Miasta Idei is an effort to draw public attention to the processes taking place in urban areas and, more importantly – find directions for development that would make the cities attractive to inhabit. The series of events employed the creativity and enthusiasm of participants, particularly local communities, urban activists and non-profits who joined forces to develop interesting solutions. In 2019 Reszów team of Gazeta Wyborcza and their partners organized a conference Professionals and Amateurs. Sport in the City. Participants of discussion panels talked about professional and amateur sport and how cities use sport to promote their brand and grow and what can help Rzeszów make its mark and succeed in this area.

City Lab is a community campaign focusing on the challenges faced by Polish cities. Under the project special workshops and conferences are organized dedicated to improving the quality of life in Polish cities. City Lab is also a platform for dialogue between inhabitants, local authorities, activists, and representatives of central government, business and culture. A two-week campaign was held in January 2019 in Katowice. Kolej na metropolię was dedicated to the future of the metropolitan railway. Over 40 activists and community volunteers prepared a case study and recommendations at City Lab workshops. This step was followed by expert debates, with ca. 140 participants, including experts in transport and logistics, representatives of local governments, politicians, lecturers, students and member of the local community.

Between April and June 2019 Gazeta Wyborcza organized a series of debates in Polish cities, inspired by the historical Round Table of 1989. Each debate focused on themes relevant to the local community, region and the entire country. The debates were preceded by workshops for members of local governments, activists and experts, on the relevant locally-specific subjects. After the workshops, public debates were held, with participants discussing the conclusions from the workshops. The talks conducted in sub-teams and work groups focused on economy and social policy, ecology, education, reform of the judicial system, youth, mass media, etc. Each debate ended in signing an agreement outlining the directions for development for the location.

Themes and locations of Round Tables in 2019:

• Katowice, April – parking in the city, including paid parking zones, prices, should locals pay as much as visitors?
• Częstochowa, May – what is financed by local governments instead by the state, what central decisions affect the city and its residents and how to finance municipal healthcare?
• Szczecin, May – Who is more important in the city – drivers or pedestrians?
• Szczecin, October – Future City - workshops on changes in public space;
• Lublin, May – main directions of Polish foreign policy 450 years after Union of Lublin;
• Łódź, May – 30 years of free business in Łódź and region, what next? – discussion about the successes of local businesses over the last 30 years and the future outlook?
• Opole, June – How to create an open city – challenge of the Ukrainian community that makes up a considerable part of the population of Opole. It is worth learning about the experience of Ukrainians living in Opole and what the city could do to make this experience better?
• Zabrze, June - The place of Silesia in Europe. Over the recent years Silesia has gone through major change. It is a good place to work and live. How can this fact be turned into success for the entire region? What Silesian values and ideas are worth promoting? Which are worth showing to the rest of Europe?
• Zielona Góra, June - Lubuskie youth after 30 of freedom and 15 years in the EU. Future, opportunities and challenges - 30 years ago Poland regained independence. What chances were fully exploited in Lubuskie and which were not? Why do the young leave?
• Rzeszów, June – Which way do we go? Southern ring road of Rzeszów. Debate about the plans to construct a southern ring road around Rzeszów. Why is this project so important for the city? Is it possible to achieve social consensus about the project? How can it be financed? How do we ensure nature protection?

   
  All the events were organized jointly by Gazeta Wyborcza, Polska debatuje (Poland Debates) Foundation and Polish Society for Opinion and Marketing Research, under the patronage of Association of Polish Cities.

Local teams of Gazeta Wyborcza delivered the second Know Your City competition. This time the tests were organized in Warsaw, Wrocław and Kraków. Over 400 participants answered live 60 questions prepared by the organizers and partners. Tests were also available on local websites of Wyborcza.pl. Each test attracted participants who had a chance to check how well they know their city, its history and recent events, architecture, culture and sport, aspects. Incentives included money prizes. The organizers were local branches of Gazeta Wyborcza and teams of local Wyborcza.pl – in Kraków, Warsaw and Wrocław, as well as local partners: city offices, universities and businesses.

Radio TOK FM organized the fourth #Usłysz (#Hear your) national series of debates for the inhabitants for Polish cities. Six Our Europe debates with candidates to the European Parliament were held in May 2019 In September and October, as many as 17 Hear Your Representative debates were organized with candidates to the Polish parliament. Candidates spoke live in the studio of Radio TOK FM. Additionally TOK FM prepared special parliamentary manuals, broadcasts with listeners and a new podcast summing up each day of the campaign – all to encourage everybody to vote in the elections.

