About Norway Grants in Ostrów Wielkopolski

- The E-Ostrów 2050 project. An ecological, energetic and economic city” is gaining momentum. The local government is preparing itself  for the most important third stage of the project – it’s implementation. An information and training meeting was held in Local Activity Center. Among the guests there were, among others:  Beata Klimek - Mayor of Ostrów Wielkopolski, deputy mayors, Andrzej Porawski Executive Director of Association of Polish Cities, city councilors, project partners and officials.

“E-Ostrów 2050. An ecological, energy and economic city” is an extremely important project for the development of Ostrów Wielkopolski. For its implementation, the city obtained a considerable amount of EUR 3.5 million, i.e. almost PLN 16 million from the European Economic Area in 2014-2021.

-    We are going to invest these money in several areas, primarily: social, environmental and economic. It is a multi-dimensional, difficult and ambitious project. The today’s training will allow us to develop a diagnosis for Ostrów Wielkopolski. It will serve us  to respond to the most important challenges for our city.  The participation in this international project is a great success of Ostrów Wielkopolski - emphasizes Beata Klimek, mayor of Ostrów Wielkopolski.

The project’s partners are a very  important element of the project. Among them are: Ostrów Wielkopolski County, Ostrów’s Municipal Transport,  Kalisz’s Street and Road Lighting, Association of the Ostrów Entrepreneurship, as well as associations and non-governmental organizations, both social and economic. Each of the partners will carry out a specific task.

-    We are going to carry out a number of trainings and workshops directed to our employees, mainly to our technical staff. The trainings will concern the operation of electric buses, how to use them better, in terms of their operation and safety - says Janusz Marczak, president of Municipal Transport Company.

-    Obtained grant is undoubtedly a great success. We have created a complementary plan for the city, both in the investment and soft dimension. We are going to implement a series of investments - says Mikołaj Kostka, deputy mayor of the city

-     The most important tasks include the construction of kindergarten and nursery facilities. We are going to  modernize bus shelters, create green stops, the first ones are going to be  built next year. A very innovative task and – let’s say, not very common to medium-sized cities -  will be a parking guidance system in the paid parking zone. This task is worth about PLN 2 million, it will also be implemented as part of the grant received by the end of 2023 - lists Mikołaj Kostka, deputy mayor of Ostrów Wielkopolski.

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-    The project will be implemented until 2024. Until January 2022, information and training meetings will be held, all in order to get started with the implementation of the project and assigned tasks. The Local Development Program, under which the Ostrów’s project is being implemented, is completely different from those we have implemented so far - explains Ewa Torzyńska, director of the City Development Department.
- The project is different from the projects that we have been carried so far, in terms of its implementation approach  and long-term effects. The Town Hall officials  have to change their approach to planning various types of projects. A lot of emphasis we put on social consultations,  so that what we plan to implement is in line with the expectations of the residents. Accessibility for people with disabilities, both in terms of architecture and information, is also of great importance - explains Ewa Torzyńska, director of the City Development Department.

The Mayor of Ostrów Wielkopolski, Beata Klimek  emphasises that the city has received extremely valuable help from experts from the Association of Polish Cities, although, as it turns out, cooperation brings tangible benefits to both.

 - Ostrów Wielkopolski has always been a pioneer in the field of local government projects and thanks to the fact that  the city  is a member of the Association of Polish Cities, we can learn a lot from Ostrów - says Andrzej Porawski, Executive Director of Association of Polish Cities.
Out of 255 cities, 212 submitted their applications. The grants were  awarded to 29 cities, including Ostrów Wielkopolski. At the beginning of July, Waldemar Buda, Deputy Minister of Funds and Regional Policy, who visited our city, informed Ostrów Wielkopolski  of the attribution of the grant.
The European Economic Area Funds represent the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to creating a green, competitive and inclusive Europe.


20.12.2021

Contact:
Department of City Development
e-mail: e-ostrow2050@umostrow.pl
tel. +48 62 58 22 313, +48 62 58 22 314, 48 62 58 22 315