Social Innovation Centre SIC!

The Matra SIC! project plan is carefully developed in an organized consultation- and development process with managers and professors of participating institutes from November 2000 in the so called Strategic Group Poznan. The well thought out selection of institutes is based on their position as provider or customer, and on the expertise, facilities and networks they can provide for the implementation and realization of the project. The project is also in the interest of these organizations: a Social Innovation Centre is for each of them a valuable instrument to improve their work, to realize their goals and to profile their societal tasks and responsibilities.

Important outcome of the meetings of the Strategic Group Poznan was the decision to establish an independent Foundation , taking care for the building up and management of the Social Innovation Centre. In discussions, the form of a foundation was preferred above that of an association, because of various (mainly strategical) reasons. A statute was made, discussed and approved.

For reasons of promotion, unity of policy and the coming membership of the European Union, the Strategic Group Poznan wanted her initiator and president, Willem Blok, to be one of the founders of Fundacja SIC!, together with two of it’s leading members: Maria Remiezowicz and Wlodzimierz Kalek.

Fundacja SIC!

On November 5, 2001, Fundacja SIC! was officially established in the Notary office of Anna Soltysinska-Skonieczna in Poznan and after that approved by the Court.

Fundacja SIC! is established:
(1) to contribute to the creation of effective, modern conditions to prevent and solve social problems in Poland,
(2) by supporting modern local social infrastructures, steared by democratic social policy, implemented by modern social work and based on active citizenship,
(3) from a well organized, professional functioning Social Innovation Centre SIC!

The following Polish organizations support the Matra SIC! Project and take part in Fundacja SIC! with a representative in either the Management Board (for customer organizations) or the Advisory board (for providing organizations):

Polish Association of Social Workers PTPS

PTPS is established in 1989.

Goals of the association are:

- Supporting the social security system, which should satisfy human needs, not only those

necessary for surviving, but also those connected with self-development.

- Promoting behaviour conformable to the professional ethics and standards of the social work

- Taking up measures aimed at improving and maintaining of the high prestige of the profession

of the social worker

- Popularising and explaining the role of the profession of the social worker

- Taking up measures aimed at maintaining and improving of the quality of the services

performed by the social workers

- Deepening of the knowledge of the problems of the persons, families and social environments

and of the skills needed to solve the problems

- Stimulating co-operation between the public, non-governmental and private subjects realising

the goals of social care and social wor

PTPS achieves its goals by activities aimed at developing in the modern society the conscience of the necessity of helping the people, who are in a difficult living situation and developing sensitivity towards the socially substantiated needs of such people.

Representing the environment of social workers as the professional group, representing the interests of the group in the discussions aimed at the maintaining of the highest possible level of the social work.

Organising meeting, conferences, lectures, courses, consultations and competitions, whose goal is to improve the professional qualifications of the social workers and popularising of the social work problems.

Issuing periodicals and leading other publishing activities according to the principles given in the separate legal regulations

Co-operation with state institutions, trade unions and other organisations, which have substantial meaning for the social work

Formulating opinions concerning legal acts, which have substantial meaning for the social work

Website: www.ptps.ops.pl

Polish National Association of local Social Services / Welfare Centres “Forum”

The main goals of the Association are: integration of the self-governmental groups of social workers and perfecting of the social care centres.

The scope of the FORUM activities entails: exchange of experiences between the social care workers and institutions by:

- conferences, teaching, consultations, advisory

- formulating opinions concerning local and central social policy

- formulating petitions and opinions concerning legal solutions

- gathering information concerning modern solutions in social policy and work and issuing

own publications

The Association is active in the whole country.

The target group of the Association are the employees of the social care institutions, both the public and non-public ones.

The Association was founded by the managers of the social care centres and centres of the family helping acting in the cities with more than 100 000 inhabitants and in the cities with the poviat rights.

The office of the Association is in Lodz, ul. Lipowa 28, and it has two clerks working in it.

MOPR Poznan, Municipal Social Service / Welfare Centre of greater Poznan

Miejski Ośrodek Pomocy Rodzinie (MOPR) is the Social Service for greater Poznan (a city in the mid west with over 600.000 inhabitants).

On behalf of the local government, MOPR takes care for social security benefits, family welfare, social work and assistance of courts, police etc. by a network of institutes and services

In 2000 MOPR had 38.557 persons of 18.073 families as clients.

