NCN GRANT FOCUSED ON THE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE IN POLISH CITIES
Since mid-August 2020, we have been implementing the NCN grant (as part of the OPUS 18 competition): “Assessment of the state and importance of green infrastructure as a natural and social resource of small and medium-sized cities in Poland” (“Ocena stanu i znaczenia zielonej infrastruktury jako przyrodniczego i społecznego zasobu małych i średnich miast w Polsce”) project number: 2019/35/B/HS4/04221. The project implementation period is 36 months, and the allocated funds are PLN 581,160.00.
At SGH, Dr. Paulina Legutko-Kobus is responsible for implementing the project.
The consortium also includes:
- Institute for the Development of Cities and Regions (Instytut Rozwoju Miast i Regionów) - the leader.
- Warsaw University of Life Sciences (Szkoła Główna Gospodarstwa Wiejskiego w Warszawie).
- West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin (Zachodniopomorski Uniwersytet Technologiczny w Szczecinie).
The main area of research is small and medium-sized cities in Poland, which face many development problems both in the social (including demographic) and economic dimensions.
Green infrastructure (understood in the project in the broadest sense, also includes “blue-green infrastructure”) gives not only the opportunity to shape the spatial structure of cities but also is a development potential that allows for improving the quality of life of residents. The aim of the project is to analyze: the multidimensional state, importance, and prospects of using green infrastructure in small and medium-sized cities in Poland.
PROJECT DIRECT II
The project “Expanding and Improving Workplace Democracy as a Prerequisite for Humanising Labour and the Work Environment - DIRECT II” is financed by the European Commission, for which its subject belongs to strategic areas of action (modernization of work organization mechanisms).
The partners in the project are trade unions (CITUB, SEK, 1 Mayo) and employers (KRIB, BIA), research and analytical organizations (FDV, IDEAS), and universities (SGH, RHUL).
Generally, the project is a continuation of the DIRECT I project, which was carried out by the same consortium in 2016-2018. The issues of employee participation and participatory management were studied. The current project also concerns participation but now mainly covers the role of participation in introducing new technologies in the industry and services sector (commercial, public). In particular, the introduction of technologies that could potentially have an impact on:
- The dynamism and employment situation in companies and economic sectors (threats of reduction, the need to restructure employment).
- Structure of professional qualifications (e.g., acquisition of new competencies and skills).
- Organization of work.
- Management methods and structure.
- Effectiveness of work of employees and teams.
Researchers will analyze the extent to which the introduction of new technologies takes place and can take place using employee participation mechanisms. The research subject will be employee relations and relationships between managers and employees when a significant technological change occurs in a given company.
The subject of the analysis will also be the relationship between the practice of direct participation in management and the possibility of:
- Humanization of the working environment.
- Improvement of employee skills and employee well-being in the workplace.
- Improve job satisfaction and level of motivation.
The key issue is to examine the level of employee involvement in such a situation and to what extent they are entities influencing the way new technologies are implemented. The subject of the evaluation will be the role played by employees’ representatives in implementing new technologies, including representatives of trade unions. It is a question of how much they are consulted at specific moments in the process, whether it is planning a change, determining how it will be carried out, or the final implementation of new technologies.