He wants to become a mayor of all Zabrze residents and wants them to live happily in a modern city, where family values and Silesian traditions are respected. Sebastian Dziębowski – a young man with a kind heart and positive energy. He is the Vice-Chairman of the City Council, but also an entrepreneur, an artist promoting culture and art, and privately a husband and father of two children. He admits he has completely implemented his election programme as a city councillor, which clearly makes him stand out from other councillors. He also talks on how his Dobrzy Ludzie Dzieciom (Good People for Children) Foundation has been activating the youth for 10 years now and why it was worth setting up the Zabrzańska Inicjatywa Społeczna (Zabrze Social Initiative) Association. He reveals to the WHY Story readers, how many substantial measures he wants to implement to have inhabitants of his hometown feel satisfied and proud of living in Zabrze.
Despite young age, in 2018 you were awarded the title of Leader by Vocation. You are only 35 and have already achieved so much, both within the social field and in the area of culture and arts. Which of your activities are you most proud of?
First and foremost, as a city councillor in Zabrze, I’ve implemented all the points of my election programme. It was a rational programme. I declared improvement of the inhabitants’ quality of life in terms of building places for alternative leisure activities, expanding green areas, improving the surface of roads and pavements, taking care of the cleanliness of the city by increasing the availability of rubbish bins and forest cleaning campaigns, being available to the inhabitants. In 2018, I made short videos related to these matters and today I can say that I have kept my word. Among other things, I’ve succeeded in creating a skate park, a flow park, playgrounds, a volleyball court, an outdoor gym, and we will soon be opening a graduation tower in a park, newly formed on my initiative. As a result of my efforts, the Roma cinema – the oldest in Upper Silesia – got the status of a studio cinema, which enabled applying for and receiving various grants and subsidies. Cinema is close to my heart, as I work on small and large film productions myself, e.g. War 3.0. In addition to film screenings, I’m often involved in organising concerts, meetings with film directors, musicals, concerts of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity. We also run educational activities. As a musician, I’m proud of having fulfilled my dreams by releasing several music albums. I perfectly remember this period, especially the moment when I went with my late grandmother to EMPiK and showed her the album cover with my picture. She was happy. Furthermore, I’m proud of having performed abroad, particularly of a charity gig in Brussels, performed for certain family.
The Good People for Children Foundation will soon be celebrating its 10th anniversary. Why did you set it up and what are its greatest achievements?
The story of forming the Foundation is connected to my music activity: my friends and I were doing a workshop for the Ulica (Street) Foundation in Katowice and the city councillor, Czesława Kowalczyk, asked us to help our fan, Nikola, suffering from muscular dystrophy, moving in a wheelchair and stuck at home for three years due to these limitations. We visited her, at first we spoke mainly with her mother, then Nikola became bolder and we established a friendly contact. On one occasion, we carried her down a steep staircase with her wheelchair so she could visit her school. Soon we played a concert for her, everyone chanted her name from the stage, she felt so happy. We organised fundraisings and, with the funds raised, we bought her a new electric wheelchair with a lift. After a few months of work, I was pleasantly surprised to see her moving around the city on her own, which inspired me to create the foundation. I hadn’t the best experiences as a child myself. I grew up in an incomplete family. However, I wanted to help children and the young from Zabrze. We started running music classes for them. We welcomed everyone, without any divisions (poor/rich). We wanted to integrate these children and build mutual relationships. This is how we created the ‘Prevention through passion’ programme. The Foundation has been running continuously since 2014 and its greatest achievement is that the people who participated in our activities as children 10 years ago are still with us today. They have worked their way up from participant to volunteer, and today they are running the classes themselves. Recently, we have about 40 wards and we are the only one in Zabrze to offer rap music classes. Every child can make it here. What’s the most important is your attendance, not your talent. We don’t force anyone to rap, one can only participate in games, and when someone feels they are ready – they become active themselves. Those, once ashamed and shy, now enter the studio as leaders and they record. They play concerts for audiences of many thousands, for example at the Summer Zabrze Festival. We latterly released an album titled „Nie przegraj życia” (Don’t lose your life), and are now preparing a concert for our 10th anniversary. We organise various types of activities, and have just introduced creative activities based on the popular Lego bricks. Our activities prove their worth by awards: in 2023, Ośrodek Profilaktyki i Leczenia (Prevention and Treatment Centre) in Zabrze honoured us with the title of Profilaktyka Roku (Prevention of the Year) in the group category. I’m an addiction therapy instructor by training. At the moment, I’ve been studying for a degree in multimedia graphic design at WSB Merito University in Chorzow.
