On June 4, a virtual meeting opening the tutorial process under the 7th round of the “PAFF Local Partnerships” Program was held. It was attended by almost 60 representatives of newly established Initiative Groups and Common Good Lab Animators. Supported by Animators, the Initiative Groups will take up a challenge of building local partnerships using the animation for the common good method.
The three-month-long tutoring will be attended by 16 Initiative Groups selected by the Program Committee – nine of them invited to the program under its main path, and seven that applied under the pilot path. The tutoring will teach them the method of local community animation for the common good; the participants will also diagnose local community needs and will have consultations with Animators – the program alumni. This way the Initiative Groups will be prepared to submit partner projects to the “PAFF Local Partnerships” competition.
The meeting was opened by President of the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland, Paweł Łukasiak, and Polish-American Freedom Foundation Program Officer, Kalina Grzeszuk-Zajączkowska. Having welcomed the participants, the team of the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland presented the goals of the “PAFF Local Partnerships” Program and the rules of participation in the tutoring. Next, an expert in social affairs, Tomasz Schimanek, presented the basics of the method of local community animation for the common good used in the program.
Following the break, the Animators who would support the process of building partnerships were introduced. Then the participants were divided into groups and had their first conversations with the Animators assigned to them. Beata Charycka of Klon/Jawor Association told how to carry out a social needs diagnosis in the time of epidemic. Having presented the main goals and elements of the diagnosis, she then introduced the tools that can be used to determine the needs of residents of a given community. She also spoke about research documentation and analyses of collected results.
Marcin Gołąbek of the Amplifier Association presented the tools which can be effectively used in remote work of organizing partnership activities. Apart from applications for internal communication and project management, he presented programs enabling real-time cooperation and video tools.
The meeting inaugurating the tutoring was held in an online workshop format and was moderated by Dorota Kostowska.
The objective of the “PAFF Local Partnerships” Program is to initiate and develop cooperation among participants of various programs conducted by PAFF in order to set up partnerships implementing projects important for local communities. They use the method of local community animation for the common good in their activities. So far, during the six rounds of the program 45 PAFF Local Partnerships have been established; they cover 97 rural communes and municipalities and involve over 780 partners. The program is managed by the Academy for the Development of Philanthropy in Poland.
