Konin – What will the City Spend Norway Grant Funds on
The local amphitheatre, a footbridge over Canal Ulgi, e-services for local residents – those are but a few of the purposes Konin will be spending Norway Grant money on, the city having received around PLN 16 million.
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The first step towards rebuilding the Escarpment (Na Skarpie) Amphitheatre (i.e. documentation drafting), developing a footbridge over Canal Ulgi, thermal modernisation of three municipal housing facilities, a programme for senior citizens, state-of-the-art software at the Municipal Authority – this is but a section of over 20 projects the mayor of Konin intends to deliver thanks to Norway Grant money.

Efforts to secure funding took well over a year. Konin drafted 37 proposals worth over PLN 42 million. High application scoring afforded the city considerable hope for the full amount, as Konin authorities duly emphasised. Yet the rules of the game were modified on the go, the number of local governments to receive equal funding amounts increased from 15 to 29. Faced with the reality of PLN 16 million, the local government of Konin, willy-nilly, had to curb their list of activities.

During a press conference on 20 August, mayor Piotr Korytkowski and his deputies Witold Nowak and Paweł Adamów announced tasks to be delivered with the use of Norway Grant funding awarded to Konin. They include i.a. a replacement of the Municipal Authority’s IT system with a uniform solution compatible across all departments, and e-services development to provide local residents with the possibility of handling all matters online.

Norway Grants will be used to finance the purchase of equipment and furnishings for the Cultural Activity Incubator delivered in the historical Zemełka House (PLN 3.2 million), deliver thermal modernisation works at three furnace-heated residential buildings (approximately PLN 2 million), draft documentation for all municipal buildings, and build a footbridge over Canal Ulgi, road infrastructure included (PLN 5.2 million).

As pointed out by the mayor, footbridge construction proves that the city has adopted a comprehensive approach to developing the Pociejewo Island, where a geothermal district heating plant will be erected, graduation towers to be constructed pursuant to another Norway Grant edition. The latter investment has been described in the application “Green Urban Corridors – Climate Awakening in Konin”, the city having been awarded in excess of PLN 8.2 million under the “Environment, Earth and Climate Changes” Operational Programme.

“We further intend to take the first step to give the amphitheatre back to the city. While this may not be the most urgent need, the subject itself is important to local residents and frequently raised as such. We are beginning with documentation, one million zlotys allocated thereto. We want the modernisation process to span several years, and will seek any resources enabling works at the amphitheatre,” mayor Piotr Korytkowski declared. According to city authorities, the cost of rebuilding the amphitheatre may reach well over thirty million zlotys.


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