The second edition of the UPWr Participatory Budget has launched

The Participatory Budget was created as an initiative of the social responsibility team. Its aim is to strengthen the sense of community of all those involved in the life of the university: staff, students, and students of the doctoral school.

Participatory Budgets, also called civil budgets, have been an element of community building for many years. It is a democratic process of discussion and decision-making in which the residents of a community or city decide how to spend part of the local government's budget. Universities have also embraced this idea. Last year, ours did too.

The winning projects of the first edition of the UPWr Participatory Budget were the Bee&Chill Patio in the library and Bee friendly!, an insect- and bird-friendly garden in the car park at the Geo-Info-Hydro building. The former is a student initiative, the latter a staff initiative.

Student project: Bee&Chill Patio in the Main Library

This consisted of creating a friendly, ecological and green space for learning and relaxing. As part of the project, the patio in the Main Library grounds was upgraded along with a community room (including the installation of decking, the purchase of garden furniture and pots and plants).

In addition, a glass door was installed to make the patio visible to students studying in the library and the social room was renovated (painting, installation of floor tiles, replacement of lighting, purchase of tables and poufs). This makes it possible to use either the outdoor patio or the room inside the building, depending on the needs and weather conditions. A rainwater tank and an insect house were also installed.

Staff project: 'Bee friendly! An insect- and bird-friendly garden in the car park at the Geo-Info-Hydro building".

According to the project, the garden is a place that will provide water and food for insects and birds, as well as lowering the temperature locally (the concrete car park gets very hot in summer, endangering birds and insects).

Fruit trees and shrubs such as gooseberries, wild cherry, and blackberries, as well as shrubs that provide shelter for birds: serviceberry, coral callas and arborvitae. According to the design, the plants were planted in pots, in colours corresponding to the building's staircase, which are visible through the glass façade. Bird drinkers were installed in the pots.

The project also included the planting of honey plants and the preparation of bee drinkers. Garden chairs were provided for students and staff. This way, the previously inhospitable space was transformed into an ecological and relaxing recreational area.

Project time frame

The second edition of UPWr's Participatory Budget has just started – this year the budget will be allocated to projects within the Biskupin campus. The university will allocate PLN 100,000 – half for employee and PhD student projects, and half for student projects.

The call for projects for the second edition will run until 3 February. We encourage you to send in your projects to strengthen the sense of community of all those involved in the life of the university! We want to promote innovative and entrepreneurial solutions, in line with the principles of sustainable development. Projects related to broadly defined pro-environmental activities are particularly welcome.

If you want to participate and have some ideas you would like to share, please contact budzet.partycypacyjny@upwr.edu.pl for more information. 

• Project submission – from 5 January to 3 February 2023.
• Project verification – 6 to 19 February 2023.
• Projects shortlisted for voting will be announced on 21 February 2023.
• Voting for projects will take place from 21 to 28 February 2023.
• Voting results will be announced on 6 March 2023.

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