The final conference of the CO-GREEN project took place on 15 November at the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (Collegium Minus).
Study Visits
The event began with study visits. Guests, including representatives of Social Services Centres from Elbląg, Górna, Wiązowna and Starachowice, visited the Toruń Social Services Centre in its new building in Bydgoskie Przedmieście. This is one of the first institutions in Poland designed to replace traditional social welfare centres in the future, offering services to wider groups of citizens. Guests learnt about the specifics of the operation and challenges facing Toruń’s CUS, juxtaposing it with the Mediterranean experience and the local specifics of other Polish institutions. The programme also included a meeting with activists from the Green Heather Association, who talked about their activities to protect a meadow and forest in the northern part of Toruń and other educational and intervention projects in the field of ecology.
Workshops
The workshop part, led by the hosts, focused on summarising the course of the project and attempting to identify a catalogue of good practices of green activists, with particular emphasis on consolidating the effects of the CO-GREEN project and outlining perspectives for the follow-up in the future. Participants in the workshop shared their experiences in four main areas: interpersonal cooperation, inter-institutional cooperation, resources involved and methods developed for working in communities. The main conclusions from the workshop were (1) the need to involve a wide range of local resident groups, from children to seniors; (2) the need to develop a formula for action that sufficiently engages participants with different socio-demographic profiles and motivations; (3) the need to formulate compelling, and therefore tangible and person-centred messages around the project, in communication throughout the project.
Conclusion
The conference concluded with a lecture by Professor Maria Lewicka from the Institute of Psychology at the Nicolaus Copernicus University, a renowned social psychologist specialising in the psychology of place. The researcher talked about the contemporary clash between three approaches to the city: historical, modern and green, and the complex relationship between the human psyche and nature, which reinforces tensions around urban policies. The lecture ended with a discussion involving project participants and citizens of Toruń.