political system was the collapse of the Communist Regime in 1989. Since the early 90s, the European Union (EU) has become a primary agent of political transition through different policies and funding mechanisms, having significant impacts on how rural development is implemented. After the country’s accession to the EU in 2004, regional and local rural programs promoted participatory mechanisms with communities acting as the legitimate stakeholder to determine conditions for rural development

Dobór wskaźników zrównoważonego rozwoju lokalnej społeczności na przykładzie gminy Milanówek

Actions for sustainable development at the local community level are the key elements of Agenda 21 but they also prove to be a difficult challenge. The governance of this process needs sustainability indicators to assess changes in local socio-economic and environmental systems to date. This article presents results of research on the local sustainable development assessment in Milanówek Municipality in Poland. This is an attempt to use a mixed, reductionist-participatory approach to selecting sustainability indicators for one local community in Po-land. The paper shows how to develop and use, at the time of broad theoretical debate on implementation of sustainable development strategies, a set of indicators helping us to shape the development strategy of a munici-pality to fully satisfy its requirements.Działania na rzecz zrównoważonego rozwoju na poziomie lokalnych społeczności są kluczowym elementem Agendy 21 i zarazem niezwykle trudnym wyzwaniem. Do skutecznego zarządzania tym procesem, potrzebne są wskaźniki zrównoważonego rozwoju, które pozwolą na bieżąco oceniać zmiany zachodzące w lokalnym syste-mie społecznym, gospodarczym i środowiskowym. W niniejszym artykule przedstawiono wyniki oceny zrów-noważonego rozwoju gminy Milanówek (woj. mazowieckie) jako przykład wykorzystania na polskim gruncie mieszanego, redukcjonistyczno-partycypacyjnego podejścia do doboru wskaźników zrównoważonego rozwoju społeczności lokalnych. Wyniki pokazują, że można podczas toczącej się obecnie szerokiej dyskusji teoretycznej nad zrównoważonym rozwojem wypracować i zastosować zestaw wskaźników pomagający kształtować strate-gię rozwoju gminy w celu jak najpełniejszego zrealizowania jej założeń

Information and education programme in the area of water and wastewater management and the attitudes of the inhabitants of the Upper Raba River basin municipalities

Problem zanieczyszczenia wody w Polsce musi być jak najszybciej rozwiązany. Szczególnie duże korzyści może przynieść unowocześnienie gospodarowania zasobami wodnymi przez zarządzanie nimi w ramach zlewni, a nie województwa. Taka sytuacja ma miejsce na terenie dorzecza górnej Raby. Gminy z dorzecza oraz Miasto Kraków utworzyły związek, którego celem jest ochrona jakości wody w Rabie i Zbiorniku Dobczyckim. Jednak wśród społeczności lokalnej pojawił się opór w stosunku do budowy nowych oczyszczalni czy rozbudowy systemu kanalizacji, co hamuje inwestycje Związku. Dlatego edukacja i kształtowanie świadomości to ważne elementy gospodarki wodnej. We współpracy z Zespołem Edukacji Ekologicznej INOŚ UJ w latach 2003-2004 na terenie gmin dorzecza zrealizowano program informacyjno-edukacyjny oparty o innowacyjną technikę ,,doradców domowych". Podstawowym założeniem programu było odwiedzenie przez doradców jak największej liczby domostw, zbadanie ich nastawienia do planów rozbudowy infrastruktury wodno-kanalizacyjnej oraz promowanie zachowań prośrodowiskowych. W pierwszej fazie programu (2003) doradcy odwiedzili 1721 gospodarstw. Około 30% mieszkańców wyraziło sprzeciw wobec budowy nowych oczyszczalni ścieków w ich miejscu zamieszkania. W drugim etapie programu doradcy domowi wizytowali kolejne gospodarstwa wśród których było 24% tych, które wzięły udział w pierwszym etapie programu. Ewaluacja wykazała, że mieszkańcy, którzy spotkali się z doradcami po raz drugi, byli bardziej świadomi stanu czystości wód dorzecza, częściej wyrażali zgodę na odpłatne podłączenie gospodarstwa do kanalizacji oraz na budowę oczyszczalni ścieków w pobliżu miejsca ich zamieszkania. Aby efekty edukacji były długotrwałe, a działania podjęte na terenie dorzecza przyniosły oczekiwane zmiany w świadomości mieszkańców program powinien być kontynuowany i ewaluowany.Water pollution in Poland needs an immediate solution. Water management seems to be most effective by using watershed rather province politics. Co-operation between various municipalities makes realization of various projects possible. Municipalities situated in the Upper Raba and the City of Krakow established the Association aimed at protection of water quality in the Raba River and Dobczyce Reservoir. First effects - building of sewage system and treatment plant - have been already seen. Further investigation is constantly halted by the local communities. Negative attitudes of inhabitants stem mainly from their lack of knowledge. That is why education and attitude shaping are important elements of water management. In the municipalities situated in the Raba River Watershed information and education program using home advisor technique was realized in two subsequent years (2003-2004). The main goal of the program was visiting local households by the home advisors in order to promote eco-friendly attitudes and behaviors. In the first phase of the program (2003), home advisors visited 1721 households. The first phase showed that ca. 30% of the population was against the water treatment plants establishment. In the following year, the evaluation of the program was conducted using the same technique. Amongst 500 households that took part in the second phase there were people, who participated in the first phase (24%). Evaluation proved that their awareness of water pollution in the Raba River Watershed was higher than of the other program participants. They also more frequently accepted the necessity of payable connection of their houses to the sewage system and building of treatment plants in their immediate vicinity. Educational activities resulted in a change of environmental problems perception among local residents. But they are most effective only when they are constant. Such a programs should be continuously monitored and advised. Those inhabitants who were included in the educational program however, most often changed their attitudes towards such investigations than the rest of the local population

