On April 15–16, 2026, Sopot became the capital of Polish local government. The Sheraton Hotel hosted the 6th edition of the Local Trends Local Government Finance Congress—an event that this year attracted a record number of 1,229 participants and nearly 200 speakers—representatives of the government, local governments, business, civil society organizations, and the scientific community.
The opening lecture, titled “The Left Behind. How to Build Fairer, More Sustainable, and Collaborative Development Models for Poorer Regions?” was delivered by the Congress’s special guest, Paul Collier from the University of Oxford. A recording of the speech, along with a translation, is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDAK1Br5sRA
During the Congress, Dr. hab. Sylwia Mrozowska, prof. UG, Director of the Center for Sustainable Development led an expert debate on municipal energy self-sufficiency titled “How to Build Energy Self-Sufficiency at the Municipal Level?”, hosted by the Local Government of the Pomeranian Province. Participants in the discussion included: Ryszard Kalkowski (Mayor of Szemud Municipality), Sławomir Kiszkurno (President of the Clean Energy Port and Waste Utilization Plant in Gdańsk), Michał Litwiniuk (Mayor of Biała Podlaska), Marcin Strzelczyk (Representative of the Energa-Operator Management Board for Cooperation with Local Governments), and Krzysztof Witkowski (Mayor of Koło). The discussion focused on practical tools for building energy independence in an era of dynamic economic changes and rising costs of maintaining local government units.
The Congress debates were recorded and are available at:
https://localtrends.pl/debaty-skf-2026/
A photo report from the Congress can be found on the Local Trends website:
https://localtrends.pl/galerie/samorzadowy-kongres-finansowy-2026/