Wyborcza Live debates. dedicated to important events: political, economic, cultural and sports, as well as local matters, have been organized since 2016. Organizers invite journalists and people featured in Wyborcza’s articles or authors whose texts appeared in Gazeta Wyborcza and Wyborcza.pl, local government officers, activists, artists and athletes. In 2019 events were organized in Lublin, Katowice and Łódź, featuring: Halina Birenbaum – a poet, described in the book To nie deszcz, to ludzie, Paweł Piotr Reszka – journalist, author of Płuczki. Poszukiwacze żydowskiego złota, Peadar de Burca – writer, author of commentaries and comedies, Grzegorz Paprzycki – director, author of a documentary Mój kraj taki piękny (My Country, So Beautiful), Krzysztof Wielicki – Polish mountaineer, and Jarosław Kurski, deputy editor in chief of Gazeta Wyborcza.

Do large format journalism and journalistic engagement make sense in the contemporary world? Can reportage by an instrument for supporting democracy? These questions were discussed by the authors of the most acclaimed works of reportage of recent years and months in the Panel of Reportage Journalists organized by Gazeta Wyborcza Trójmiasto. The open event attracted over 300 participants to the auditorium of the European Solidarity Centre, including: Katarzyna Włodkowska of Duży Format, author of Dom Zły a reportage about Polish Fritzl from Kaszuby, Wojciech Bojanowski, investigative journalist cooperating with TVN Fakty and Superwizjer, who published the circumstances of the death of 25-year-old Igor Stachowiak and journalist of 2018 Bertold Kittel, co-author of a reportage about Polish neo-Nazis. Other discussion participants were Szymon Jadczak from TVN24, winner of Grand Press 2009, author of a material revealing the links of the management of Wisła Kraków sports club with gangster underworld, and Tomasz Piątek, who described a dense network of relations with Russian secret services around the former Polish minister of defence in his book Macierewicz i jego tajemnice (Macierewicz and His Secrets). The panel Dziennikarstwo w służbie demokracji (Journalism in Service of Democracy) was moderated by Maciej Drzewicki – editor in chief of Mój Biznes weekly of Gazeta Wyborcza, co-author of the bestselling biography of Anna Przybylska. Wyborcza Classic Reporter jest na miejscu magazine was very popular among the public.

The panel opened Gdańsk Democracy Week and it was followed three days later by another event organized by local Gazeta Wyborcza – a commentary panel with: Dominika Wielowieyska, Renata Grochal, Piotr Trudnowski, Agata Szczęśniak (OKO.press) and Michał Wróblewski of WP.PL. The panel was moderated by Grzegorz Kubicki – editor in chief of Gazeta Wyborcza Trójmiasto. City of Gdańsk was a partner in both events.

On 14 November 2019 the International Exhibition and Convention Centre EXPO in Kraków hosted a conference 30-Years of Economic Transformation in Małopolska organized by Gazeta Wyborcza. The project 30 Małopolska Businesses for the 30 Years of Economic Transformation was aimed at highlighting 30 years of our shared history, the period of economic transformation, and present the businesses that contributed to the growth of our economy and are models of effective business. Two discussion panels were held during the event: growth of Małopolskie businesses over the recent 30 years, future of local businesses. 27 Małopolska businesses were awarded Jedynki Gazeta Wyborcza for the best business of the 30 years according to Gazeta Wyborcza. Additionally, participants could attend the lectures by Michał Olszewski, editor in chief of Gazeta Wyborcza Kraków on economy 4.0, or Grzegorz Mick of the Institute of Geography and Spatial or Management of Jagiellonian University, about the power of diversity of Małopolska businesses. The event was moderated by reporters Iwona Hajnosz and Michał Olszewski.

The main idea behind the Festival of Mathematics is to stress the importance of mathematics in life and emphasise how proper teaching and talking about mathematics is a key to success. The sixth festival was organized by Gazeta Wyborcza and mBank Foundation, as a part of Mathematics Counts project. 1500 participants were invited to attend ten workshops and visit 17 stands with mathematics attractions. 500 copies of the book Dziecinnie prosta matematyka (Child Simple Mathematics) were distributed. The main theme of the event held on 30 November 2019 in the headquarters of Agora in Warsaw was teaching the youngest (Nauka najmłodszych). Through games, interactive workshops and a host of other attractions prepared with children, parents and teachers in mind – the organizers wanted to show that mathematics is our companion from the first days of our lives.

Teams of eDziecko.pl, Avanti24.pl and Czterykaty.pl organized the third Family Fest picnic on 1 and 2 June 2019 in Kubicki Arcades in Warsaw. The free admission event offered attractions for the youngest children as well as to those slightly older. Family Fest is a unique project that combined fun with education with the aim to stimulate development in children, broaden their horizons and expand their knowledge of the world. The two-day event included concerts for children, games and quizzes, performances, workshops of creative LEGO building and shows. Family Fest was organized in cooperation with Warsaw Royal Castle.