Needs and Conditions of Education for Sustainable Development in Poland

Niniejsza praca ukazuje wybrane problemy edukacji dla zrównoważonego rozwoju w Polsce w systemie formalnym i nieformalnym. Opierając się o analizę Podstawy Programowej Kształcenia Ogólnego z roku 2009 oceniono jakie są potrzeby i warunki realizowania problematyki zrównoważonego rozwoju w systemie edukacji formalnej w świetle obowiązujących międzynarodowych i krajowych regulacji prawnych. W artykule wykazano związek kształcenia w szkołach wyższych ze skutecznością edukacji dla zrównoważonego rozwoju na wcześniejszych etapach edukacyjnych. Zanalizowano także realne potrzeby, warunki, warsztat metodyczny jak i jego efektywność w podnoszeniu świadomości ekologicznej społeczeństwa polskiego w ramach systemu edukacji nieformalnej.The paper describes carefully selected issues of education for sustainable development realized within formaland non-formal sectors in Poland. Based on the current national requirements of the formal education we estimated what are real needs and conditions to fulfill the tasks of sustainable development in the Polish schooling in the light of the international and national law. Furthermore, the relation of education for sustainable development at the university level with its' effectiveness at K-12 schooling is presented. In the second part of the paper, the non-formal education is analyzed particularly its' real necessities, state, methodology and efficiency in raising environmental awareness of the Polish society

Towards forward-looking nature governance to meet conservation goals of Natura 2000 sites in the European Union: experts’ perspectives

Abstract As Natura 2000 missed challenges of halting biodiversity decline, its’ management is being affected by factors of ecological, political, and economic character. To address the shortcomings revealed during the Fitness Check and to facilitate meeting the EU’s biodiversity targets, the European Commission developed an “Action Plan for Nature, People and the Economy” prioritizing areas for improvement. However, mixed views still exist on the Natura 2000 governance; it is not certain that Action Plan would address existing drawbacks. The aim of the research was to identify divergent and convergent experts’ attitudes towards biodiversity conservation in Europe, with a focus on forward-looking environmental governance and policy-informing perspective. Participants representing multiple disciplines and professional backgrounds related to planning, governance, or management of Natura 2000 sites provided a comprehensive overview on the topic and address-related challenges . Based on the results of a Delphi survey, we established a framework for illuminating the spaces of disjunction in experts’ views towards Natura 2000 conservation. We distinguished three main divergence areas in views towards future network operation: (1) raising public awareness of environmental problems in the network, (2) the role of the European Commission in building political ownership of Natura 2000 sites among landholders, and (3) funding of Natura 2000. Then, based on revealed dichotomies, we return with drawing a roadmap for promoting more consensual outcomes. The results should help enable the practical management of conflicting views and the effective engagement of future biodiversity conservation strategies in Europe and beyond.Svenska Forskningsrådet Formas http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001862Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002347Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/50110000708

Social benefits of river restoration from ecosystem services perspective : a systematic review

Major global initiatives such as the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have overlooked the prospects of the river ecosystem in achieving SDGs (e.g., SDGs 6, 14), despite the substantial role of the river in human civilisation, and the contribution of river restoration to ecological improvement. Realising the role of river social-ecological systems in providing ecosystem services (ES) to society, we have made the first step, through a systematic review, to identify progress, gaps and future research directions for river restoration research across the globe. We systematically reviewed articles and summarised the trends of river restoration within the explicit context of ES assessment. The economic and ecological aspects of river restoration were the prime focus of major studies, whereas social benefits have been least addressed. The results identified the research gaps and future opportunities and tried to supplement those gaps by addressing the questions that need to be researched in future studies. The proposed conceptual framework is designed how application of ES perspective help to integrate social benefits in river restoration research. If we are to achieve sustainable management of water, food production and zero hunger goals, overcoming the identified conceptual and methodological gaps and conceptualising the river as a social-ecological system is necessary for future river restoration research

Social benefits of river restoration from ecosystem services perspective: a systematic review

Major global initiatives such as the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have overlooked the prospects of the river ecosystem in achieving SDGs (e.g., SDGs 6, 14), despite the substantial role of the river in human civilisation, and the contribution of river restoration to ecological improvement. Realising the role of river social-ecological systems in providing ecosystem services (ES) to society, we have made the first step, through a systematic review, to identify progress, gaps and future research directions for river restoration research across the globe. We systematically reviewed articles and summarised the trends of river restoration within the explicit context of ES assessment. The economic and ecological aspects of river restoration were the prime focus of major studies, whereas social benefits have been least addressed. The results identified the research gaps and future opportunities and tried to supplement those gaps by addressing the questions that need to be researched in future studies. The proposed conceptual framework is designed how application of ES perspective help to integrate social benefits in river restoration research. If we are to achieve sustainable management of water, food production and zero hunger goals, overcoming the identified conceptual and methodological gaps and conceptualising the river as a social-ecological system is necessary for future river restoration research