Piotr Topinski

Piotr is revolutionizing the way communities in rural Poland heat their homes, and in the process, promoting innovation and local development. By utilizing locally-grown straw instead of coal, the communities are reducing pollution and realizing substantial savings, which is then reinvested in other income-generating ventures.

Piotr is engineering a revolution in home heating practices for the people of rural Poland. By utilizing locally-grown straw instead of government-subsidized coal as fuel, Piotr's method reduces heating costs, cuts pollution, reduces dependence on the government, and creates jobs in rural communities. He is also working to convince the government to allow villages to roll over a portion of the savings into local development cooperatives, which will fund various income-generation ventures and additional create jobs.The fuel conversion project is just one of many possibilities for promoting local development in rural areas. The lack of economic activity and employment that is currently plaguing so many Polish communities could be largely alleviated if local resources and skills were put to work. The key is being able to generate creative ideas that are well suited to local needs and resources, and finding the money to initiate the start-up process. The success of the heating fuel project will generate a pool of capital that can be reinvested into similar projects that serve local development needs.

State-owned co-ops proliferated throughout Poland during the Communist period as the government forced families off their private farms and into large-scale collectives. Their homes were destroyed and they were forced to move into large concrete tenement buildings, which housed all the agricultural workers of each collective. In contrast to family farms, these collectives were bureaucratic, inefficient, and demoralizing. They discouraged initiative and creativity and promoted dependence upon the state.

When Communism fell, the collectives suddenly became obsolete, and the state no longer financed their inefficient production. The collectives quickly went bankrupt or were sold off in the privatization process. As a result, more than 60,000 "agricultural workers" -- as the government called them -- were left unemployed and without the resources or skills to revitalize the rural economy.

The new government has now had to take responsibility for these former agricultural workers, who continue to live in the deteriorating tenement buildings. There is currently little or no chance for employment in these areas, so the state continues to subsidize their food and heating needs. However, there has been no initiative to promote self-sustaining development to promote financial independence. The result is that the impoverished rural population continues to require costly government assistance, with little reason to expect change in the future.

Just one example is $70 million in coal subsidies the government gives out for heating. The heating program is backwards and inefficient, failing to mobilize local resources or promote rural development. Over 10,000 tons of coal are transported from distant mines to these communities every year, only to bring about tremendous air pollution and continued dependence on the state.

Meanwhile, these rural communities are faced with an overabundance of straw, which could be used as an inexpensive, relatively non-polluting alternative heating fuel. However, that would require installation of special straw-burning furnaces to ensure that the heating potential is fully captured. The government has been unwilling to make the investment or facilitate the transition.

Currently, most straw is simply burned in the fields to reintroduce nutrients into the soil. Besides the obvious waste, this method is also problematic because the fires often rage out of control, destroying homes and other buildings. The often-neglected straw crops currently cover more than 30 percent of agricultural land, while in much of Eastern Europe the figure is as high as 90 percent. Thus the issue has major regional implications.

Piotr has already piloted the program in a number of Polish communities and proved its viability. In the northern counties of Zielonka and Czernin, the conversion to straw fuel yielded a 90 percent increase in heating efficiency and a commensurate cost savings. There was also a very substantial reduction in air pollution, and the project created a number of jobs in jobs in straw harvesting and processing.

With a modest amount of bank credit, Piotr is able to purchase the new furnaces and install them in the tenement buildings. Pilot programs have demonstrated that when heat consumption is greater than 600 kw, the cost savings allows the loans to be paid back within two heating seasons. The savings also helps to fund the purchase of additional furnaces for other communities. The project is vital not only for the cost savings and immediate benefits, but also because it represents a clear demonstration of successful innovation in local rural development.

Piotr is currently working to convince the government to allow these communities to recoup some of the savings for use in local development funds. In a separate experimental project Piotr organized such a fund and development organization in the northern county of Dzierzgon. The organization provides skills training, workshops on self-government, and rural resource center, which houses information and materials for initiating development projects and small-business ventures. The result has been a substantial increase in entreprenurialism, social activism, and income-generating projects. The fund will also provide direct investments in development ventures throughout the area.

Piotr plans to integrate the promotion of the straw-fueled furnaces with the establishment of rural development funds and organizations throughout Poland. The two innovations will serve to reinforce each other and promote the concepts of activism and innovation.

Piotr was raised in a family with a long tradition of social activity within their community. Piotr began to show signs of these family traits at an early age and was frequently elected to positions of leadership while a student. For example, while attending university, he founded a jockey club.

Under the totalitarian regime, he prevented the government from covering an old forest into a huge cattle-breeding farm. He did so by re-introducing beavers into the forest. The animals built dams in the streams and flooded the land, making it impossible to clear-cut the forests.

Since the fall of Communism, Piotr has been actively involved in establishing free-market ventures. For instance, he worked for a bank that funded social innovation projects. He also founded an organization called Promotion, Progression, and Entreprenurialism.

Piotr has spent much of the past six years promoting the spirit of innovation. He has written a number of articles and gives periodic lectures and workshops throughout the country.