Pracownia ZMIANY

What Pracownia ZMIANY does

Pracownia ZMIANY (legal name: Fundacja Pracownia Zmiany) is a Polish nonprofit think-tank foundation established in 2019 by members of the Warsaw civic association Miasto Jest Nasze (The City Is Ours). Headquartered in Warsaw, the organization functions as the expert and operational arm of MJN, extending its urban-planning experience to other Polish cities. Its mission is to support municipalities, public institutions, NGOs, and residents in addressing urban challenges including concrete over-supply (betonoza), drought, traffic safety, lack of green space, visual advertising chaos, and weak citizen participation in planning processes.

The foundation delivers a portfolio of services spanning urban space design and architectural concepts, local-government training, urban research and analysis, and social communication campaigns. Discrete branded programs include Spacerownia (paid Warsaw walking tours), Laboratorium Zmiany (educational webinar series for activists), Odbetonowani/DeConcreted (a five-city urban-greening visualization campaign), and the Chatbots for Local Governments research project exploring AI-based citizen engagement. An interdisciplinary contributor network of 25+ specialists — architects, sociologists, lawyers, journalists, environmental scientists, and economists — supports delivery, even though the foundation itself lists only six employees.

Revenue is generated through a mix of project grants from foundations (notably EFC Foundation and the Civic Innovation Fund, backed by Porticus, Robert Bosch Stiftung, ERSTE Foundation, and King Baudouin Foundation), ticket and workshop fees for walking tours (29 PLN per individual ticket; 2,000–4,000 PLN gross for group tours), and professional-services consulting for municipalities. Distribution is direct-to-government and direct-to-NGO, supplemented by an e-commerce shop for individual consumers. No proprietary technology platform is described; outputs are consultancy deliverables, reports, campaigns, and events.

Name

Pracownia ZMIANY

Legal name

Fundacja Pracownia Zmiany

Website

https://zmiany.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Pracownia ZMIANY is a Warsaw-based nonprofit think tank providing urban planning, civic engagement, and training services to Polish municipalities, NGOs, and residents, funded mainly by foundation grants and supplemented by walking-tour fees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Urban Planning Consulting

NAICS

Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services (5418), Environmental Consulting Services (54162)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Sector & Policy Consulting (BPAHACAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Regional & Land Use Planning (BPAHAKAE)

Keywords

• Urban planning consulting
• Civic engagement services
• Local government training
• City research analysis
• Guided walking tours

Headquarters

HQ city

Warsaw

HQ country

Poland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Walking Tours: Individual and group walking tours in Warsaw, with ticket sales through the Spacerownia e-commerce platform.
2. Educational Workshops and Training: Training sessions for local government officials and civil society on urban planning, landscape aesthetics, and sustainable development topics.
3. Group Walking Tours: Custom group walking tours for organizations, priced per guide (1 guide for up to 20 people at 2000 PLN, 2 guides for 21-40 people at 4000 PLN gross).
4. Grants and Project Funding: Project-based funding from foundations including EFC Foundation, Civic Innovation Fund (Porticus, Robert Bosch Stiftung, ERSTE Foundation, King Baudouin Foundation) for specific urban and civic initiatives.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Pracownia Zmiany is a nonprofit think tank providing expert urban planning, spatial design, climate adaptation, public transport, and citizen participation consulting to Polish municipalities, public institutions, NGOs, and civic groups. It supplements consulting with educational workshops, research reports, social campaigns, and consumer-facing guided walking tours sold through its Spacerownia online shop.

Product overview

Pracownia Zmiany is a think tank foundation offering a portfolio of urban planning, education, and civic engagement services. The core offerings include urban space design services, local government training, urban research and analysis, and social campaigns. The portfolio also includes specialized programs like Spacerownia (walking tours), Laboratorium Zmiany (webinar series), and the Chatbots for Local Governments research project. Products are offered as standalone services rather than a unified software platform, with the organization serving as a consultancy providing expert support to municipalities, public institutions, NGOs, and residents.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Laboratorium Zmiany: A knowledge and mentoring program for local activists focused on creating safer school spaces, improving city aesthetics, and protecting urban greenery.
• Spacerownia
• Odbetonowani

Products and services

• Urban Space Design Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Chatbot report reached over 50 local government applicants, demonstrating industry impact
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• NECE (Networking European Civic Education)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2025European civic education network organizing international events. Pracownia Zmiany participated in 'Hope as a Civic Skill' meeting in Oslo, joining European network of civic education organizations.
• EFC FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Major strategic partner supporting voter participation campaigns and Laboratorium Zmiany knowledge-sharing program. EFC Foundation provided initial funding for voter awareness videos and subsequent grant (more than 2x initial amount) for activist support projects covering school streets, urban aesthetics, and green space protection.
• Barcelona en ComúminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExpert partner providing international dimension and content expertise for the Chatbots for Local Governments project. Contributed to technology development recommendations and regulatory guidance for European context.
• CEE Digital Democracy WatchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExpert partner contributing international reach and quality assurance for civic technology project, helping create recommendations for technology development and regulation across Europe.
• Strefa Działań MiejskichcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal Rzeszów civic organization collaborating on community-based urban design project. Partners Paweł Kraus, Rafał Piela, and Bartłomiej Kwasek actively co-developed transformation concepts for three public spaces.
• Flins AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal civic organization for which Pracownia Zmiany provided expert support in preparing comments on spatial development study for Świeradów-Zdrój tourist city.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Centre for Cities: UK-based urban policy research institute producing data-driven analysis on city economies, housing, and transport. Comparable in thought leadership for urban policy and local government, though operating in a different geography (UK, not Poland).

Direct peers

• Fundacja Napraw Sobie Miasto: Polish civic foundation focused on participatory urban planning and citizen engagement, with overlapping team members (Maciej Folta previously worked there). Directly comparable in mission, scope, and geographic focus on Polish cities.
• Fundacja Frank Bold: Polish environmental law and civic engagement foundation working on land use, climate, and community rights. Comparable as a Polish civic foundation combining legal expertise, environmental advocacy, and local government engagement.
• Instytut Spraw Publicznych (ISP): One of Poland's leading public policy think tanks, covering governance, social policy, and European integration. Comparable as a Polish policy think tank serving similar institutional and civic audiences, though larger and more established.
• WiseEuropa: Polish think tank focused on European integration, economic policy, and sustainability. Comparable as a Warsaw-based policy think tank engaging with EU funding and pan-European civic networks.
• Fundacja ePaństwo: Polish e-government and civic-tech foundation working on transparency, open data, and citizen-government digital interaction. Directly comparable in the civic-tech / e-government consulting space; team member Justyna Orchowska cooperated with ePaństwo.
• 4CF Strategic Foresight: Polish foresight and strategy consultancy working on urban futures, mobility, and energy transitions. Comparable as a Polish consulting firm working at the intersection of urban planning, climate, and policy on European projects.
• Fundacja Res Publica: Polish urban policy foundation running the DNA Miasta program on city development. Directly comparable as a Polish urban policy think tank; team member Maciej Folta previously worked there.
• Stowarzyszenie Miasto Jest Nasze: The parent civic association of Pracownia Zmiany, both operating in Warsaw urban activism and civic engagement. They share founders, leadership (Barbara Jędrzejczyk, Jan Mencwel), and overlapping project portfolios in Warsaw urban planning, mobility, and housing.
• Koduj dla Polski (Code for Poland): Polish civic-tech community applying technology to civic problems and government services. Comparable in the civic-tech / government digital services space; team member Marta Wójcicka is a member of this organization.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/pracownia-zmiany

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Pracownia ZMIANY