1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Poznań
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Główna Rzeka Poznania
Short description of the intervention
In their application for funds from the city’s participatory budget, the citizens introduced the cleaning of the river Glowna (riverbed and riverbank) in Poznan along the entire length of the river within the city area (excluding private and inaccessible areas). The initiative aimed to clean the stream and to increase the attractiveness of the riverside. The action was implemented with the voluntary help of the residents as a way of promoting ecological behaviours [1].
Address

Główna Rzeka
Poznan
Poland

Location
The NBS is a city-wide initiative, the GIS point marks the centre of the city
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Natural Heritage Area/Untouched nature
Public Greenspace Area
Other
Please specify “other type of area” before implementation of the NBS
River banks
Website of the intervention
https://pbo2016.um.poznan.pl/i/pbo-2016/proposal/418-G%C5%82%C3%B3wna_Rzeka_Poz…
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2015
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2016
End date of the intervention
2016
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
1) Increasing the attractiveness of the areas along the Głowna River and improving the cleanliness of the water;
2) Social integration and promotion of ecological behaviour by working together for the purification of the riverside [1]
Quantitative targets
Water purification in the Glowna river [1]
Monitoring indicators defined
Unknown
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Water management (SDG 6)
Improvements to water quality
Environmental quality
Waste management
Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
Inclusive governance
Effective management
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Environmental education
Social interaction
Implementation activities
Cleaning of the river Glowna (riverbed and riverbank) along the entire length of the river within the city (excluding private and inaccessible areas) with the help of the Poznan's inhabitants [1]
Type of NBS project
Knowledge creation and awareness raising
Improved governance of green or blue areas
Management and improved protection of rivers and other blue areas
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Blue infrastructure
Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
Vegetation Type
Shrubs
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Water (surface and ground water for drinking and non-drinking purposes)
Regulating services
Water purification / filtration
Cultural services
Social and community interactions
Scale
Spatial scale
Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Citizens or community groups
Governance
Governance arrangements
Led by non-government actors
Non-government actors
Citizens or community groups
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The local government provided funding for the initiative within participatory city budget. The local community initiated and later implemented the project.
Key actors - initiating organization
Citizens or community group
Land owners
No information found
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
Crowd-sourcing/Crowd-funding/Participatory budget
Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
The project proposal explicitly states that the initiative fits into 'Poznan goes back to the river' ('Poznań wraca nad rzekę') strategy, which is a part of the broader 'river in the city' ('rzeka w mieście') program within 'the strategy of the city of Poznan untill 2030' ('Strategia miasta Poznania do roku 2030).(Ref.1,2 and 4) The initiative is also compatible with the ‘Local needs map’.(Ref.1 and 5)
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Please specify other type of voluntary intervention
Citizens developed a project proposal and applied for funds for its implementation.
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify the general plan with GI/NBS section
The project proposal explicitly states that the initiative fits into 'Poznan goes back to the river' ('Poznań wraca nad rzekę') strategy, which is a part of the broader 'river in the city' ('rzeka w mieście') program within 'the strategy of the city of Poznan untill 2030' ('Strategia miasta Poznania do roku 2030), as well as the 'Local needs map'.(Ref.1,2,3 and 4)
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
Water regulation strategy
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
Participatory city budget.
Co-finance for NBS
No
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
€10,000 - €50,000
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
10.000 PLN (around 2.365 EUR)
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
10.000 PLN (around 2.365 EUR).(Ref.1)
Source(s) of funding
Public local authority budget
Type of fund(s) used
Earmarked public budget
Non-financial contribution
Yes
Type of non-financial contribution
Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Business models
Risk reduction model
Local stewardship model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Citizens / local communities
Type of innovation
Social
Governance innovation
Please specify social innovation
Governance innovation: participatory citizens' initiative.(Ref.1)
Novelty level of the innovation
