Impact of EU funded projects on strengthening local communities in Zbrosławice municipality

Introduction/background: Raising the standard of living of local communities is one of the objectives of activities undertaken by local government units. The most important and essential in regional development is therefore social development. One of the stimulators of regional growth are European Union funds. The improvement of the social and professional situation of the residents of municipalities in the Silesian Voivodeship has been mainly influenced by EU funds implemented through the Regional Operational Programme of the Silesian Voivodeship 2014-2020 under the European Social Fund (ESF). The municipality of Zbrosławice has implemented several such projects. Aim of the paper: The aim of the paper is to examine and analyse the impact of ESF-funded projects implemented in the municipality of Zbrosławice to strengthen social and professional activity of local communities in the period 2019-2021. The paper is based on research conducted for the master's thesis of Marcel Nalepa, whose scientific supervisor is Dr. Joanna Toczyńska. Materials and methods: In the study, cabinet research was conducted on the basis of data from the Central Statistical Office using the methods of universal statistics on the analysis of the socio-demographic situation of the Municipality of Zbrosławice. The aim of the research was to identify problem areas prior to the start of the social projects implemented in the period 2019-2021. Subsequently, field research was conducted in the Municipality using the method of comparative analysis of project documentation and reporting documentation on two ESF-funded projects in order to determine the degree of achievement of the assumed target indicators in the projects. The research further involved a diagnostic survey of the opinions and perceptions of project participants using a questionnaire method. Results and conclusions: As a result of the research, weaknesses and problem areas in the level of social life of the Municipality's residents were identified and solutions were proposed in the form of the need to implement specific projects. In addition, the research hypothesis assuming that the actions taken by the Municipality of Zbrosławice and the projects implemented in the period 2019-2021 contributed to strengthening the social and professional activity of local communities and strengthening the human potential of the Municipality was confirmed.