Five new organizations that will join the Act Locally Centers’ network were selected by the “Act Locally” Program Selection Committee in the two-stage recruitment process.
At the first stage, out of 68 applying organizations, the Commission selected 12 candidates best meeting the requirements.
At the second stage, the Commission visited the Centers on the shortlist and selected the following 5 new Act Locally Centers:
1/ KOLD Association of Duszniki, Wielkopolskie Province,
2/ Stowarzyszenie Kraina Szlaków Turystycznych (The Region of Trails Association) of Sulęcin, Lubuskie Province;
3/ Lokalna Grupa Działania Stowarzyszenie Południowa Warmia-Barczewo (Local Action Group South Warmia- Barczewo Association) in Warmińsko-Mazurskie Province;
4/ Stowarzyszenie Rozwoju Orawy z Jabłonek w województwie małopolskim (The Association for the Development of Orawa) of Jabłonki, Małopolskie Province;
5/ Stowarzyszenie Przyjaciół Gminy Lisewo (Friends of Lisewo Commune Association) of Lisewo, Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province.
The new Act Locally Centers will operate at the area of 35 communes. Thus, starting from January 2015, the Act Locally Centers network will comprise a total of 63 organizations operating at the area of 587 communes. Each province has at least two Centers. They organize local grant competitions that serve co-financing the initiatives meeting the residents’ needs and serve stimulating local activity. The beneficiaries of the competitions are NGOs and informal citizen groups which can be represented in the competition by organizations and local public institutions (such as schools, culture centers, libraries) that operate in villages and towns of up to 20,000 residents.
In January, the new Act Locally Centers will meet at a two-day workshop in Warsaw, where they will be trained in fundraising, establishing contacts with local partners, consulting activities, organization of the information and training meetings for grant recipients and networking the funded initiatives.
The “Act Locally” Program, which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, supports and activates local communities in rural areas and small towns by supporting civic initiatives that serve stimulating developmental aspirations and improvement of the quality of life, and contribute to social capital building. Implementation of more than 7500 projects involved a total of almost 3 million participants, including nearly 150,000 volunteers.
