Gąski () is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the administrative district of

Gmina Mielno __NOTOC__ Gmina Mielno is an urban-rural gmina (administrative district) in Koszalin County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. Its seat is the village of Mielno, a resort on the Baltic Sea coast. The gmina covers an area of , a ...

, within

Koszalin County __NOTOC__ Koszalin County () is a unit of territorial administration and local government (powiat) in West Pomeranian Voivodeship, north-western Poland, on the Baltic coast. It came into being on January 1, 1999, as a result of the Polish local g ...

West Pomeranian Voivodeship West Pomeranian Voivodeship is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship (province) in northwestern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Szczecin. Its area equals , and in 2021, it was inhabited by 1,682,003 people. It was established on 1 Janua ...

, in north-western Poland. It lies approximately west of

Koszalin Koszalin (; ; , ) is a city in northwestern Poland, in Western Pomerania. It is located south of the Baltic Sea coast, and intersected by the river Dzierżęcinka. Koszalin is also a county-status city and capital of Koszalin County of West Pomera ...

and north-east of the regional capital

Szczecin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Poland-Germany border, German border, it is a major port, seaport, the la ...

. It is located on the

Slovincian Coast The Slovincian Coast (; ) (Regions of Poland, 313.41) is a Mesoregion (geomorphology), mesoregion, the northernmost part of the Koszalin Coast, with an area of 1132 km2. The highest hill is Rowokół, at 114,8 metres above sea level. The coa ...

. The village has a population of 400. Gąski is one of the most popular tourists' destination on Polish coast for its beautiful beaches and nature, aiming at

sustainable development Sustainable development is an approach to growth and Human development (economics), human development that aims to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.United Nations General ...

Nuclear power station

As a result of intense civic mobilisation, a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

was held in February 2012, in which 94% of the citizens of

Mielno Mielno ( ; or ) is a resort town in Koszalin County, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Mielno. It lies approximately north-west of Koszalin and north-east ...

voted against the building of a

nuclear power station A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...

in the village of Gąski. The citizens' protest had been supported by members of two biggest parliamentary political groups (otherwise supportive for nuclear power):

Civic Platform The Civic Platform (, PO)The party is officially the Civic Platform of the Republic of Poland (''Platforma Obywatelska Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''). is a Centre-right politics, centre-right liberal conservative political party in Poland. Since ...

(Koszalin MP Marek Hok) and

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( , PiS) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative List of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. The party is a member of European Conservatives and Refo ...

(Koszalin MP

Czesław Hoc Czesław Hoc (born 22 February 1954) is a Polish politician. He was elected to the Sejm on 25 September 2005, getting 10,746 votes in the 40-Koszalin district, as a candidate of the Law and Justice. Prior to his entry into politics, Hoc was a doct ...

), as well as non-parliamentary

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

and councillors of nearby city of

Kołobrzeg Kołobrzeg (; ; ) is a port and spa city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section ...

. "Ecological Kołobrzeg" association also supported protests in 2012. Despite the protests and referendum results, the Polish government still insists on the location of NPP in Gąski, although the entire Polish nuclear programme is on a 7-year delay (as of 2015). The first NPP is now planned not earlier than 2027 (the initial plan was 2020 and the government related its construction to goals of 2020 climate-energy package of the EU). In June 2016, state-owned energy company PGE EJ1 announced that it had withdrawn from the NPP project in Gąski. Green Institute Foundation supports Gąski and Mielno to develop its own

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

capacity (prosumer, co-operative or communal) co-organising "

Energy democracy Energy democracy is a concept developed within the environmental justice movement that pairs the renewable energy transition with efforts to democratize the production and management of energy resources— including the social ownership of energy i ...

" campaign together with Mielno authorities.Demokracja energetyczna - zachodniopomorskie
in Polish

References

Populated coastal places in Poland Seaside resorts in Poland Villages in Koszalin County Nuclear power in Poland {{Koszalin-geo-stub

Nuclear power station

See also

References