Do Local Governments Notice the Issue of the Impact of Environmental Changes on Human Health? Analysis Based on Strategic Documents

The last dozen or so years, especially since 2019, have been a period of huge challenges for local governments in Poland. This was related, among others, to financial crises, the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare crisis, war in Ukraine, economic recession, and high inflation. Local self-governments in Poland are facing challenges they have not faced before. Is reactive action currently sufficient? It seems that the pace of changes forced local governments to act reactively. However, should it stay that way? Many local governments are currently working or will start to work on new local development strategies. In this context, it is worth considering the experience from recent years and make long-term preparations for other challenges, related to environmental and social changes that will surely come. The Opole region is the smallest region in Poland and has been facing demographic problems for many years. It is a rather well-defined and studied issue. However, advancing climatic and environmental changes are not subjects of many analyses. The purpose of the study was to conduct a desk research analysis of the current local development strategies for municipalities in the Opolskie Voivodeship in terms of perception of the issue of environmental changes and their impact on the inhabitants’ health. Local government has certain limited capabilities to counteract these negative changes. In order to do this, it is necessary to notice the problem in the first place. The conducted study shows that health issues are reflected in strategic documents, mainly in terms of the ageing population and demographic challenges. They are relatively seldom related to the issue of environmental changes. It seems that local governments are more focused on reactive action in response to occurring phenomena and rarely try to counteract potential negative effects of future changes. It remains a challenge to shift the approach at the local level.