Civil society and the development of Polish unmanned combat air systems
Civic participation
Completed
mazowieckie
Warszawa
Polish Red Cross, Warszawa, Poland
Polish Debating Foundation, Warszawa, Poland
Norwegian Peace Association, Norway
2014-09-15 - 2016-03-14
227 316,53 PLN
201 589,41 PLN
national policies, new technologies
Project description
Poland is very interested in the development of unmanned combat aerial vehicle systems (UCAVS), and at the same time there is no public, nation-wide debate about legal and ethical aspects of their use, and the civil society has not yet spoken on the subject. The objective of the project was mobilising the civil society to express a stance and increase the chance that its opinion will be considered in the government's policy. Two stances of NGO coalitions on UCAVS were formulated. Certain state institutions chose to consider this voice in their conceptual works (the Doctrine and Training Centre of the Polish Armed Forces and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs). The final conference, which was the culmination of the promotional campaign in 5 cities, was attended by about 100 people: journalists, scientists, representatives of the government and the industry, as well as students. It contributed to higher awareness, and facilitated public discussion. The project included the creation of the www.5ton.pl website presenting the outcomes of the project. Two related Stances were prepared by the total of 13 civil society organisations; a popular scientific book of 236 pages, available also as an e-book was created, together with an interdisciplinary scenario for academic teachers, which was tested 14 times in 6 cities, by the total of 388 people; an on-line database of information about UCAVS, containing 130 article records; a tool kit with scenarios of activities increasing the knowledge about UCAVS, used 5 times; a promotional film and 4 short films with the project's “ambassadors"; 2 recordings of debates; 6 newsletters; factual materials for journalists. The project's chief beneficiary was the civil society, defined as NGOs and active, young citizens. By providing the scenario tool for classes, academic teachers were reached. Thanks to the publication in Polish, the results of the experts' work were publicised, so they can reach government and scientific institutions, as well as the public. The NPA acted mainly as a mentor. Via their network of contacts, ICLHR was able to access international forums of discussion (ENAAT, EFAD). The PCK provided the essential and strategic support - helped with reaching experts and academic teachers. FPD conducted the debate competition.
We use the grant for capacity building