Ecological and climatic challenges facing documents of local development strategies (on the example of Lower Silesian municipalities in Poland)

Abstract

The paper presents the results of a study on how global climate change is reflected in local development strategies. The study included 173 Lower Silesian municipalities and is one of those rarely undertaken in the Polish literature. They were based on original studies of local development strategies carried out between 2016 and 2022, as well as interviews with those responsible for preparing and updating these documents. The research covered 250 local development strategies developed for 173 Lower Silesian municipalities (existing and updated).   The authors briefly discussed the importance of development strategies in the functioning of municipalities and local communities. The main formal and substantive mistakes made in such documents are also presented. The main element of the presentation was the ways (forms) and the extent to which global climate change is reflected in municipal development strategies. The study has confirmed the main hypothesis that global climate change is insufficiently addressed at the local level in the analysed municipalities.