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Anna Liisa Westman and Edyta Pietrzak B Anna Liisa Westman and Edyta Pietrzak and Edyta Westman Liisa Anna LOCAL DECISION MAKING III Local Decision Making III Publications of Karelia University of Applied Sciences B:34 LOCAL DECISION MAKING III KARELIA UNIVerSITY OF APPlieD SCieNCES 2014 Publication Series B:34 Chief Editor Kari Tiainen Editors Anna Liisa Westman and Edyta Pietrzak Graphic Design and Layout Salla Anttila Language Correction Andrew Jones Photographs Edyta Pietrzak and authors of the articles © Authors and Karelia University of Applied Sciences No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior permission as provided by the Copyright Law in Finland. ISBN 978-952-275-154-6 (printed) ISBN 978-952-275-155-3 (online publication) ISSN-L 2323-6876 ISSN 2323-6876 Subscriptions Karelia University of Applied Sciences [email protected] http://www.tahtijulkaisut.net Jyväskylä 2014, Grano Oy CONTENTS Anna Liisa Westman and Edyta Pietrzak FOREWORDS 8 Pieter Jan Esselbrugge GREETINGS FROM THE MANAGER OF LOCAL DECISION MAKING 10 INTENSIVE PROGRAMMES PART I: PROJECT PARTNERS 13 Arthur van der Ham Yes I Am, Yes We Are in, Yes It Does, Yes It Is, Yes Okay, Yes Oh Yes 14 Edyta Pietrzak Political Systems and Networks as a Background of Local Decision Making 34 Anna Liisa Westman A New Municipality and Political Participation 48 Maria Stepanova Urban Development for Enhancing Citizen’s Transportation Mobility in Russia 64 PART II: PROJECT FRIENDS 77 Radosław Kamiński Decentralisation and Its Importance for the Functioning of a Democratic Rule of Law 78 Izabela Oleksiewicz The Municipality as Basic Unit of Local Government in Poland 90 Bogdan Ekstowicz Local Polish Foreign Policy towards Russia, the United States of America and the European Union 106 FOREWORDS ocal Decision Making seems to be one of the most characteristic topics of contem- We decided to divide the book into two parts. We start with writing from LDM part- porary democracy in both the theoretical and practical sense. From the perspec- ners and secondly incorporate material from friends of LDM. The book examines local tive of social and political sciences it is a field of relations of people and a part decision making phenomenon from the viewpoint of different authors. The first article Lof the political system. It is also important to study local decision making from the includes cultural viewpoints and a summary of the experiences we collected in Kortrijk, cultural and economic point. 2014. The second article is based on political systems, their networks in the contempo- The changing situation of the municipalities and states is the starting point of the rary world and its influence on the decision making process. The third article studies articles in this book. Values can be seen in different ways on the local and national level. the situation of municipalities in more depth. The question is then, could we find a The aim of the municipalities is deliver a good quality of life residents. Our question is suitable size for a municipality and what are the most important municipal services for then: Could the municipalities in Europe produce welfare for all residents? Could the the residents. The fourth article considers civil transport in big cities. municipalities produce equality between people? What is the role of the municipalities The second part of this book starts by explaining the idea of decentralisation of pow- in both the national states and international relations? er within a European context alongside the legal basis for the functioning of local gov- This book is based on the course ”IP-Programme Local Decision Making”, arranged ernments. The second article presents the legal framework of local government based in Kortrijk, Vives University of Applied Sciences, Belgium, 23.3.- 5.4.2014. Other part- on international and European law. The third and last article discusses foreign policy. ners of the IP-course were Inholland University of Applied Sciences, Rotterdam, Neth- We would like to thank all participants of LDM-project as well as the friends of LDM. erland (host in 2012); Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic (host in 2013), Togli- We have had a marvellous three years co-operating with students and staff of the vari- atti State University, Togliatti, Russia; Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland, ous universities. We particularly want to thank those authors who have contributed United Kingdom; University of Humanities and Economics in Lodz, Poland and Ka- articles to this book. relia University of Applied Sciences, Joensuu, Finland. During the IP Local Decision Making course, we have made lots of new friends. This will be seen through the articles in our book. During the sunny days of Lodz, 11.9.2014 We start this publication with greetings from the manager of our LDM course, Pieter Jan Esselbrugge. He organised all three years of the IP. We would all like to thank Pieter Anna Liisa Westman and Edyta Pietrzak Jan from his hard work and friendship. We hope that our co-operation will continue in the future. 