The participants of the workshop considered the most important goals related to air pollution and environmental protection in Kraków and Malopolska that were listed by participants in the 1st workshop. To achieve a better understanding of local communities’ needs and expectations related to air pollution we organized two additional workshops with members of the public from the villages of Zabierzów and Lusina.

Based on the analysis of all the ideas and their categorizations, the participants of the 1st workshop created a matrix of feasible and innovative ideas, drawing a map of key and feasible areas, which became the starting material for creating recommendations and project ideas during the 2nd workshop.

Ideas that participants of the 2nd workshop concentrated on, were grouped thematically into 3 areas:

Topic 1: Mobility and public transport

Topic 2: Effective communication and information

Topic 3: Monitoring and control

The workshop started with a short introduction into the co-creation process and its use in providing support for regional and local administration in creating new Air Protection Program for Malopolska with wide public society involvement and bottom-up recommendations and activities. Then the participants were divided into thematical groups. Each group was facilitated by the moderators from KTP. Within the groups, the participants jointly discussed the list of prioritized general ideas that should be taken into consideration in preparing new Air Pollution Program and they were asked to select one or two ideas to elaborate on and detail an action plan. This action plan covered the project title and a responsible entity to carry out the project, problem definition, criteria of the success, as well as resources and constraints. At the end of the workshop, the project ideas were presented by individual groups to the rest of the participants. The most promising project ideas will be developed further on during the planned activities as Smogathon or implemented through public institutions or private businesses.

By involving participants from the very beginning in the co-creation workshops for defining policies, strategies and recommendations, we increased the understanding and engagement of varied groups of stakeholders. By involving them in the co-creation process we gave us a good chance in finding the best instruments, mechanisms and solutions to improve the air quality in Malopolska. We also managed to shorten the distance between public administration and NGOs and local communities.

Now, we are looking forward to the next phase of the co-creation journey: developing and prototyping the most promising ideas. Keep your fingers crossed!

Flow diagram showing the process of KTP’s co-creation workshops