On 14 September 2023, the last co-design workshop for the CLEARING HOUSE project took place. It aimed to discuss the relevance and methods of green space surveys. Like the previous meeting, this one also dealt with river parks. This time, however, the focus was on residents’ perceptions of the Drwinka River Park. Representatives of municipal units, municipal companies, non-governmental organizations, and university academics attended the meeting.
Various perspectives on the urban green surveys
During the first part of the workshop, there were three presentations on green space research. Prof. Liisa Tyrväinen from the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) presented Finland’s rich heritage in exploring residents’ perspectives on urban green spaces. For years, the Finns have been using the Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) tool, which combines tracking residents’ paths (GPS signal), drawing on maps, and answering questions. Finnish studies provide academic knowledge and are realistically used by municipal authorities in management and investment planning. We will certainly remember Liisa’s words that residents are the experts of their surroundings!
In Poland, we could be jealous of the Finnish approach; however, at the Sendzimir Foundation, we are proud of our actions, which are very close to the Scandinavian standards. During the next presentation, Karolina Maliszewska – President of the Sendzimir Foundation – talked about the Foundation’s many years of experience conducting research and promoting public participation. On a day-to-day basis, the Sendzimir Foundation uses the PPGIS tools to research the needs and perceptions of the public. You can find out more about our actions on the Sendzimir Foundation website.
The CLEARING HOUSE project has contributed to the study of perceptions of green spaces; Corina Basnou from CREAF talked about the study of the multifunctionality of urban forests. Partner cities are carrying out geo-surveys to enable a greater understanding of urban forest users’ perceptions. Each city chose a survey topic to meet its own needs. Thus, Gelsenkirchen focused on the multifunctionality of forests and the resulting conflicts. On the other hand, Barcelona investigated how air pollution affects the use of green spaces.
Perception of the Drwinka River Park
Kraków is one of the CLEARING HOUSE partner cities obliged to create and test a geo-survey using the MyDynamicForest tool. The main focus of Kraków’s geo-survey was the perception of the Drwinka River Park. We want to discover why the park is valuable to residents, how they spend time there, and which places they prefer to avoid. We worked on the questionnaire with the participants and found the best locations to conduct the geo-survey. The geo-survey will start at the end of October.
You can find a detailed workshop description and its effects in our Co-Design Kraków Report.
The Sendzimir Foundation organized the workshop as part of the CLEARING HOUSE project, funded by the European research and innovation program H2020 (contract number 821242).