8 Local Decision Making III 9 GREETINGS FROM THE MANAGER OF LOCAL DECISION MAKING INTENSIVE PROGRAMMES am very proud to introduce you this third and the last book from our Intensive Pro- The aim of the IP was to stimulate the awareness about local decision making in gramme that focused on Local Decision Making. The book has been edited in Finland the consciousness of the inhabitants of European cities in general and students in par- and Poland with some language checking from Scotland. It is a good example of how ticular. The strong multidisciplinary approach in the project provides a more compre- Istrategic partnerships have been stimulated and realized. Academics in Finland and hensive perspective on Europe. The visit to the Centennial Great War in Ieper Belgium Poland have deepened their cooperation through this and earlier publications. made a major impression on both students (having the same age as the soldiers) and Escaping out of the daily HEI (Higher Education Institute) routine to an IP is a per- their teachers. fect opportunity to learn in a new, intensive, interactive and often surprising way. The Furthermore the IP LDM is an initiator to future project partnerships. During these primary focus of this project was on decision making on the local level. Different solu- three years new inspiring projects have been initiated by the participating HEI’s. tions and problem solving techniques for the same questions resulted in an overview of These three years of managing the IP LDM has given me a great sense of achievement. general directions of the decision making process in the participating countries. Every Each city should be proud of its diversity, culture and background. Coming from an am- year this resulted in practical recommendations to the Board of the City that hosted the bitious start in 2012, we now should be humbly satisfied with the three-year-outcome, project. A presentation of practical recommendations was given in 2014 to the Board of where the attitude of everyone involved can be characterized as “open to positivity”. the City of Kortrijk, Belgium from each of the five IP LDM perspectives: political partici- Most of all, an IP provides every participant with a better insight into European co- pation, urbanization, economy, sustainability and social cultural development. Previous operation and understanding. work covered Rotterdam (2012) in The Netherlands and Brno (2013) in Czech Republic. I want to thank all the participants for their contribution. In Kortrijk the essence of what political participation means, how people really can influence their surrounding neighborhood, has been stimulated during this IP. A strong focus on modern and local mobility has been realized. The importance of industrial production for the economy has been demonstrated. Awareness of declining service Pieter Jan Esselbrugge level of public institutions e.g. care, safety has been highlighted. Mutual understanding Program manager IP LDM, Inholland University for Applied Science Rotterdam and respect was developed during the process from waste (non-value) to art (value). 10 Local Decision Making III 11 PART I PROJECT parTNERS YES I AM YES WE ARE IN Arthur van der Ham works as a lecturer at Inholland University of Applied Sciences, Rotterdam YES IT DOES Netherlands with both the faculties of Law & Security and Finance. In 2011 he was one of the initiators of the Intensive Programme Local Decision Making 2012–2014. His interests focus on frontiers YES IT IS either by searching for equality of both sides or even by acting so boundaries will blur: in performing for university or arts, in gender behavior, in (non)verbal communication, in public versus private. This year YES OKAY he has more working hours on voluntarily projects than in paid employment. It included the open air movie festival Pleinbioscoop, the Poetry International Festival week. For the past six years, he has also YES OH YES jointly organized an official concert in his own house at number #162 during the Opera Days Rotterdam, where a private environment becomes a public one for a short while; work and life balanced well. Abstract: Four levels of local in the case of Rotterdam are introduced, with stories, activities and examples from past, present to future. From large to small(ler), the article takes you into abstract or more detailed projects, all for the benefit of the city. At the end, even an individual house is taken in to show that, even there, decisions can be made with local consequences. Key words: blunt, resilient, city-initiative, district committee, trust, talent, yes. 14 Local Decision Making III I. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands (2014) said to be deeply touched “diep geraakt” by the heartbreaking personal stories of the people that have lost their loved-ones.

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