The staff of MOPR has 298 persons.
Website: www.mopr.poznan.pl

MOPR Lublin, Municipal Social Service / Welfare Centre of Lublin

Miejski Ośrodek Pomocy Rodzinie (MOPR) is an organizational structure for the delivery of social services by Local Authorities. The population of Lublin is 360.000 inhabitants. In 2001 45.506 clients attended MOPR.

MOPR organization employs 282 people including the largest group - 135 persons - of social workers.

MOPR Gdansk, Municipal Social Service / Welfare Centre of Gdansk

Miejski Ośrodek Pomocy Rodzinie (MOPR) is the Social Service for Gdansk, the main town of an urban area (“Tri City”) with a million inhabitants at the Baltic Sea in the North.

On behalf of the local government, MOPR takes care for social security benefits, family welfare, social work and assistance of courts, police etc.
Website: www.mops.gda.pl

Fundacja Mielnica

The Mielnica Foundation is one of the first NGO’s in Poland, established to bring comprehensive help to the disabled. The aim of Mielnica is implementing wide-ranging activity to propagate the idea of rehabilitation of children and youth, to promote and introduce various forms of comprehensive rehabilitation, especially by organizing rehabilitation camps for youth and children, and early rehabilitation of young children. Mielnica gives the disabled the opportunity of education, developing own interests, rehabilitation, and leisure, obtaining a job, and coping with everyday life. It also undertakes actions to shape correct attitudes towards the disabled in Polish society.

Mielnica runs many facilities:

- The Occupational Therapy Workshops in Konin and Mielnica Duża take care of 80 severely disabled people from the Konin District. They have classes in tailoring, computers, fine art, carpentry, gardening, and home economics.

- The Protected Labor Factory in Konin (1992) employs 40 people, half of them are disabled. The factory produces high quality working clothes, which are sold in shops all over Poland.

- In the Doctor Piotr Janaszek Self-Help Facility for Mentally Retarded, 30 mentally retarded people take part in classes, preparing their integration in social life.

- The Rehabilitation Center is a Non-Public Healthcare Center in Konin. With an orthopedic clinic, and a comprehensive rehabilitation base, which includes hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, kinesiotherapy, weight-lifting room, and corrective gymnastics room.

- The Educational Center for Occupational Therapists (1994) conducts courses on basic, advanced and specialist levels. Over 400 Polish therapists have completed the courses.

- The Mother and Disabled Child Hostel (1994) teach disabled children's early rehabilitation principles.

- The Rehabilitation Equipment Store and Rental operates with help of foreign organizations. It administers second-hand equipment and rent it out free of charge.

- The ''Occupational Therapy Workshop'' (a quarterly national training magazine) and ''News from Mielnica'' (magazine edited by disabled youth) are edited and published in Konin.

- The Mielnica cooperates with the Regional Section of the Polish Society for Rehabilitation in Konin. The greatest (yearly) venture is the ''Summer Action''. About 250 disabled people take part in rehabilitation camps in Mielnica at Gopło Lake.

Fundacja Mielnica employs 96 people (of who 33 disabled): 30 activity therapists, 5

pedagogues, 5 fysiotherapists, 5 nurses. For the rest: 5 managers, office people, production workers and maintenance staff.

Website: www.mielnica.org.pl

Association "Wielkopolska Obywatelska"

Stowarzyszenie Wielkopolska Obywatelska (“Civic Wielkopolska”) is a non governmental

organization, established in 1998.

The association employs three full-time workers and is supported by 35 voluntaries

Goals and tasks: to support civic society, to open citizens’ non governmental organisations’ and clerks’ eyes for the need of abiding by the law, to inform citizens about their laws and responsibilities, to provide free of charge and impartial information and to motivate people to solve problems by themselves, to act form protection of human and citizen rights.

The Society achieves its goals by holding Citizens Advice Bureaux in Konin. 2150 people from the whole of Poland are the clients of the Society. The clients are mostly people from city and poviat of Konin, who need help in form of information about the laws, rights, and possibilities to solve a difficult situation. Besides, the communal self-governments and social workers are also clients. The Society helps them to organise local advice bureaus. In 2002 there are 6 points of communal citizen advice.

Academy of Economy in Poznan

The Academy of Economy (AE), established in 1926, has 9000 students.

AE’s department of Sociology and Philosophy (established 1957) is the main partner of Matra SIC!.

