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Description
The aim of the project is integration and counteracting exclusion and discrimination of migrants living in three Warsaw suburban municipalities: Marki, Izabelin and Podkowa Leśna. These municipalities are often chosen by foreigners working in Warsaw as a more affordable housing possibility. Through the activities planned in this project we want to engage more the ‘new neighbours’ in the life of the local communities and break the model of treating the place of residence as a ‘bedroom’. As part of the project, we opened information and counselling points for foreigners, where they can receive immediate legal and integration support. We invited 3 schools to the project (one from each municipality). In cooperation with schools, we conduct comprehensive training activities for teaching staff and school students, and together we develop school strategies for promoting cultural diversity. We are also implementing the ‘Through sport to integration’ component, which will include sports integration picnics, especially for young people, as well as social campaigns. We will also take measures to improve the competencies of local government officials in the area of integration of migrants, including through training and the development of a model for local integration. The project is the result of cooperation with the municipal authorities from Izabelin, Marki and Podkowa Leśna, and with the Foundation for Freedom (that specializes in community work with children in the asylum procedure).
Summary of project results
The aim of the project was to integrate and counteract exclusion and discrimination of migrant women living in three communes near Warsaw: Marki, Izabelin, Podkowa Leśna. These municipalities are often chosen by foreigners as a more affordable housing option while working in the capital. Thanks to our design activities, we wanted to involve "new neighbors" even more deeply in the life of the local community and break the model of treating a place of living as a "bedroom". In cooperation with three local schools (one school from each commune), we planned comprehensive training activities for teaching staff and the student community, and we will support schools in creating school strategies to support diversity. Each school was supported by an intercultural assistant. Students could take part in intercultural workshops conducted by our trainers. We planned activities to improve the competences of local government officials in the area of integration of the migrant community, including: through training. We also planned to organize meetings on the legalization of stay and other important issues for foreigners, as well as the "through sport to integration" component, which would include integration sports picnics, especially targeted at young people, and social campaigns.
The project is the result of cooperation with municipal/city offices in Izabelina, Marek, Podkowa Leśna and with the Foundation for Freedom (specializing in community work with children in the asylum procedure).
Project Hello Neighbor! was implemented from December 2021 to December 2023. It was a joint venture of the Polish Migration Forum Foundation, the Foundation for Freedom and the communes of Marki, Izabelin and Podkowa Leśna.
The project was implemented in three communes near Warsaw: Podkowa Leśna, Izabelin and Marki. It focused on supporting integration and strengthening the resources and intercultural competences of the commune''s inhabitants, both those new and those who have always lived in the commune. As part of the project, we employed intercultural assistants, organized intercultural workshops in schools, trained teachers, local leaders and local government employees, organized Polish language courses and information meetings with specialists in career counseling, psychological support, starting a business, legalization of stay and legal issues related to stay of foreigners in Poland. Sports training and neighborhood picnics were also held. The project partner was the Foundation for Freedom.
As part of the project, we employed intercultural assistants, organized numerous intercultural workshops in schools, trained teachers, local leaders and local government employees, organized Polish language courses and information meetings with specialists in career counseling, psychological support, starting a business, legalization of stay and legal issues related to with the stay of foreigners in Poland. Sports training and neighborhood picnics were also held.
Many students, teachers, local leaders, local government employees and employees of local community centers benefited from our activities. We strengthened intercultural competences and built openness to diversity. Teachers gained knowledge and tools on how to work with a class that includes students with migration experience, and how to support foreign children in their learning and assess them. Employees of cultural centers learned how to create or slightly modify the activities of their institution and the events they created, but were available to a wider audience, including those with migration experience. Local government employees willingly took advantage of psychological first aid training, thanks to which they felt more confident in contact and practice with people experiencing a mental crisis.
The next thing you know is that you want to spend a lot of time, but you can''t do anything wrong, but you don''t have to worry about anything, but you can also integrate it and get it.