What is the story behind the founding of ZIS – Zabrzańska Inicjatywa Społeczna (Zabrze Social Initiative) Association?
In recent years, co-working with several activists fruited in organisation of a number of social and cultural events, which are now permanent in the Zabrze calendar. During creation of these social initiatives, we’ve built a team aimed at the development of our city of Zabrze. This is how the Zabrze Social Initiative was established. Gradually, other NGOs started to join us, such as Stowarzyszenie Rodzin Pieczy Zastępczej Teraz (Now – the Association of Foster Care Families), which is meaningful, because there are about 360 registered NGOs in Zabrze, of which about 150 are active. However, people don’t know about their existence or the possibilities of providing various kinds of help, so we decided to help them develop. We believe that in many areas they perform better than municipal services, as they recruit people with experience in a particular area, have a better understanding of real needs and, most importantly, do not require such large financial outlays. At ZIS, we unite more than 40 people. At the moment, we are creating a website, a kind of internet NGO bazaar, enabling placement of ads for give away of unnecessary items to a given organisation, such as computers or office furniture. This way, we ourselves as the Good People for Children Foundation once acquired computers, and then donated them to the Zabrze Scouts. Today, the ZIS brings together specialists in various fields, which allows activity for the benefit of the city in a wide range of ways, which is why we decided to set up the electoral commission KW Zabrzańska Inicjatywa Społeczna and run in this year’s local elections.
We believe we can change this city for the better.
What is your election programme?
We’ve spent a lot of time with the ZIS team to create a programme to present a coherent vision for the future of Zabrze. I’ll be running in the local elections for both councillor and mayor, because I can feel and I know I’m ready.
Our candidates are, of course, myself (ward 3), Sebastian Markisch (ward 1), Robert Teodorczak (ward 2) and Jerzy Pabis (ward 4). We have consulted experts in relevant fields to ensure that the programme allows for the real development of our city. We want to make Zabrze a modern city, which at the same time respects Silesian traditions and is friendly to live in, work and conduct various forms of activity. I believe that the local government should be free from national politics, which is why I’m not running as a candidate on behalf of any political party. I want to be a mayor of all Zabrze residents, open to discussions without political divisions, taking the voice of the inhabitants into account and making sensible decisions based on strong arguments.
I am committed to creating a market, restoring the city centre, Freedom Square. I would like the city to buy a few private premises, where restaurants, cafés, clubs, an entertainment centre could be opened. I think the aesthetics of the side streets should be improved and green areas should be expanded. I think a second economic zone should be created, investments in business and infrastructure should be made. All professional and social groups should feel the sense of fulfilment there. My election programme emphasises economic development, support for local entrepreneurs, increasing the number of jobs, improving working conditions, developing culture and the arts. I would like to provide free public transport for all city residents, hone young talents and senior passions, initiate the development of organisations for senior citizens. I plan to modernise recreational areas, including the forest bathing, ecology awareness and care, special housing policy for the young. I attach importance to cultivating family values, helping minority groups, the disabled, addicts. I intend to improve addiction prevention. Education, including the development of higher education, is high on my agenda. I will also pursue cost savings in the management of municipal companies, support neighbourhood councils, take into account the voices of neighbourhood councillors. Open communication for all city residents, creating opportunities to meet the mayor and other representatives of authority face-to-face, will constitute the elementary basis. I also assume consultancy and cooperation with the most effective authorities of other cities.
You are a husband and father, what are the most important values for you in family relationships?
My wife Natalia and I have just celebrated 11 years of mutual acquaintance. Family is the most important thing to me. We parent two children: 6-year-old Maja and 2-year-old Dominik. The children participate in many of the events and activities I organise. I think I provide good role models for them to grow up to be respectful and full of acceptance towards others. I’d like the children to live in harmony with themselves, to pursue things they feel like doing, unforced, to be happy, good people, not hurting others.
How do you relax?
I walk around my neighbourhood, although my wife says I’m at work even then, because I tend to constantly observe and check what needs fixing. I love travelling, learning about other cultures in order to take good examples from them.
What are you wishes for the people of Zabrze?
Peace and quiet, so that it’s easier for them to live in our city, so that they can live with dignity, fulfil their plans and dreams, and I would love to contribute to this.
Dorota Kolano
Beata Sekuła
