SPATIAL DIFFERENCES IN ABSORPTION OF 2007-2015 EU FUNDING FOR UTILIZATION OF CULTURAL ASSETS IN NORTHERN POLAND

Abstract

The utilization of the European Union financial resources by territorial self-govenment units in Northern Poland fosters the process of reconstruction and management of cultural heritage assets and their adaptation to the realization of social and economic tasks and functions. The aim of the paper is to present the ways of spending EU financial resources earmarked for the purposes related to cultural assets in rural areas of Northern Poland against a background of the remaining spatial categories (the voivodship in its entirety, the metropolitan area of the voivodship, towns with district rights, counties) encompassing three voivodships: Zachodniopomorskie, Pomorskie and Kujawsko-Pomorskie. The survey was conducted over the period 2007-2015 using the SIMIK Database of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Development of the Republic of Poland. The analysis conducted in the paper allowed us to conclude that projects which were carried out in rural areas constituted approximately 20 % of the overall expenditure on ”cultural” projects in the region. Both in the voivodship as a whole as well as in rural areas, in all voivodships the chief purposes encompassed cultural objects and assets as well as sport and tourism infrastructure. On the other hand, tourism product, promotion and information were much less frequently co-financed from EU Fund in Northern Poland in the years 2007-2015.

Keywords: cultural assets, EU structural funds, Northern Poland, rural areas

Article DOI: http://doi.org/10.15544/RD.2017.234