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Description
We are using this grant to set up a legal section of the ‘Hipermiasto’ magazine and to publish five legal guides for NGOs and informal groups. We are also conducting research on the legal barriers faced by small NGOs and informal groups in their activities at the local level. We will use the results of the research to build a platform for NGOs and informal groups to share knowledge on legal barriers to NGO activity.
Summary of project results
The Society of Modern Legal Education was established at the intersection of legal, educational and third sector environments. It placed emphasis on disseminating knowledge about the right to association, the right to public information and other constitutional rights.
The project was to help build an organization that introduces new forms of legal education to the public space of Wrocław and Lower Silesia, supports the third sector, especially small initiatives, and leads to the creation of new non-governmental initiatives, promotes human and civil rights, including students'' rights, and changes the legal conditions for the operation of non-governmental organizations in Poland.
We planned to create basic principles of activity, build an action strategy, and also, among others, a sustainable development policy. The assumption was to become independent from other organizations by purchasing our own equipment.
Our goal was to create a think-tank in the form of the legal department of the Hipermiasto magazine and to be present in social media. We wanted to increase legal knowledge among recipients, convince NGO activists that activity can be easy and effective, and also create materials that the organization can use in further activities.
We wanted to fight to make it easier for small organizations and informal groups to operate and reach politicians and decision-makers. The result was to be specific legal changes or at least discussions about them.
Thanks to the organization of the strategic trip, we developed a strategy for the association''s activities. It was adopted by the General Meeting of Members as the first such broad and deep resolution of the association. The strategy includes both the guiding principles that the organization should follow (such as sustainable development or human rights) and the goals and scope of priority activities.
We built a legal section of the Hipermiasto magazine, where we published 33 different texts (including on the topics of foundations, associations, social consultations, accounting, complaints and applications) and answered several hundred questions. This section is the beginning of a think-tank focused on statutory and watchdog legal issues. The texts concerned in particular matters related to the activities of NGOs, especially taking the form of questions, largely drawn from advisory activities for NGOs.
We published five comprehensive and graphically developed legal guides on topics related to both associations and watchdog activities: protection of monuments, complaints and legislative initiative in municipalities. The guides are the beginning of a series we are planning and will be used in consulting. The Association also organized its first online debate with the participation of watchdog practitioners.
We created a study of legal barriers, based on direct conversations and analysis of regulations, which became the basis for advocacy activities aimed at improving the conditions of statutory, formal and watchdog activities, including submitting numerous applications and petitions. The key topics we addressed were: reducing legal formalities for NGOs, facilitating registration, facilitating commercial activity in organizations, greater transparency, enabling digitalization, modernization of regulations on applications and complaints.
We also managed to purchase a tablet, which is the first device belonging to the Association and the beginning of its material base.
The microgrant allowed for the development of the organization, which was expressed, among others, by the registration of an ordinary association in the National Court Register and the adoption of an accounting policy.
We managed to build the association''s recognition in certain circles (including local NGOs, the Leksawka group, the ngo.pl portal). The association''s social media were also built from scratch and cooperation with other profiles was initiated.
We consider the actions taken at our request to be particular successes: the launch by the Ministry of Finance of signing CIT-8 and PIT-4R declarations with a trusted signature, not a qualified one, the announcement by the Ministry of Development and Technology regarding work on the transparency of decisions on development conditions, and the announcement by the Ministry of Agriculture to take into account our proposals regarding changes to the act on rural women''s associations.
In other cases, we managed to obtain a satisfactory interpretation of the regulations regarding complaints against municipal companies and the municipal guard. We will continue other initiatives.
Thanks to the texts (36 posts on Facebook), we managed to basically build a fanpage on Facebook from scratch, with 175 likes and 250 followers. We also managed to increase our visibility on a national scale, as selected texts were also published on the most popular portal ngo.pl. One of them was also selected for the ngo.pl guide and will permanently serve NGOs.
The study allowed us to create a platform for the exchange of knowledge on legal issues, which continues to exchange observations. Thanks to the creation of the network, we managed to select a candidate for the working group at the Minister for Civil Society, who became a member of this group.
Thanks to the training organized as part of the project, we strengthened competences in the field of event organization and project management.
The purchase of equipment facilitated, among other things, the digitization of personal data collection and the process of informing about the processing of personal data without the need for printing, which is beneficial for the environment.