Paula Fanderowska, the Vice-President of Krakow5020, was nominated for a prestigious Rise and Raise Others award awarded by UN Women. The UNO has appreciated her activities promoting sustainable development in tourism. In addition to Paula Fanderowska, three other Polish women were nominated: Iga Świątek nominated in the category of Good health and wellbeing, Dominika Kulczyk for her fight against the discrimination of women and biologist and astrobiologist Agata Kołodziejczyk in the category of education.

Paula Fanderowska nominated in the category of Climate action for the introduction of sustainable development policy to the tourist industry and educational activities is an experienced business leader and strategist with a passion for identification and development of new opportunities, an ambassador of the event industry in one of the best conference venues in the region, i.e. the ICE Krakow Congress Centre. Paula Fanderowska has an impressive track record in attracting major international conferences to Poland (e.g. ICCA 2022), discovering new formats of events and innovations towards more sustainable, hybrid events. She is very active in key intersectoral networks in Poland; one of such networks is the Krakow Network, a project in operation since 2014 with Krakow5020 as its operator and Paula Fanderowska as its leader.

The objective of the Krakow Network is to consistently strive to build Krakow’s image as a conscious, responsible city that seeks to introduce sustainable development standards in various areas of life, especially in tourism. The ICE Krakow Congress Centre Sustainability Policy was developed as part of the project; the document describes the activities of ICE Krakow in the context of the impact of congresses and conferences on the natural and socio-economic environments. Thanks to the efforts of the Krakow Convention Bureau, which is a part of the Krakow Network, Krakow joined a special benchmarking initiative this year: the Global Destination Sustainability – GDS-Index compares the results of efforts made by cities in the sustainable development area. Representatives of the industry gathered in the Krakow Network business group discuss aspects of heritage and what the congress can leave behind by creating a project bank, collecting ideas for CSR activities and initiatives serving specific groups of the city’s residents such as a Congress Avenue honouring congressional events. The said project bank created by the Krakow Convention Bureau will be accessible to organisers of congresses and conferences held in Krakow and will help develop models for organising green meetings or events with the well-being of participants in mind.

The next step will be to prepare the methodology for measuring the carbon footprint of congress and conference events organised in Krakow. The first and exemplary activity of this kind will be this year’s ICCA congress organised in Krakow (Paula Fanderowska is a member of the Local Organisational Committee).
UN Women is the United Nations entity responsible for promoting women’s empowerment and gender equality. The Rise and Raise Others award is granted to ‘outstanding women for their commitment to and enthusiasm in empowering others towards the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals’. The organisers stress that the nominees share their passion, experience, knowledge, talent and skills. They change the status quo, cross borders, build social relations, make friends, support each other and build communities inspiring other women.

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Krakow5020 is a municipal company established by the Krakow City Council, responsible for the building and management of the city’s image and its promotion in cooperation with numerous partners. The main objective is to strengthen the brand of Krakow as a European metropolis that is attractive, open and tolerant, a city with the global cultural heritage and a thriving academic centre.
The name of Krakow5020 refers to the location of the city that lies at the intersection of the 50ºN parallel of latitude with the 20ºE meridian.
Business co-ordinates and new hospitality are the buzzwords behind the development of Krakow in the area of the economy, innovation, science and culture.
Some of the responsibilities of the company include the ICE Krakow Congress Centre and the hybrid studio located there, the VOD PLAY KRAKOW city platform, PLAY KRAKOW NEWS and projects such as the Krakow Network and Power of 4, the ICE Classic and Good Morning ICE Krakow cycles, a concept store in the Wyspiański Pavilion and the InfoKrakow Official Municipal Information Network.