Entrepreneurs, community activists, NGOs, cultural institutions, as well as the university and local government are joining forces to revitalize the Old Town. What measures should be taken to make Krosno's Market Square vibrant as an important functional center and meeting place? This was discussed at the Market Square on July 9 at the headquarters of the Carpathian State University in Krosno. 

The meeting was a focus workshop - a group discussion, moderated by Dr. Hubert Kotarski and Dr. Krzysztof Piróg of the IBERiS Institute for Market and Social Evaluation Research. The problem of many medium-sized centres is the unfavourable transformations concerning historic city centres - their stagnation, loss of their role as places of importance for residents, where social life takes place. The workshop presented various viewpoints and proposals for preventing such processes.

Market square – for whom?

When answering the question "who is the Market Square for?", the participants indicated primarily the inhabitants of Krosno and the Krosno poviat. An important, although smaller group of users of the Market Square are tourists from the Podkarpackie Voivodeship and other regions of Poland, as well as foreign tourists. It was emphasized that an extremely important group of recipients of the MarketSquare offer are and should be young people. Among the desired stakeholders of the Old Town were young entrepreneurs - start-ups and freelancers who could find a place for their creative activities in the historic space. 

Strengths and potentials of the Market Square

Krosno's Old Town is, above all, a unique place with history. Its attractiveness includes, among others: rich historical, architectural and cultural potential. In addition to the monuments, the advantages include people associated with Krosno and its historical center, including: Saint Jan of Dukla, Robert Wojciech Portius. The city's industrial and craft traditions are also the assets of the Market Square. The participants of the focus group agreed that the Krosno Market Square has become more beautiful in recent years. This is confirmed by tourists who willingly share very positive impressions, are amazed and often surprised by the aesthetics, charm and atmosphere of the place. The catering and accommodation offer is expanding. A huge advantage is the rich offer of cultural institutions operating in the Old Town, as well as well-known and very popular cyclical events, i.e. Karpackie Klimaty, Portius Festival, Young Arts Festival. The potential lies in young people who have been visiting the Market Square more and more often for some time now. 

Is the Market Square in some kind of apathy? What are the causes of the problems?

On Thursday, a sunny afternoon, when the meeting took place, the Market Square was a noisy and full of life place. Guests had a nice time in the restaurant gardens, the Glass Heritage Center welcomed tourists, and groups of young people met in atmospheric nooks and crannies. This is a common sight in the summer season, but the problem is in the autumn and winter months - then the Market Square is often empty.

The discussion group tried to diagnose the causes of the apathy. The most important ones included:

• seasonality of events (the vast majority of events take place in the summer season from May to September), 
• insufficient offer of cyclical, thematic events addressed to the inhabitants of Krosno and the surrounding area and tourists,
• lack of organized meeting places for young residents, limited number of events dedicated to young people, responding to their needs and interests,
• insufficient cultural and entertainment offer from the university, thanks to which students would participate to a greater extent in the life of the city and shape it (after completing classes, students return to their places of residence, they are not seen in the city)
• little use of the potential of historic churches as tourist attractions,
• increasing number of empty units,
• lack of a coherent program / strategy to revitalize the Market Square,
• lack of coordination and consistent information policy regarding cultural events, events taking place within the Old Town (no available calendar of events, poor recognition of visitkrosno.pl website, too many profiles of the city on Facebook, insufficient promotion using Instagram), insufficient external marketing of the city (outdoor advertising, cooperation with tourist agencies, etc.),
• suburbanization and the exodus of residents from the Old Town area, the outflow of young people from Krosno, mainly in their 20s and 30s,
• lack of trend / fanciness to be in the Market Square - it is not the "living room of Krosno",
• poor transportation accessibility of the Market Square, its failure to serve as a pedestrian thoroughfare,
• insufficient amount of greenery, especially troublesome in the summer (high temperature, lack of shade, little use of the potential of the arcade as a shady place)

What are the obstacles to reviving the Market Square?

Restaurant owners articulated problems that make it difficult to run a restaurant on a daily basis, including a waste pickup schedule that is inappropriate to the nature of their business, restrictions and limitations on entering the Market Square to pick up deliveries, unload goods. Other housekeeping issues were also highlighted - the inappropriate behavior of some young people hanging out in the arcades. The problem is the high cost of renting the premises. On the other hand, the recipients of the offer point to the too-short opening hours of restaurants and the need to improve the quality of service in some establishments.

