Workshops for Local Government Officials "Practitioners to Practitioners: How to Manage Public Consultations in the Municipality?"

Employees of the Faculty of Economics and Sociology specialising in social participation processes will share their knowledge and practical experiences with local government officials as part of the workshop "Practitioners to practitioners: How to manage public consultations in the municipality?" on 24 September 2025, at the Municipal Cultural Centre "Ratusz" in Zduńska Wola (pl. Wolności 26).

Opublikowano: 13 September 2025
a graphic: a green city

rys. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego

The workshops are intended for local government employees and will be of interactive nature. Their goal is to acquire practical knowledge and skills necessary to effectively plan, conduct and communicate public consultations in the municipality. The workshop programme addresses new challenges related to the general plan and the potential for using innovative deliberative tools in local government practice. The workshops will also provide a valuable opportunity to develop practical recommendations for implementation in local governments.

The event is organised in cooperation with the Zduńska Wola City Office as part of the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the Faculty of Economics and Sociology of the University of Lodz.

The workshops coordinator is Dr Agnieszka Rzeńca and they will be led by Dr Ewa Boryczka, Dr Kamil Brzeziński and mgr Agata Burlińska.

The workshops are a continuation of the IDUB project "Participatory adaptation of cities to climate change – a guide for effective action by authorities and residents for Polish and Eastern European cities". The publication – the eponymous Guide – can be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Lodz University Press.

Programme

Introduction

What are and what are not public consultations?

Part I

The Municipal General Plan Consultation Process: How to Discuss Individual and Public Interests?

From the Basics: Requirements of the Spatial Planning and Development Act

  • Consultation is a Process. A Good Plan is Necessary!
  • My Interest and the Public Interest: How to Communicate Difficult Information
  • Embarrassment of Riches – How to Manage a Meeting with Many Participants?
  • Communicating Consultation Results: Transparency and Plain Language
     

Part II

Deliberative Co-Decision-Making: A New Real-Utopia in Public Consultations?

  • Deliberation and Deliberative Democracy: Main Assumptions, Characteristics, and Possible Applications
  • Selected Deliberative Methods and Techniques: Adaptability in Polish Conditions with Examples
  • Pros and Cons of Deliberation: Collaborative Development of Arguments For and Against Deliberative Co-Decision-Making (Workshop Part)
  • Summary and Discussion
     

Part III

Questions and answers and individual consultations with the instructors

 

Source: mgr Klaudia Kamińska
Edit: Dr Jakub Zasina

UNIVERSITY OF LODZ

 

Narutowicza 68, 90-136 LODZ

fax: 00 48 42/665 57 71, 00 48 42/635 40 43

NIP: 724 000 32 43

Funduszepleu
Projekt Multiportalu UŁ współfinansowany z funduszy Unii Europejskiej w ramach konkursu NCBR