In order to evaluate our project, the Polish coordinator prepared and carried out a questionnaire about the most important aspects of the tasks in the project. All the participants of the visits in Slovakia, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria had a chance to answer the questions. The questionnaire focuses on ecological problems and thier solutions as well as the usage of IT and English language during the project. As we can see from the results, most of the participants had an opportunity to learn more about the issuses and improve their skiils and abilities. Thera are only few negative answers to the questions which means that not all the participants were engaged in every task what is natural.
New bicycle stands have been installed in Biłgoraj as a part of the initiative to become an eco-friendly city. They encourage cycling as a means of transport around the city, so people don’t have to look for a place where they could leave their bicycles. As a result, our city has reduced its carbon footprint and peopleare becoming healthier. Surprisingly, the city is slowly becoming similar to the Netherlands, where cycling is the prefered means of transport. Because of the city council’s decision, you can finally get anywhere in the city by bike.
The smog problem is not just a local problem, but a global one. Many countries, including Poland, are trying to cope with polluted air. Decisions are made by state, but also local authorities. Our town, Bilgoraj, in comparison to large cities and towns, comes out quite well in dealing with polluted air.
First of all,heating homes with coal and wood is the most common source of smog in Poland.In 2019, the magistrate has taken a number of measures to improve air quality in the city. The fight continues, and it is mainly about making residents aware of the dangers of smog and convincing the owners of old coal-fired furnaces to replace them with new, ecological heat sources. In order to observe the quality of the air, in February 2019, out of initiative of the city hall, two sensors were installed in Biłgoraj inform about the level of air pollution. The mayor, seeing how bad air quality we have in the city, decided that the town authorities will subsidize the program of replacing old coal-fired boilers with new, ecological ones. Within the program, it is possible to receive a subsidy of up to 5000 zloty for the replacement of the heating source and up to 7500 zloty for the installation of a heat pump. The condition for receiving the grant is replacing the old installation with a new one, e.g. gas one.Small local boiler houses that supplied heat to multi-family housing estates (blocks of flats) were closed down. At present, the residents of blocks of flats are connected to a large municipal heat and power plant, which has contributed to the improvement of air quality in the city.In the region of Biłgoraj there is no heavy industry that has a negative impact on air quality, so in spring and summer the air quality is good. Unfortunately, it changes with the heating season (autumn, winter).
In conclusion, smog is a problem we have to face. In our city we are taking a lot of actions to remove the smog. It is important for our town that every resident is aware of the importance of taking care of the air. Nowadays more and more people living in Bilgoraj are trying to reduce the smog. That is why our city is doing well with this problem that occurs all over the world.