Kino na Temat and Kino na Temat Junior are projects addressed to youth and children and delivered by Helios cinemas since 2013. Kino na Temat is a series of film events focusing on important social themes, historical events and topics relevant to young viewers. Film screenings are accompanied by debates with guest speakers – experts and journalists. Kino na Temat Junior is a form of lessons for younger children conducted in cinema. Every screening is preceded by an educational workshop developed by film educators to fit the core curriculum for a relevant education level. 3.2 thousand screenings of over 150 film titles were held for children of various age groups, 300 thousand in total in 2019.

How do we teach children respect for difference, how do we talk about discrimination and stereotypes? Ideas for teaching tolerance in the form of actionable lesson plans were published in Gazeta Wyborcza. Plans for parents, teachers and educators were developed with the organizers of School with Class campaign and designed for working with primary and secondary school children and kids. Lesson 1 offers students an opportunity to compare different viewpoints on photographs, try to explore the feelings, thoughts and motivations of people in the photos. The idea behind the lesson was to illustrate the role of empathy in building understanding between people of different convictions, ethnicities, sexual orientation or simply in different life circumstances. Lesson 2 included group work exploration of the process of forming stereotypes. Participants can find out how it is possible that one piece of information causes an avalanche of associations and emotions and why the process might be bad or even harmful. Lessons of tolerance plans is another project of Gazeta Wyborcza for teachers, students and parents, along with other publications and special issues such as Wysokie Obcasy Psychologia. Cyfrowe dzieci (Digital Children). Teachers, parents and other readers interested in the subject can subscribe to a Strefa nauczyciela (Teacher Zone) newsletter of Wyborcza.pl.  Every Monday subscribers receive texts about education.

Mogę być is a national education programme from Kobieta.Gazeta.pl working in partnership with National Geographic and Barbie addressed to primary school children. It encourages girls and boys to pursue their dreams and passions and stresses the need to look for outstanding women models. It stimulates children to think about the future, motivates them to break through gender stereotypes and promotes gender equality. Stories of outstanding women presented in the programme convince children that they should themselves be trailblazers and reach for more.
The main idea behind the programme is to encourage children, with the parents’ support to look for and discover their own ideals, to motivate them to develop their interests and talents and prepare them to embrace a diversity of social and professional roles. Along with the online campaign, organizers opened a competition for schools, for the best poster about inspiring women. The main prize was a 6000 zł package including: for the winning class – a class trip in 2019/2020 school year (3000 zł); for the winning school: meeting with an inspiring woman role model held in the school, open to all students, teachers and parents; for the teacher supervisor of the winning class: professional development training. Posters can be submitted until 31 March 2020 r. More: mogebyc.gazeta.pl

In November 2019 the first Sisters Art auction of art was organized by Wysokie Obcasy Foundation and Wysokie Obcasy. The auction held in Museum of Contemporary Art in Warsaw offered works donated by over 70 artists the funds were granted to organizations such as Women’s Rights Centre. 135 thousand zł was raised during the event hosted by the popular journalist Dorota Wellman. The highest price, seven thousand zł, was paid for the photograph from the series Tropical Iron (2011) by Maurycy Gomulicki. Buyers also bid high on works by Paweł Bownik, Wilhelm Sasnal, Alex Urban, Kle Mens, Chris Niedenthal, Radek Szlaga, Sonia Szóstak, Mateusz Sarzyński, Karol Radziszewski and Michał Warecki. Half of the funds raised in the auction was passed to Women’s Rights Centre – organization that specializes in preventing all forms of abuse and discrimination of women in private, public and professional life. The other half will be used to finance statutory activities of Wysokie Obcasy Foundation.

In 2019 Wysokie Obcasy Foundation launched Women Know What They Read campaign that provides students with free subscriptions of Wysokie Obcasy and Gazeta Wyborcza. Also public libraries in small towns and villages were involved in the project. By the end of 2019, six and a half thousand free subscriptions were distributed, four thousand were donated to libraries and the remaining number was made available to young women.

Subscriptions were available to all libraries around Poland, operating in rural communities, rural-urban, and in towns up to 50 thousand inhabitants. Free digital subscription of Wysokie Obcasy and Gazeta Wyborcza was also addressed to library users, women aged 15–30.

On activating the subscription a library received free unlimited access to all online services of Wyborcza.pl, access to current and archived issues of Gazeta Wyborcza magazines: Duży Format, Magazyn Świąteczny, Ale Historia, Wysokie Obcasy Extra. Each library could also access all content of the bi-monthly Książki. Magazyn do Czytania, literary broadcasts of Michał Nogaś in Audio Książki, to Booksletter, a weekly newsletter for book fans. After registering the library in the system, its users could also gain access to the newest reviews in the Culture section of Wyborcza.pl, up to 50 percent discount on books and e-books in Kulturalnysklep.pl and Publio.pl, special price on the subscription of Książki. Magazyn do Czytania bimonthly and unlimited access to the content in iOS and Android apps or e-readers. The free subscription was valid for a year. Completed in January 2020, the campaign was delivered with two partners: Zwolnieni z Teorii project and for the Information Society Development Foundation.