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From March 4 to 10, 2018, a second study tour to Poland for partner cities, organized by PLEDDG Project jointly with Solidarity Fund PL, and with the financial support of the Government of Canada, was taking place. Participants in the study tour included local officials, representatives of the business community and civic activists from PLEDDG partner cities.

The aim of the study tour was to provide Ukrainian participants with insights into day-to-day realities of the Polish reforms as well as to showcase Polish best practices in social entrepreneurship and women business and their effect on a city’s economic development.

Participants started off their study tour in Tricity – a metropolitan area in northern Poland that consists of cities Gdansk, Sopot, and Gdynia. Then there were visits to the cities of Kościerzyna and Kartuzy in the Pomeranian Voivodeship.

In Gdansk, they met with Andrzej Kowalczys, the Commissioned Person of Marshal Office of the Pomeranian Voivodeship for NGOs, and Lev Zakharchyshyn, Ukraine’s Consul in Gdansk, the meeting taking place at the premises of the Regional Center of Social Policy. Andrzej Kowalczys noted that all social issues in Poland were tackled by the government, non-governmental organizations and business community, the cooperation among which was based on the principle of “nothing about us will be dealt with without us”. The Ukrainian delegation was then introduced to DALBA, which is a social cooperative specializing in production and sale of beer. Participants learned that disabled people made up 90% of the cooperative’s personnel.

The Ukrainian delegation paid a visit to Gdansk Entrepreneurship Foundation, where they discussed support of SME development, educational initiatives regarding entrepreneurship, as well as promotion of entrepreneurship. Then, there was a meeting with the owners of SoStay, a social undertaking by the Gdansk Social Innovation Foundation, and an interesting discussion on social economy in Poland.

Equally interesting and insightful were the visits to AIP Gdansk, an academic business incubator; social cooperative “Cooperation” in Sopot, which provides accommodation, employment opportunities for homeless people, and organizes various courses for them; Pomeranian Region Development Agency, where participants were introduced to the program “Pomeranian Women in Business”, and, finally, to “Dobra Robota”, the Center of Social Economy Support in Gdansk that provides assistance in social entrepreneurship development.

The tour of the city of Kościerzyna and acquaintance with its business environment started with a meeting with the city’s Mayor, Michał Majewski, who discussed with Ukrainian participants local government’s support for SME growth. Mr. Majewski presented a social entrepreneurship development program for 2013-2020, as well as elaborated on cooperation between local government, business and civic activists with the aim to find solutions to a number of pressing social issues. Then, the Ukrainian delegation visited the Pomeranian incubator for entrepreneurship in Kościerzyna, the Kashubian Foundation for Entrepreneurship Support, and the Grizzly Bear Association Foundation that provides support for disabled persons.

On the last day of the study tour participants learned about social entrepreneurship in Kartuzy. They were introduced to social cooperative “Pozytyvka” that helps children. Also, they visited the social cooperative 50+ in Gdynia, which had been founded by 5 disabled women and now provide services, such as cleaning, cooking, and nursing for elderly people.

The study tour to Poland allowed representatives of PLEDDG partner cities to acquire firsthand knowledge of the main characteristics of social economy in Poland, learn about social and economic integration of vulnerable groups, find out about EU-funded programs, and to get a better understanding of how Polish best practices could be adapted in Ukrainian context.