Szczecinek
- development directions

The past eleven years in the history of Szczecinek are marked with dynamic development stimulated on one hand with investments (both municipal and other) and on the other hand with organizational changes in the area of communal services and ownership transformations.
From 1990, when the local government was established, it was clear that despite the very difficult situation of many families the town's budget could not be earmarked for social security benefits.
This is when the main three development areas were outlined and they have been pursued until this very day.
Investments
In the first few years, the foundations were laid; infrastructure investments were carried out aiming at the improvement of the residents' living conditions and providing conditions motivating outside investment capital. Here we should mention the modernization of the sewage treatment plant, water purification plant, new landfills, rain-collecting facility, sewage-collecting facility, change in the traffic system in the town's center, building new roads and improving the most traffic-congested junctions, liquidation of small local boiler houses or changing their power sources.
Later came the time for investments enhancing the town's attractiveness. The majority of town busses were replaced, a football stadium was opened, new tennis courts were built at the Sport and Leisure Center and a number of indoor swimming pools will soon be provided for use.

Organizational changes and ownership
transformations.
These changes have been aimed at improving the communal services' quality. The main structure developed in the early nineties, covering the Town Office, municipal companies and other organizational units whose operations are based chiefly on subventions and subsidies, has remained largely unchanged. However, the changes facilitating its operations are being introduced on a continual basis. Among such changes is the transformation of the Communal Management Institution into the Non-Profit Housing Association, which has so far erected one residential building, developed the customer service center at the Town Office and established the social welfare center and occupational therapy workshops.
The works on transformation of some of the town's organizational units are currently underway.
Outsourcing the town's initiatives.
The town has been outsourcing some of its initiatives for several years now. These initiatives are outsourced to both non-government units and private entities by way of competition and tenders. The tasks comprise three areas:
o Social Help - care services, help centers for the homeless, running a social welfare center and occupational therapy workshops.
o Education - kindergartens; at present four kindergartens that used to be municipal until recently are now managed by private entities, management of a further two should be outsourced this year.
o Alcohol Abuse Prevention - therapeutic centers, sport activities with elements of alcohol abuse prevention.
The areas and direction of the town's development outlined above reveal good prospects for the future. In particular the last - the outsourcing and delegating of tasks - is both a challenge and an opportunity. Of particular importance is increasing the participation of non-government organizations in this area. This is facilitated by the resolution passed by the Town Council quite recently, which defines the terms of cooperation between the town and non-government organizations.