The implementation of initiatives and the development of cooperation between entities creating the offer of the Market Square is hindered by the lack of an animator, a person responsible for coordinating the activities of various stakeholders operating in the Old Town (cultural institutions, the catering and hotel industry, NGOs, parishes, the university). Insufficient involvement of young people, lack of study of their needs as an important target group, makes it difficult to create an attractive offer.

The financial situation of the city, businesses and residents, which has not been easy recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic, also affects the operation of the Market Square. 

What should be done?

There was no shortage of ideas for activities to boost the Old Town. Importantly - it was stressed that a long-term perspective should be taken into account in all initiatives undertaken (with regard to soft activities - at least 5 - 10 years, as cultural events only gain a brand after several years). 

IMAGE OF THE CITY AND ITS OFFER

• creation of a promotional strategy for the city and its implementation,
• a consistent information policy on cultural events, coordinating the calendar of events and ensuring the complementarity of organized events,
• improving external communication (outdoor advertising, visitkrosno.pl website, social media),
• improving communication between stakeholders operating within the Market Square
• inserting the Market's image into the slow life fashion,
• a series of small, thematic events (e.g., continuation of the series barbecue day, dessert day, book fairs, craft fairs, intimate concerts, summer cinema, trumpet playing from the Farna Tower, vintage car rally, micro bazaars, glass festival, craft beer festival, etc.),
• creating an "urban legend" in reference to historical figures or industrial and craft traditions of Krosno,
• promoting local wines and Hungarian wines in food establishments,
• an interactive map of the Market (once available on Google maps),
• rebuilding the former city hall (with the mayor's office, the city council meeting room and the wedding hall),
• involving local enthusiasts and activists in the life of the Market Square, using their passion and energy.

SQUARE MARKET ATTRACTIVE TO THE YOUNG

• Appointment of a youth coordinator reporting to the mayor,
• Animation by the Carpathian State University of cultural and entertainment activities of students, for example, by creating a student club,
• Creating a meeting place for young residents in the Market Square, entrusting young people with the organization of the place and responsibility for it,

A MARKET FOR THE CREATIVE AND ENTREPRENEURIAL

• creating a friendly climate for start-ups, a start-up fund and creating the image of Krosno as a city friendly to the so-called creative class,
• marketing support for entrepreneurs operating within the Old City (advertising consulting, e-commerce),
• encouraging local entrepreneurs, artists to open stores and establishments (good examples: interior designer Dominika Jurczak's showroom, Julia Habrat's art gallery, Basia Bachota's store with original clothes (Miluba)),
• inventory of empty premises, program of rental subsidies for empty premises for handicraftsmen, artists, filling empty premises by public institutions, such as schools,
• a micro-grant fund for organizing cultural events for entities operating in the Market Square (e.g. catering establishments),
• training support for entrepreneurs to improve service quality,
• innovative social projects.

Participants in the workshop included representatives of companies, organizations and institutions:

City of Krosno, Carpathian State University in Krosno, Youth Council of the City of Krosno, Glass Heritage Center, Regional Center of Borderland Cultures, Craft Museum and Cultural and Tourist Information Point, Office of Art Exhibitions, Portius Association, Entrepreneurial Union Association, Krosno24.pl, Posmakuj Krosno Restaurant, Wino i Talerzyki Restaurant, OX Restaurant, Glass House Apartments, Marhaba Restaurant, Glob Cars Dealer Group and Krosno4You Apartments.

Revitalization of the Krosno historical center is one of the element of the project  „We Create + We Develop + We Activate + We Stimulate + We Determine + We Change = KROSNO”, for which the city, in cooperation with community partners, is seeking funding from the Norwegian Funds under the Local Development Program.

The Market Square and the adjacent streets form a beautiful space, which has gained charm over the past seven years, also thanks to the owners of tenement houses, entrepreneurs," notes Dr. Tomasz Soliński, deputy mayor of Krosno, plenipotentiary for the project. - The Market's offer should be attractive and constantly adjusted in terms of changing social needs, with the involvement of grassroots initiatives, which should be supported in various forms. We want our project, which is being developed with great social involvement, to be a response to the problems of the Old Town. Our goal is to make the most of the potentials inherent in this extraordinary place, to establish effective and lasting cooperation between the entities that make up the Market Square’s offer, and to create a long-term program of specific activities, along with a program of support for social initiatives to revitalize the Old Town," adds Deputy Mayor Tomasz Soliński.