GIVE A HAND TO NATURE!

Community Environmental Educational Developments (CEED), Fundacja Wspierania Inicjatyw Ekologicznych (FWIE) and other Polish partner NGO's have worked together for several years on joint projects to promote urban biodiversity in Poland. Urban nature sites are important for promoting the value of urban ecology through conservation, education and community use. Derek Osborne, chairman of the European Environment Agency, commenting on the Agency's report "Europe's Environment: The Second Assessment" stated that "a very striking feature which the assessment reveals is the wealth of unspoiled habitats and natural resources in Central and Eastern Europe. But these are likely to come under the same pressure, as in the West, as market liberalisation proceeds. It will be an important challenge..... to consider how to avert this threat."

FWIE in Kraków and CEED in Sunderland in the UK are starting a new project in Poland, called Give a Hand to Nature, to define and protect sites of urban biodiversity. Funding has been secured from the prestigious Darwin Initiative for the survival of species, a UK government fund which supports projects in areas of high biodiversity which promote its preservation and enhancement.

The project seeks to transfer British academic and practical expertise to Poland to define and protect sites of urban biodiversity importance. This will be an essential first step towards a regional biodiversity strategy. The project will initiate a programme of ecological research and specialised training of key personnel. The central aim will be to assess ways in which the land-use needs of southern Poland can be met without compromising urban biodiversity. British expertise in ecological land restoration, biodiversity assessment and planning will be applied to a Polish context. The project will contribute to social, economic and environmental regeneration in urban areas. The project will provide practical and policy methods for the preservation and enhancement of urban biodiversity, to help Poland achieve its obligations under the Biodiversity Convention.

The main goal is to involve both local government and local communities in Poland in order to develop systems for the evaluation and selection of urban uzytki ekologizcne. Trainers from both Poland and the UK will take part in the training and be on hand to give guidance and support for the duration of the three-year project.

We wish to inform Polish NGO's about this new project. Several organisations are involved already but we welcome other organisations interested in this work. Also, we wish to inform individuals about this project; again several very keen people are already taking part but we welcome new individuals who want to be involved. We are now looking for expressions of interest from individuals and organisations

The officers and NGO's will be responsible for, amongst other things:

1. surveying and evaluating sites for assessment
2. organising and participating in training
3. working with local government to define sites of urban biodiversity
4. organising local community and environmental education events
5. producing site management plans
6. creating local and regional networks
7. co-ordinating with other project organisations and other bodies
8. publicising the project locally
9. managing the local budget
10. fundraising for additional local costs
11. providing reports to the project co-ordinator
12. participating in the post-doctorate research element of the project
13. assisting in the production of a handbook for NGO's and local government
14. assisting in the production of a regional biodiversity action plan for Małopolska

Project Officers

The five people selected will be called project officers and should be postgraduate ecologists or sufficiently experienced to be equivalent to this. However, this knowledge should be combined with good project management skills. The project officers will contribute to the research element of the whole project therefore they should be open to further scientific work, have the inclination to undertake practical work and should be physically fit. We feel the best candidates would have an adaptable and flexible approach and possess the confidence to represent and lead the project in their region. They should have a combination of the skills, aptitude and enthusiasm to fulfil this important post. As UK staff will deliver some of the training, the officers will need a good ability in English. The officers selected do not have to already belong to any NGO's.

Finance is available for the project officers' posts and they will be salaried, full-time jobs for a period of three years. We seek applicants for these positions to begin work approximately late September. Interviews will be held in Kraków and expenses will be paid for travel and associated costs. Some organisations have approached us already, but all applicants will go through the selection process. The project leaders are keen to secure the services of the very best people for this project, which will be represented by the salary that will be offered to the successful candidates.

Organisations

The organisations will be NGO's with some experience of working on community and environmental issues, preferably in urban areas. This means the NGO will already have some existing environmental knowledge within its organisation. We are interested in working with organisations with an active approach to tackling environmental problems and keen to work with the local community. The organisation must also be open to work with local government. The NGO must be a legally registered organisation with the capacity to manage reasonable sums of finance, employ staff and be sufficiently stable to run a three-year project. The organisations involved will receive expenses towards the administration and office costs of the project. The project is targeting the southern area of Poland so ideally the organisation should be based in the region.

In addition, FWIE, Kraków are seeking a management officer for the Polish part of the project. Responsibilities will include the following areas, although specialist advice from consultants will be provided in the fields of translation, public relations, legal matters and financial management.

1. Supervising day-to-day finances (petty cash, invoices). Providing information in the required format to co-ordinate production of reports for funders and partner organisations. Manage the project bank account(s).
2. Day-to-day dealings with project NGO's and officers. Providing regular reports to project co-ordinator from the project officers and reporting to FWIE.
3. Communicating with regional and national organisations, government institutions, universities and NGO groups. Managing IT communications.
4. Translation of project reports as required for UK and Polish organisations and of publicity material; transcription/translation of media broadcasts.
5. Investigation of further funding from Polish sources. Writing applications for suitable sponsors. Liaison with funding bodies. Organising fundraising events.
6. Keeping the project co-ordinator advised of developments relevant to the project in Poland. Providing written reports of developments that fundamentally affect the nature of the project.
7. Providing narrative reports in a suitable form for the project co-ordinator to fulfil their requirements to funders. Co-ordination of reportage from project NGO's.
8. Supervising organisation and production of materials to promote the work of the project. Liaison with relevant bodies. Supervising setting up web site. Seeking opportunities to promote the project.
9. Liaison with suitable sources of legal advice in Poland. Assisting the process of production of legal documents.
10. Promote and organise conferences and seminars run in Poland under the auspices of the project. Participate in the same in the UK.
11. Other suitable duties required by the post to further the aims or progress of the project in Poland.

If you feel you are able to fulfil the requirements one of the organisation roles, of one of the project officer posts, or the co-ordination officer position, please write to us completing one A4 sheet in English including

1. Your name/age/address/contact details
2. Your qualifications and/or experience (including any area of your particular expertise, for example ornithology)
3. A short statement, explaining why you want to be involved with this project.

Please send your information by:

Email to: mike.wilson@citysun.ac.uk or pam.mccarthy@sunderland.ac.uk Fax to: + 44 191 515 2229 Post to: Wojtek Krawczuk, FWIE, ul. Sławkowska 12/24, Kraków 31-014

Applications are to be received by 31.8.2000 at the latest. We plan to hold interviews in Kraków in September. If you have not heard from us by then you should assume you have been unsuccessful.

[wersja polska]