Jarosław, Jasło, Krosno and Nisko will receive around 15 million zlotys each to implement their development plans. These are the next 29 winners of the “Local development” programme, which will receive support from the Norwegian and EEA Funds. This is what the agreements concluded today, which were signed in Rzeszów by the Deputy Minister for Funds and Regional Policy, Ms. Małgorzata Jarosińska-Jedynak.
-The “Local Development” Program is a comprehensive support for the development of small and medium-sized towns. It changes the quality of the environment, supports entrepreneurship, the efficiency of public administration and the standard of living of the inhabitants of small and medium-sized towns. The Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy supports projects aimed at sustainable development of small and medium- sized towns – said Deputy Minister Małgorzata Jarosińska-Jedynak during the signing of the agreement.
The local governments of the Podkarpacie Region: Jarosław, Jasło, Krosno, Nisko, Przemyśl and Stalowa Wola, will be able to implement development-oriented investments thanks to the support provided under the “Local Development” Program. The prepared undertakings will contribute to comprehensive environmental, social, economic and institutional development of the winning cities – emphasizes Voivod Ewa Leniart.
-I am convinced that the funds which will be allocated to the cities of Podkarpacie will be well managed and will allow the inhabitants to enjoy positive changes in their immediate environment,” says Stanisław Kruczek, member of the management board of the Podkarpackie Region.
The projects for which we are signing agreements today are characterized by many innovative activities that will improve the quality of life in the city and set it on new paths of development.
- Jarosław will implement actions in the field of adaptation to climate change and improvement of air quality. Also very important will be actions for digital transformation, which will improve the quality of services provided by the city and the quality of life of its inhabitants.
- Jasło has set its sights on socio-economic development. The project will result in an improved quality of life for residents by: increasing their activity, improving transport accessibility in the city, increasing economic activity, improving access to vocational education, increasing the resident’s identification with the city, supporting excluded people and higher environmental awareness.
- Krosno will create a Youth Activity Center, bicycle infrastructure and pocket parks. It will also stimulate entrepreneurship among young people and educate staff for business, e.g. in the form of dual studies and soft skills training. The city is implementing the project in cooperation with nine partners.
- The city of Nisko plans to educate its citizens about the environment, create conditions for the development of local entrepreneurship and broaden the offer of leisure activities for its citizens.
-The agreement signed today concerns a very important project for Jaros³aw which was worked on by many people for 1,5 years. Its realization will allow us first of all to take care of the social sphere, to improve the quality of the air by launching ecological public transport, to create an important Transfer Center at the railway station, to implement SMART CITY, i.e. to computerize many services in order to make the life of people much easier and to encourage them to bind their future with our town. I’m very glad that we’ve received such a big subsidy which will allow us to make Jarosław an exceptionally friendly place to live, work and live in – sums up Waldemar Paluch, the mayor of Jarosław.
-Over 40 people representing different environments worked on the preparation of our project “Jasło – my city, my home”. I would like to thank everyone for their engagement and time – every voice and opinion was valuable and important for us. We are grateful for the funds we have received, because thanks to them we will be able to implement tasks that will influence the social and economic development of our city – emphasizes Ryszard Pabian, mayor of Jasło.
-Krosno caters to the needs of its young inhabitants, is open to grassroots initiatives and actively cooperates with non-governmental organizations. It is a city that wants to be greener and at the same time focuses on business development. Together with the inhabitants and representatives of the third sector we have prepared a project combining all these aspects – thanks to it, Krosno will be an even better place to live, remarks Tomasz Soliński, Deputy Mayor of Krosno.
-The planned activities will contribute to the dynamic development of our city, to the improvement of living conditions of our residents, and the key effect of the project will be the implementation of the worked out New Low Development Path, including through the implementation of a modern system of teaching computer science and foreign languages from the primary to secondary school level. We would like to thank our advisors from the Association of Polish Cities, all participants of the Local Development Cluster, which was created during the preparation of the application documentation, for supporting our activities during the preparation of the project, as well as the donors of the program, for supporting the Polish local governments in their strategic development – states Waldemar Ślusarczyk, mayor of the commune and city of Nisko.
Norwegian funds
The Norwegian Financial Mechanism and the Financial Mechanism for the European Economic Area (the so-called Norwegian and EEA Funds) are a special pool of funds granted by Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein to several countries in Central and Southern Europe and the Baltic States. In return, these three countries have access to the internal market of the European Union, even though they are not members of it.
This is the third time Poland will benefit from these funds. EUR 809 million is available for the years 2014-2021 (implementation periods of the Norwegian Funds and EU funds do not coincide). The agreement for the implementation of the Program “Local Development” amounts to 117.6 million euros, of which 15% of this amount, or 17.6 million euros is the national contribution.
