With local sections in 20 cities, Gazeta Wyborcza considers local topics very important.
City Lab is a community campaign focusing on the challenges faced by Polish cities. Under the project special workshops and conferences are organized dedicated to improving the quality of life in Polish cities. City Lab is also a platform for dialogue between inhabitants, local authorities, activists, and representatives of central government, business and culture.
More than 30 City Lab conferences have been held in 18 cities across Poland over four years, with ca. 5000 attendants in total. The project has also delivered over 50 workshops for local governments and experts, that resulted in practical solutions to the challenges faced by the cities.
A conference in Rzeszów, held on 29 March 2017, summed up the third City Lab campaign – primarily the series of meetings organized in 2016 in nine cities. The themes of the third City Lab campaign were innovation and ecology. The participants included a number of experts. City planner Paul Goedknegt Nijmegen (Holland) winner of Green Capital of Europe 2018, presented pro-eco measures applied in Nijmegen. Gilad Uziely representing City Office of Tel Aviv (Israel) a city associated with innovation and entrepreneurship, spoke of solutions for city global brand positioning. Marc de Wit form Circle Economy, Amsterdam (Holland) presented good practices of circular economy in Dutch towns. Representative o Vienna (Austria) showed video materials about smart city solutions. Invitees also included representatives of other such as Brussels (Belgium) and Glasgow (UK).
The event’s formula was designed to encourage discussion and networking between Polish and foreign attendees.
Fourth City Lab campaign was launched in April 2017 at a conference in Sandomierz. The theme was Miasto w roli głównej (Spotlight on City). The main topics were: city brand promotion through film and the social media as well as application of current technologies in city promotion. The project included workshops for city officers, who worked in small groups studying promotion methods and promoting cities through film production.