The Embassy EU/Economic team works closely with the Polish government to support its regional development policies. With an allocation of 67 billion Euros from the EU as Structural and Cohesion Funds (SCFs) for 2007-2013, Poland has an opportunity to develop and drive competitiveness. With its own experience of regional development, the UK works closely with Poland to share best practice, including by organising tailored visits to the UK.

Joint work ranges from exchanges on transport policy, to the sharing of UK experiences of rural development (e.g. in Scotland, Wales and Cornwall).  

BEST PRACTICE EXCHANGE PROJECTS 2006-2007

• PROJECT TITLE: Contribution of NGOs to Sustainable Local Communities in 2007- 2013 (Regional Policy project)
  Date: August and September 2007

Project outline: Voluntary and community organisations in the North East of England have utilised EU Structural Funds in making significant contributions to the economic and social regeneration of the region. A pilot project run by the European Structural Funds Voluntary Organisations Northern (ESFVON), the Pomorskie Regional Information and Support Centre for NGOs and the Embassy aimed to exchange good practices and develop sustainable co-operation between voluntary and community sector organisations in the Pomorskie region and the North East of England. A seminar and workshops were held in Gdansk in August 2007. The theme of the event was “Working Together in Europe. The Contribution of NGOs to Sustainable Local Communities in 2007- 2013”.

A delegation of seven people who represented voluntary organisations from the North East attended the event. These were ESFVON, North East Social Enterprise Partnership, the North East Development Trust Association, Project North East, the Merseyside European Partnership and One North East. Deputy Marshal of the Pomorskie Region, Mayor of the City of Gdansk, the Pomorskie Regional Information and Support Centre for NGOs and Polish Government Centre for Strategic Studies represented the Polish side. Main issues discussed during the event included: support to NGOs at regional and local levels, co-operation with private sector, creation of partnerships, importance of contingency planning and risk assessment. The seminar and workshops in Poland were followed by the study visit for representatives of Polish organisations to the North East in September. The purpose of the visit was to present to the Polish side how the Voluntary and Community Sector facilitated the delivery of European funded projects in the region in 2000-2006 and how it contributed to the development of local communities.  

• PROJECT TITLE: Structural Funds for development in Poland
  Date: June 2007

Project outline: Together with the Institute for Public Affairs, the Embassy co-organised  the seminar “Structural Funds for development in Poland”. Professor John Bachtler visited Warsaw and was a key speaker at the seminar (John Bachtler, Professor of European Policy Studies Director, European Policies Research Centre, University of Strathclyde, is a well known academic dealing with research on regional development and structural and cohesion policies particularly in new Member States. He helped the Polish Government to prepare the Social-Economic Strategy for Eastern Poland).

• PROJECT TITLE: Sustainable communities - balancing urban regeneration and protection of rural areas
  Date: August and September 2006

Project outline: The idea of the project came as a result of our discussions with regional contacts who expressed their interest in UK expertise on managing the uncontrolled spread of cities and therefore devastation of rural areas. Poland will have EU money to support major projects in this area. The project was held in two parts - the seminar in Gdansk and the study visit to Lancashire. The workshops in Gdansk were led by four Lancashire experts specialising in rural development. The main issues discussed during the workshops included: establishing integrated system of rural development support (covering areas such as agriculture, rural location of businesses, tourism and environment), working in partnership and securing and managing financial resources for rural development.

The workshops aimed at the representatives of offices currently involved in management and implementation of Structural Funds, Marshal Offices, agencies, associations and institutions dealing with rural development activities (not only in Pomorskie but also in other regions). The workshops were followed by the study visit to the UK for the most interested Polish partners. The Polish delegation had meetings in the Northwest Regional Development Agency and Lancashire institutions dealing with rural development (Lancashire Rural Futures, Lancashire County Council and Lancashire Economic Partnership, Rural Directorate). The Polish delegation was exposed to Lancashire’s experience in rural development mainly co-ordination of financing rural development on the regional level and flexible approach to financing rural development.

• PROJECT TITLE: Spending EU funds effectively in the poorest regions
  Date: July 2006

Project outline: The interest in this subject derived from Poland's proposal to allocate additional funds to its five poorest regions from 2007-2013 Structural Funds. The Regional Development Ministry was then working on the 2007-2013 Operational Programme: Development of Eastern Poland.  During the previous visit Ministry officials said that they were very interested in UK regional policy in its less-developed regions, particularly those which would still be participating in convergence programmes in the 2007-2013 financial perspective. They mentioned Cornwall as the best example.  

We organised a short study visit to Cornwall for two advisors who had been asked by the Regional Development Minister to prepare the draft strategy. They met Doris Ansari, Chairman of the Cornwall County Council and had several working level meetings including the meetings with the representatives of Cornwall Pure Business, Environment Agency, Cornwall Agriculture Council, Cornwall Enterprise and Combined Universities in Cornwall. The delegation also met Philip Johnson, Deputy Director European Programmes, Government Office for the South West and the representatives of Business Link for Devon and Cornwall and Lancashire Rural Futures. The main issues the delegation talked about were: increasing competitiveness of less-developed regions, supporting business and innovation in those regions, programming, managing and implementing regional rural development policy and impact of peripherality on territorial cohesion.