Work begins on developing an Environmental Education Program for the city of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski

On 4 August 2022, an agreement was concluded with the Contractor selected as a result of the public procurement procedure, i.e., ATMOTERM S.A., ul. Łangowskiego 4, 45-031 Opole,  for the service of drafting the document entitled “Environmental Education Program for the city of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski until 2030”, including the performance of a diagnosis of environmental awareness of the residents of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski.

The agreement was concluded under the task entitled: “Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski — the City Renewed” implemented within the framework of the Local Development Program, with funds from EEA Grants for 2014–2021.

The Environmental Education Program will be a strategic document of the commune to coordinate and plan effective activities and forms of environmental education aimed at different groups of residents of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. The surveys and analysis performed as part of the program will help resolve which educational activities are effective and the effectiveness of which is only apparent. The Environmental Education Program will identify broadly defined educational (including small-scale investments in eco-education infrastructure), organizational and informational activities that are optimal in terms of cost and efficiency. In addition, the program will involve a wide range of stakeholders in environmental education, who will act in a dual role, i.e., as entities to whom educational activities are directed, but also as entities conducting such activities.

The development and implementation of the program will serve to raise the level of environmental awareness of the residents of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski in terms of the relationship between the quality of human life and the state of the surrounding environment, including the impact of residents’ daily activities on the quality of this environment.

The Environmental Education Program for the city of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, drawn up under the agreement, is to define the goals and forms of environmental education for the residents of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, taking into account the specificity of the region, local identity and cultural tradition.

On 12 August 2022, the first working meeting was held online with the Team responsible on the Contractor’s side for the implementation of the task. The schedule for the first stage of work on the Environmental Education Program was discussed, as well as the main implementing assumptions.

In the first stage of work on the document, the following activities were planned:

• diagnosis of the state of ecological awareness of the residents of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski — quantitative study (PAPI and/or CAWI) on a minimum sample of 300 people (residents of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski), taking into account the following age groups: adolescents aged 12–15 and 16–19, and adults aged 20–35, 36–55 and over 56;
• diagnosis of the state of environmental awareness (divided into four thematic blocks: protection of the atmosphere, protection and sustainable management of water resources, rational waste management and protection of biodiversity and ecosystem services) and awareness of the responsibility for shaping pro-environmental attitudes by teachers, lecturers, trainers — qualitative study (IDI) on a minimum sample of 100 people;
• analysis of the scope of environmental education and educational methods and channels used by various entities in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, with particular emphasis on educational institutions and NGOs — 5 public debates using representative groups of selected stakeholders,
• analysis with the development of the preparation of urban space for the formation of pro-environmental attitudes of residents of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski,
• analysis of the facilities of educational institutions for environmental education,
• to determine the eco-educational potential of the city of Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski.