The meeting that marked launching the implementation of new projects which have been awarded grants under the third edition of the “PAFF Local Partnerships” Program took place at the PAFF’s Representative Office in Poland on September 18. It was attended by representatives of seven new partnerships, namely:

– The Foundation for the Collegium Polonicum (leader), lubuskie voivodeship, (the “Small towns portrayed” project);

– The “RAMŻA” Local Fund (leader), śląskie voivodeship, (“From preschoolers to seniors” project);

– The Biłgoraj Community Foundation (leader), lubelskie voivodeship, (“Creating the common space in Biłgoraj” project);

– The Association for the Assistance to Children and Youth (leader), warmińsko-mazurskie voivodeship, (the “Mazurian incubator of the regional tradition” project);

– The Center for Business Promotion and Entrepreneurship in Sandomierz (leader), świętokrzyskie voivodeship, (the “Dwikozy Commune in partnership with the environment” project);

– The We and Europe Association (leader), mazowieckie voivodeship, (the “Get to know your surroundings” project);

– The “Drawa Partnership” Local Acting Group Association (leader), zachodniopomorskie voivodeship, (the “Great friendship between Drawa and Złocieniec communes” project);

The partnerships, which cover the area of nineteen communes, had the opportunity to present activities planned under the subsidized initiatives, which are aimed at, among other things, developing civic space, creating a regional product and preserving local culture.

They also learned more about the Program’s achievements to-date as well as the method of animating local communities, which had been developed by experts of the Unit for Social Innovation and Research “Shipyard” Foundation and then presented in the publication “How to build the common good?”, published by the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland (the Program Manager).

The purpose of the Program, implemented since 2009, is to initiate cooperation between beneficiaries of various PAFF programs promoting the creation of partnerships around the implementation of projects serving the local communities’ common good. The partnerships emerge in communes where several projects financed within the Foundations’ programs have been carried out (including “Act Locally”, “PAFF Leaders”, “English Teaching”, “Equal Opportunities”, “Learning Schools”, “Student Volunteers”, “For Children”, “Citizen and Law” and “Region in Transition”). They comprise self-governments, nongovernmental organizations, firms and local media and are led by the Act Locally Centers. Fifteen partnerships implementing their activities in thirty communes took part in the first two editions of the Program. The results of the projects carried out include a change of legal regulations in order to decrease atmospheric pollution in Żywiec, setting up the first Internet youth radio in Nidzica, and creating of the “Rafter’s Club” in Solec nad Wisłą.

The participants in the meeting could also get acquainted with the offer of other PAFF programs, which was presented by Radosław Jasiński, PAFF Program Director, and Agnieszka Mazur, PAFF Program Officer. Noemi Gryczko of the Information Society Development Foundation told about the “The NGOs for Libraries” initiative addressed to libraries taking part in the first and second editions of the Library Development Program. Under the initiative, interesting meetings, counseling, activities for people representing various age groups, discussions and consultations for members of local communities can be held by librarians in cooperation with experts.

The meeting ended with the official signing of agreements by the leaders of partnerships with the Program Manager, the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland, represented by its President Paweł Łukasiak and Tomasz Bruski, Member of the Management Board.