Long Ladder
Project owner: Ipolytölgyes Község Önkormányzata (Local Government Village Ipolytölgyes)
Responsible person: Radnai Bertalan
2023
1st Prize
HU
Public administration
Poverty
Education
Environment
Ipolytölgyes is far from cities and available public services. As such, an acceptable quality of life depends mostly on a family’s income. Yet, as the village community is segregated based on wealth, the challenge is to offer community solutions instead of individual ones; solutions that are sustainable and environmentally friendly in order to retain the local population.
Community services are the most effective answers to the challenges of today and tomorrow. The Long Ladder Approach for Local Governments project is adaptive and cooperative, constantly seeking new, innovative solutions organised by local municipalities and implemented within the local community.
Every settlement in Hungary has a local government, where residents are equal partners. Long Ladder’s services are provided by the municipal employees. Local partners and overseas partners donate surplus assets and expertise for community building purposes to local residents.
The project by a service-oriented local government offers supportive and resource-efficient solutions to issues. It seeks to facilitate the needs of different life situations including property maintenance, home care, etc. This is done in order to reduce wealth disparities and to optimise the use of local government assets. Overall, the project seeks to enhance the community-building effects and increase the esteem of the municipality.
The project method can be easily and gradually adapted to other settlements without financial expenses. The service can be launched with simple tools and minimal risks. Moreover, the project services can be developed based on local needs and experience.
In a world where everyone wants to own more, the project Long Ladder strengthens the idea of a local economy based on solidarity and sustainability instead of private ownership. With a simple, hands-on solution, municipalities manage to improve the quality of life of their citizens in a participatory way which in turn helps citizens to regain the feeling of belonging to a supportive community. This easily transferable project benefits not only the municipal- ity and its residents, but also our planet.
