The Polish Nationwide Congress of Regions is the biggest annual meeting of representatives of territorial self-government entities, which is devoted to the most important issues of functioning of cities, communes, counties and provinces. Each edition of the Congress attracts almost 1,500 members of local governments from all parts of Poland. Discussion panels and plenary sessions are held for a period of three days.
The Congress for the first time in Wroclaw
This year, participants in the Congress will meet for the first time in the capital of Lower Silesia. Previous editions were organised in Świdnica.
‘We are very happy that our city will host this meeting, because we wanted it to stay in Lower Silesia,’ says Rafał Dutkiewicz, Mayor of Wroclaw. ‘On that occasion, I wish to point out the contribution of Świdnica to what the Congress of Regions looks like today and to thank the authorities of Świdnica for the previous five editions.’
The 6th Congress of Regions was honoured with a special distinction – the Patronage of the Polish President Bronisław Komorowski: 25 years of self-government. This year’s topics have been divided into two areas.
’We will summarise the last self-government elections, and we will bring up such topics as the principle of rotation in office, EU funds, the problem of waste and the role of provinces in contemporary Poland,’ says Roman Młodkowski, the programming director of the Congress of Regions, adding that the participants will also talk about innovativeness as local economic power or leadership in unimaginable situations.
A special guest of the Congress of Regions will be Richard Florida, the author of the bestseller ‘The Rise of the Creative Class’, an analyst and advisor in the field of city development, the inventor of the term ‘creative class’.
Guests of this year’s edition
The 6th Polish Nationwide Congress of Regions consists of 6 plenary sessions with prestigious guests and 16 discussion panels led by outstanding specialists who will bring up the most important topics from the perspective of a member of local government. The guests will include, among others, Richard Florida – an economist, the creator of the term ‘creative class’, Klaus Wowereit – Mayor of Berlin in the years 2001-2014, Witalij Kliczko – Mayor of Kiev since 2014.
As usual during the Congress, results of the Newsweek ranking of city mayors, the Forbes’ competition for village administrators and mayors and the Forbes ranking of cities attractive for the business sector will be announced.
The detailed program of the 6th Congress of Regions is available at: www.kongresregionow.pl
