The “New challenges, new tools, good practices” training for representatives of “PAFF Local Partnerships” Program and Act Locally Centers was held in Warsaw on February 22 and 23, 2018. It was attended by more than 150 people from all over Poland.
The participants were welcomed by Joanna Lempart-Winnicka, the Program Director of the Polish-American Freedom Foundation and Paweł Łukasiak, the President of the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland, who informed about the training agenda and presented new challenges and subjects important for both programs.
The first day of the training was on the School of Social Animation, that is the initiative for Act Locally Centers’ beneficiaries. Paweł Zań, the coordinator of the “Act Locally” Program spoke about the need to appreciate and at the same time continually improve competence of people carrying out local projects. Marzena Kacprowicz of the Good Network Foundation presented LEVER – an international tool for soft competencies certification and how it can be used in the “Act Locally” Program.
Tomasz Schimanek, the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland expert, discussed the changes in legal regulations of local civil activities. He also conducted the following workshop, held in a “world cafe” format, whose objective was to develop solutions for stimulating new groups of project participants and new ideas, as well as improving the quality of the undertaken initiatives.
At the same time, another workshop session was conducted by Ewa Kownacka of the British Council. That one was on the Active Citizens program, implemented in the form of workshops held for a local community. It can be an additional offer for Act Locally Centers, useful in improving local animators’ skills.
The second day of the training started with the panel discussion on individual stages of partnerships building using the animation based on the common good method, and then partnerships set up in the 5th edition of the “PAFF Local Partnerships” Program presented their achievements. Interviews with the program participants were divided into the following thematic blocs: an initiative group and partnership, common good, and benefits for the local community. The interviewer was Grzegorz Nawrocki. Next, the representatives of partnerships in Warka and in Błażowa, Boguchwała, Chmielnik and Lubenia rural communes, which won the foreign study tour to Berlin neighborhood as the best Initiative Groups in the 5th program edition, shared experiences from that trip with the participants in the training.
Next there was a thematic bloc on celebrations of the 100th Anniversary of Poland’s Independence. Dr. Andrzej Zawistowski, the head of Historical Division, Warsaw Rising Museum, spoke about the historical situation 100 years ago in his lecture on Polish Fall 1918. Tomasz Kiersnowski described the Our Independent initiative, and Alicja Wancerz-Gluza of the KARTA Center Foundation presented the Infinitely Independent – People project which is an invitation for local communities to carry out the partner cooperation in the Centennial of Independence Year.
The workshops held in the afternoon were divided into two thematic blocs – one on new fundraising tools, and the other on local activities communication and popularization. As part of the first bloc, Andrzej Pietrucha of the Academy of Civic Organizations Foundation spoke about new trends in fundraising and presented best practices of organizations all over the world. Paweł Łukasiak, the President of Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland, presented the venture philanthropy model which is gaining popularity in the world and the Double Challenge fund. Next the Act Locally Centers – Saint Anna Land Association, Generations Foundation and Dębica Business Club shared their experiences in the organization of Giving Circle events. The participants of the training learned also how to use the TuDu platform to enlist volunteers to carry out the ALC tasks. The short presentation on that was given by Marzena Kacprowicz of the Good Network Foundation.
The second thematic bloc on local activities communication and popularization, held at the same time, started with the workshop conducted by Marcin Gołąbek of the Amplifier Association. The participants could learn there how to use images to tell the story of project activities and promote local events. Next, Tomasz Soliński, the author of Polish platform weztonakrec.pl for independent film makers, presented the new trends in high quality video recording that can be used by organizations in promotion of their activities.
The training gave also an opportunity to see the presentation of the Rounding project prepared by Chip In Foundation and helping consumers to get used to rounding the paid amount to a full zloty for the benefit of charity actions of certain public utility organizations. The project was presented by Tomasz Kiersnowski.
The training sessions for Act Locally Centers are carried out once a year and are an integral part of the “Act Locally” Program. Their objective is to strengthen the ALC Network and improve the quality of their work. Five editions of the “PAFF Local Partnerships” Program were participated by 30 out of a total of 71 Act Locally Centers.