The department has a staff of 10 persons of whom 1 is a titular professor, 4 are assistant

professors, and 4 are doctors.

The staff is active in axiology and methodology of main socio-economic and ethical

doctrines, sociology of economy, sociology of labour in enterprises and functioning of their environment, social transformation in economy and transformation of collective job relations, functioning of local rural, urban and regional societies, economic mentality of Poles and spheres of poverty and homelessness and social policy.

The department offers Matra SIC! participation in conducting consultations, realisation of training, elaboration of methods and procedures of research and help in conducting research

Website: www.ae.poznan.pl

Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan

The Adam Mickiewicz University (UAM) is one of the biggest universities in Poland with over 2.100 faculty members, about 34.000 students and an administrative and technical staff of 1.700 employees. The University is organized into 12 faculties. In turn, they are organized into institutes and departments.

The Institute of Sociology and the Faculty of Educational studies are the main partners of Matra SIC! Between NHL and these institutes are many contacts, dating back to 1990, and still going on in the frame work of Socrates Erasmus.

Website: http://service.amu.edu.pl

PWSZ State College of Konin

The State School of Higher Professional Education in Konin (literary translation of the Polish name) is a young institute, founded in July 1998.

According to the Act on Schools of Higher Professional Education, WSZ trains students and prepares them for specific professions. Studies include 15-week internships in the mandatory curriculum.

The School offers undergraduate programmes in day-, evening- and extramural courses, as well as postgraduate programmes.

The undergraduate daily curricula consist of minimum 2200 teaching hours. The evening and extramural programmes of study keep count of 80 % of teaching hours of daily courses.

Candidates for undergraduate programmes are subject of qualifying procedures. The courses lasts 3 or 3.5 years.

Applicants for postgraduate studies must hold licencjat’s (equal to bachelor’s degree) or magister degree (equal to master’s degree). The courses last 1 year.

WSZ is the major institution of learning, research and education in the Konin area.

The school has 5 departments and 2 units: (1) Primary Education Department, (2)

Economics Department, (3) Neophilology Department, (4) Physical Education Department,

(5) Social Work Department. The Foreign Languages Centre together with the Physical

Training and Sports Centre, function as inter-departmental units.

WSZ has 2400 students and a staff of 280 persons.

Website: www.pwsz.konin.edu.pl

SPPSS, Poznan School of Social Work

SPPSS Poznan is one of the 15 Schools of Social Work in Poland, offering official education for social work during 2.5 years.

The school has a staff of 37 persons and a total of 350 students (day students and so called “extra mural students”).

Website: www.sppss.poznan.prv.pl

Record of service of the applicant organization NHL

The Noordelijke Hogeschool Leeuwarden (NHL) is an University of professional education, operating from the capital town of the province of Friesland in the North of The Netherlands. NHL offers bachelor studies for 8000 students, with 850 persons staff, working in 4 institutes and 1 facility department. The NHL department of welfare studies is actively involved in Poland since 1990. NHL was the leading partner in a TEMPUS-project with the Adam Mickiewicz University and the Social Service in Poznan from 1992-1995. During and after that period, NHL initiated many activities, such as lectures, educational events, students-exchange etc. As a result of that, there are many relations with universities, colleges, schools and institutes of Social Work in Gdansk, Poznan, Koszalin, Lodz, Torun, Konin and other places.

NHL was the applicant organization of the Matra COP project that successfully introduced and implemented community organization in Polish education, practice and policy from October 1998 to July 2001.

It is because of these Polish experiences and networks, that NHL is able to function as Dutch implement organization of a project like Matra SIC!.

Within the NHL, relevant expertise for Matra SIC! is present at Welfare studies (social case work, community work and pedagogic work), Communication studies, Public administration, Business administration, Marketing, and Communication studies. Officials and workers of related local governments and social work institutes have also useful expertise for Matra SIC!, and can be hired as consultants.

The proposed project manager of Matra SIC! is its initiator and designer: drs. W.M.J. Blok. He is qualified and experienced in project development and -management, in teaching, in social work, in community organization and in policy science. Before his career at NHL, he worked 8 years as staff member of a social innovation institute. And before that he was operating in various societal field as community worker. He works part time in Poland since 1992, where he was, amongst other tasks and duties, initiator and project manager of the Matra COP project.

Website: www.nhl.nl

Site last updated on 16th September 2004