About us
Who we are?
The www.funduszesoleckie.pl website is being run by The Association of Leaders of Local Civic Groups, non-governmental, independent watchdog organization, working in the field of freedom of information and transparency of public life in Poland.
The www.funduszesoleckie.pl website is a part of Civic Money. Participation in Budgeting on the Local Level project, which is financed by Trust for Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe. Our aim is to collect data, run monitoring and support people and institutions, working with Solecki Fund.
What is Solecki Fund?
Solecki Fund has been established by national law, enacted in 2009. It has been dedicated to rural areas. The smallest administrative unit in Poland is called gmina (commune). Auxiliary commune’s unit is called solectwo and Solecki Fund operates over there. Solectwo is a spatially separated environment of people living in villages or parts of small cities. The number of auxiliary units in one commune vary from a couple up to fifty.
Solecki Fund Law gives council of commune a possibility to separate some money from the local commune budget, that only local inhabitants of auxiliary commune units (solectwo) decide on. That part of the commune budget is called Solecki Fund. The exact sum of money that inhabitants of solectwo decide on is calculated on the basis of formula enclosed in the Solecki Fund Law. There are some restrictions on what money may be spend on, but generally speaking everything that commune is eligible to spend money on, may be financed from Solecki Fund. Solecki Fund may be understood as a form of participatory budget.
What stays behind?
The idea was to empower inhabitants, to give some power back to people and to encourage village inhabitants’ activity. Many examples, as well in Poland, as abroad, show that people do meet, and do participate, when they have a good reason to do that, and feel they can influence and change their environment. While money seem to be most attractive and effective reason for people to meet and discuss. Solecki Fund is a simple and at the same time precise mechanism that gives local inhabitants a possibility to take responsibility for local community.
What do we do?
Civic Money project is focused on needs of local communities. We aim to transfer local experiences, to follow Solecki Fund Law interpretations on local and national level and to monitor its implementation. We find and collect good practices. We cooperate with experts, providing free legal advisory. Services we offer have not been provided by any public institution yet.
Are you interested in Solecki Fund? Do you want to know more? Please stay in touch! You are invited to comment our articles, to send your own materials concerning Solecki Fund, as well as regarding other important issues on civic development in rural areas, participatory budget and civic control of local authorities.
Civic Money project team
The Association of Leaders of Local Civic Groups
Ul. Ursynowska 22/2
02-605 Warszawa
tel/fax: + 48 22 844 73 55
www.funduszesoleckie.pl; funduszesoleckie@sllgo.pl