Building Social Capital through the Development of Attitudes on the Example of Small Towns and Rural Areas in the Lesser Poland District

Abstract

The right direction of local communities management can have a very beneficial impact on the development of the whole region. Residents are in fact also a kind of capital, which was noted by economists. Social capital is the result of interdependence and interaction between economic and social processes. His sources are the social ties linking an individual and a group economically active. Interactions between them bind people together and ultimately facilitate joint action. In the context of social capital tend to speak about trust, values, norms, cooperation, networking and information sharing. Social capital affects economic development, for example: facilitates negotiations, prevents the abuse of the common good, through the development of the third sector pro-motes social control over the authorities. It is therefore important to notice the potential of residents and encourage them to build a true community. In order to create the appropriate strategy of investing in social capital, in August-September 2014 a pilot survey of residents of small towns and rural areas of the Lesser Poland District was conducted. After analyzing the results 4 factors corresponding to four different attitudes regarding involvement in the local community were extracted. These factors were named as perceptions: global, maverick, positive and local. Persons representing different groups need slightly different motivators to take action in favor of their immediate environment. Finding and using these motiva-tors will benefit us all.