inDialogue pilot: Ożarów Mazowiecki

In Ożarów Mazowiecki, the purpose of the consultation “Developing a strategy for the development of culture in the Ożarów Mazowiecki Commune” was to obtain information from the residents of the Commune on the frequency of using the cultural offer of the Commune, assessing the attractiveness of the current cultural offer, as well as suggestions on the directions of cultural development in the Commune.

The consultations constituted one of the stages of the consultation process concerning the culture development strategy in the Ożarów Mazowiecki Commune.

As part of the consultation, a survey and a face-to-face meeting at the Commune Office are planned. During the consultation, no technical or organizational problems emerged that would prevent the implementation of any of the planned stages of the consultation.

Information materials

Information materials prepared on the wDialog platform contained basic information on participation in culture by the inhabitants of the Ożarów Mazowiecki Commune (based on existing data), limitations related to the types of available infrastructure, costs related to the development of cultural facilities and cultural offer, as well as related to the limited scope of cooperation between municipalities in the region. The proposed solutions include the following proposals:

The library as a meeting place for various groups.
Clubhouse, cafe as a space to spend time together, implement various projects.
Organization of city games.
Infrastructure modernization.
Organization of classes in accordance with social needs.

References to information from the most important cultural institutions in the Commune are presented in Sources of information.

Recruitment

Recruitment for consultations took place on 27/04-08/05/2017 and was multifaceted. On the website of the Commune Office, information about the possibility of registration (via the platform and at the Office) appeared, information was also sent by e-mail and text message with an invitation to register to local institutions and organizations. The project team supported recruitment activities by inviting local organizations by e-mail and telephone.

Debate

The debate took place on May 24, 2017 at 18.00 at the City Hall at st. Kolejowa 2. The debate was attended by both residents, a municipal councilor (at the same time a representative of an NGO), 3 employees of the Office and the Community Center who are also residents of the municipality as well as an employee of the Community Center who is not a resident.

During the meeting, participants were asked the following questions:

Are the residents of the Ożarów Mazowiecki Commune willing to use the commune’s cultural offer?
Which points of the commune’s cultural offer do the inhabitants use most often?
Are there any barriers to using the commune’s cultural offer for residents?
Do the inhabitants lack something in the commune’s cultural offer?
What should be the directions of culture development in the commune?

Experts

Krzysztof Jabłoński was an expert in the field of culture strategy.

Questionnaire

The municipal office also prepared an online survey on the platform (you could complete it until May 29) and in paper version. The survey was also made available on the commune’s website at the Commune Office website. The paper version of the questionnaire was available in the following institutions:

At the Municipal Office (st. Kolejowa 2 and st. Poznańska 165),
In the House of Culture “Uśmiech” and in the branches: in Józefów and Bronisze,
In the Center for Social Initiatives,
In the Public Library in Ożarów Mazowiecki and its branches in Józefów and Święcice.

The vast majority of the questionnaires were filled in by women. Most surveys were sent by residents aged over 65, and in the 56-65 and 36-45 age brackets. The survey was more willingly submitted by people living in the commune for more than 5 years. There was greater interest in the surveys in the rural areas of the commune than in Ożarów Mazowiecki itself.

As for the priorities of the culture development strategy, the following were most often indicated:

modernization of infrastructure – 37%,
enriching the offer of cultural institutions – 32%,
organization of new events – 31%.

Consultation report

The consultation report, taking into account the conclusions of both types of debates, was placed on the 20.06 platform, and residents could submit their comments and comments on its content for 14 days.