On July 4-7, the head of the Novovolyn community Borys Karpus, the head of the Lithuanian community Olena Kasyanchuk, the head of the Poromiv community Oleg Savchuk, the head of the Chervonograd community Andriy Zalivskyi, as well as the deputies of the Novovolyn city council Inna Vykhor, Bohdan Badzun and Mykola Lukashuk took part in the exchange program with coal regions of Poland to learn from experience and explore successful practices of just transformation.
As part of the study visit organized for the Ukrainian delegation by the Initiative for Coal Regions of the Western Balkans and Ukraine in Transition, the participants visited the communities of Małopolska and Silesian Voivodeships, where coal mining enterprises are still operating. The goal is to help regions abandon coal mining and transition to a carbon-neutral economy. By the way, the Initiative is implemented by the European Commission in partnership with the World Bank, the Secretariat of the Energy Community, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management of Poland and the European College in Natolin.
As part of the study visit, the Ukrainian delegation visited the communes of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Brzeszcze and Libyonz, where 2 mines and 3 power plants are still operating, and about 9,000 residents work at coal enterprises. Despite the fact that the mines in these areas will be the last to close in Poland in accordance with the Transformation Plan, in particular, in 2040 and 2049, municipalities are already working to diversify the economy, retrain miners, retain a young working population and take care of environmental protection . “We need these 20 years to prepare the people and the territory, as well as to minimize the negative consequences of closing the mines,” Anna Mlost, director of the Regional Development Department of the Lesser Poland Marshal’s Office, noted during the meeting.
Therefore, scientific studies of mining waste have already been conducted on the territory of the “Ianina” mine in Libjozh, which the mine must independently remediate by 2030. In 2020, Tauron Wydobycie experts, scientists from the Central Mining Institute and European research centers of Spain, Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland participated in the “Recovery” project, the purpose of which was to study the prospects of ecological reclamation and restoration of degraded ecosystems affected by coal mining. Using different types of soil mixtures, in particular, made from waste from mining enterprises and power plants, 4 hectares of terricone were planted with a hundred varieties of wildflowers and herbs. As experts from the Central Mining Institute assure, the acquired knowledge will allow to develop an appropriate method of tericon reclamation and use it in other areas. Currently, the Municipality of Libjon is considering various scenarios for the use of the Ioannina mine site, in particular, the construction of an industrial park, the placement of retail businesses, warehouses, light industry enterprises or photovoltaic installations.
In addition to the industrial development of post-mining areas, the management of coal communities emphasizes the tourist attraction of mines that have more than a hundred years of history. A visit to such a mine in Brześć, which was built almost 120 years ago, made quite an impression on the delegation from Ukraine. In 1995, the mine was liquidated, and part of the premises was sold to commercial enterprises by the Association for the Restructuring of Mines. However, there are several authentic buildings left on the territory of the mine, which are planned to be used for tourist purposes. In particular, the Foundation of memorial sites near Auschwitz-Birkenau together with the city hall developed the concept of transforming this territory into a recreational, touristic and scientific institution. Therefore, it is planned to build a coffee shop, a mine museum, and a modern hotel in the premises of the stretch. Of course, implementing such large-scale ideas requires a lot of time and, most importantly, finances, the representative of the Foundation, Dagmar Kopiyash, noted during the meeting, however, the representatives of the foundation have already developed the cafe project and plan to receive funds for its implementation from the Fair Transformation Foundation.
During the study tour, the delegation from Ukraine visited three coal communities in Silesia, whose leaders shared their own experience of transformation processes. In particular, in the rural commune of Pavlovice, the mayor’s office is actively promoting alternative energy sources, introducing the transition of residential buildings from coal heating boilers to solar panels, and the implementation of this project, officials assure, will take only 5 years. As Vito Franciszek Dzendziel told during the meeting, street lighting lamps have already been replaced with energy-saving ones, solar panels have been installed on the roofs of all communal facilities of the commune, and even parking lots are equipped with photovoltaics. Together with the association of mining communes, the mayor’s office is working to attract funds from the European Union and the Polish state budget to install solar panels.