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Warsaw Climate Panel

01.09.2020 - 28.02.2021 , completed project
project targeted at Local community Climate action
A citizens' panel is a democratic form of involving citizens and residents in the policy-making process of a given city or state. The Warsaw Climate Panel was organised in November 2020 by the City of Warsaw at the request of residents and social organisations for whom the topic of the effects of the climate crisis is an issue that requires urgent consultation and joint development of solutions.

The main topic of the panel was to find an answer to the question: How to increase Warsaw's energy efficiency and the share of renewable energy sources in the city's energy balance? The panellists discussed how to save energy in the city, how to use it more efficiently and how to produce it, as well as how to develop the city while supporting the goal of reducing Warsaw's greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 per cent by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050. 

The project was coordinated by a team of three organisations - the Shipyard Foundation, Pole Dialogu Foundation and the Civis Polonus Foundation. There were 90 panellists over the age of 15, including experts and representatives of social organisations. Discussion meetings were held throughout November 2020.

For organising the event, we received the Warsaw Trams award - a special mention in the 11th edition of the S3KTOR competition. The cooperation of 3 NGOs and the thorough handling of the topic of adapting cities to climate change were appreciated.
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Many participatory processes are modest, while the Warsaw Climate Panel was a huge undertaking. We sent out 18,000 invitations to Varsovians, we had to answer all the questions, all the doubts, we had to make sure people were motivated to attend the meetings.

Olga Napiontek, project coordinator
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How did we work?

The panel took place under the extraordinary circumstances of the coronavirus outbreak and was therefore organised in a hybrid format, with most of the activities conducted online. This format was chosen out of concern for the safety of the panellists, with full awareness of the challenges behind such a solution.

The Coordinating Team made every effort to ensure the accessibility of the panel for the digitally excluded and to enable those without conditions to participate online.  Among other things, we offered support from assistants, organised a place to work on the panel away from home or provided the necessary equipment.

The panellists were selected at random, which allowed us to create a diverse group of male and female participants - as diverse as the structure of the city. The panel therefore included people of different genders, ages, neighbourhoods and educational backgrounds.

We did not require any specialised knowledge from the panellists, as they were supported by experts who prepared accessible materials and speeches on the topic. It was important to us that different perspectives, different points of view and the widest possible range of possible solutions were presented during the panel.

The panellists learnt about the effects and costs of the various solutions during educational meetings, and then - equipped with this knowledge - searched for the best solutions for the city during discussions and group work. Finally, the developed solutions were voted on by the entire panel. In this way, a list of recommendations was created, which have the character of guidelines for the city on how to increase Warsaw's energy efficiency.

The developed recommendations can be found on the City Hall website (in Polish) - see here.

Impact of the panel

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Warsaw residents
who took part in the panel
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recommendations
developed by panellists
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people
who followed the live broadcast of the climate panel

More about the project

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Partners

The Warsaw Climate Panel was carried out by three independent NGOs: Shipyard Foundation, Pole Dialogu Foundation and Civis Polonus Foundation, and was financed within the framework of the public task entitled ‘Warsaw Climate Panel’, commissioned by the City of Warsaw, based on Ordinance No. 756/2020 of the President of the City of Warsaw of 15 June 2020.