Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 26th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview PhD pre-conference seminar Author(s) Bartosz Wilk University of Warsaw Warsaw Poland Title Local Initiative in Poland as a Form of Co-production of Public Services File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Bartosz Wilk Abstract Local initiative is a form of co-production of local public services introduced by national legislation in Poland, in 2010. According to the legislation, the citizens' input may have the form of labour, providing raw materials or financial contribution. The procedure for establishing the cooperation requires an application from the group of interested residents to be submitted to the local government. Local government considers application and, in case of acceptance, concludes an agreement with the applicants for implementation of the projects. This agreement specifies scope of the projects and contributions of both parties. Local initiative assumes involvement of residents, applying to local authorities, in the performance of public tasks proposed by them. The local initiative also allows to diagnose local needs by local government. It assumes the co-production of public services at the stage of diagnosing needs as well as in performing public tasks. As a tool for involving citizens in public affairs it is designed especially to those members of the community who have not been involved in social involvement so far. The research objective of the proposed paper is to diagnose the potential of a local initiative as a form of co-production of local public services, barriers, constraints, the need for regulatory changes and beyond the sphere of regulation. The author will present and analyze state law concerning the local initiative in Poland. The analysis will include also selected local laws and the practice of its application. The author will perform microanalysis in the area of one region of Poland. Three legal orders will be examined: one commune, one district and one voivodeship.