The innovation is copied/derived from previous initiative(s) without substantial adaptation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
As the project proposal states there were 3 similar initiatives of river cleaning in Poznan in the years 2014 and 2015 prior to this initiative.(Ref.1)
Replicability/Transferability
The innovation is not referred to as being transferred to new initiative(s)
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Environmental quality
Improved waste management
Water management and blue areas
Improved water quality
Enhanced protection and restoration of freshwater ecosystems
Description of environmental benefits
Citizens successfully gathered and collected rubbish from the river and riverbanks in the city [1,2]. The project also successfully promoted cleaning the river Glowna (riverbed and riverbank) along the entire length of the river within the city (excluding private and inaccessible areas) with the help of the Poznan's inhabitants [1].
Economic impacts
Unknown
Description of economic benefits
unknown
Social and cultural impacts
Social justice and cohesion
Increased opportunities for social interaction
Education
Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
Description of social and cultural benefits
The initiative successfully engaged citizens in the mission to purify water in their local river, promote ecological behaviours, and increase the aesthetics of the riverbanks [1,2].
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Volunteers turnout; Amount of rubbish collected; Clean water and riverbanks
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Environmental quality
Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
Water management (SDG 6)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Voluntary work opportunities
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
Unknown as of September of 2020.
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Unknown
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Yes
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
Yes
Link to monitoring/evaluation reports
https://pbo2016.um.poznan.pl/i/pbo-2016/proposal/418-G%C5%82%C3%B3wna_Rzeka_Poz…
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
Yes
Link to a web-based monitoring tool
https://budzet.um.poznan.pl/pbo2017/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Realizacja-proje…
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Ref.1 (project application website)
Ref.2 (online article on the internet portal 'Na Rzecz Warty')
Ref.3 (online article)
List of references
1. Project application website, Poznan participatory budget 2016, Glowna river of Poznan ('Główna rzeka Poznania'), https://pbo2016.um.poznan.pl/i/pbo-2016/proposal/418-G%C5%82%C3%B3wna_Rzeka_Poznania (Accessed: 26 September 2020).
2. Portal 'Na Rzecz Warty' ('For the Warta river'), http://www.dorzeczni.pl/pl/partnerzy/program.html (Accessed: 26 September 2020).
3. Online article on the portalsamorzadowy.pl, 'Poznan, Citizens' budget: what will happen in 2016?' ('Poznań, budżet obywatelski: co powstanie w 2016 r.?'), http://www.portalsamorzadowy.pl/prawo-i-finanse/poznan-budzet-obywatelski-co-powstanie-w-2016-r,75213.html (Accessed: 26 September 2020).
4. 'Poznan's development strategy until 2030' (2013) ('Strategia Rozwoju Miasta Poznania do roku 2030'), stable URL: https://www.poznan.pl/mim/wos/strategia-rozwoju-miasta-poznania-do-roku-2030,doc,1017,16457/strategia-rozwoju-miasta-poznania-do-roku-2030,33907.html (Accessed: 26 September 2020).
5. Online document, 'Local needs map' ('Mapa potrzeb lokalnych'), https://pbo2016.um.poznan.pl/doc/pbo2016_mapa_potrzeb_lokalnych.pdf (Accessed: 26 September 2020).
6. Webpage, ‘The rules of the Poznan’s citizens’ budget 2017’ (2017) (‘Zasady poznańskiego budżetu obywatelskiego 2017’), https://budzet.um.poznan.pl/pbo2017/regulamin-pbo/ (Accessed: 26 September 2020).
Comments and notes
Comments
Although the initiative was approved in 2015 for implementation in 2016 I couldn't find a source that would confirm that the project was implemented (although it most likely was). The pictures from the website of the project's application (attached here) are most likely from the previous initiatives of cleaning Glowna river.

The evidence of use of assessment section relates to the report that evaluated the project proposal. (Updated in 2017)
Additional insights
The project's impact was evaluated at the selection stage of the application for funding. (Ref.1)
There are 2 stages of the monitoring system: 1) Acceptance of proposals, their evaluation, verification, voting and announcement of the voting results. The Cabinet of Mayor conducts preliminary evaluation and relevant city departments and housing associations a secondary one (evaluation criteria: compliance with the local law, local spatial development plans, feasibility of costs and timeframe given, non-commercial nature of the projects); 2) Publications every quarter that list the information and the stages of implementation of successful projects (based on substantive reports that come from the implementing bodies) [6] (Updated in 2017)
Public Images
Trash in the river
Trash in the river
Source: https://pbo2016.um.poznan.pl/i/pbo-2016/proposal/418-G%C5%82%C3%B3wna_Rzeka_Poznania
Collected trash
Collected trash
Source: https://pbo2016.um.poznan.pl/i/pbo-2016/proposal/418-G%C5%82%C3%B3wna_Rzeka_Poznania
The cleaning of the river
The cleaning of the river
Source: https://pbo2016.um.poznan.pl/i/pbo-2016/proposal/418-G%C5%82%C3%B3wna_Rzeka_Poznania