Open to your communities – Impacts of developing community-based approach in the field of public services

The partners applied for this project because each of us had the experience that people face social exclusion and over-institutionalised systems in the operation of public social and cultural services, thus systematically conserving the hospitalisation of service users, while professionals and professional support was lacking a holistic view of human well-being (which was inevitable for personal and community integration and recovery in our understanding). We wanted to enhance citizen participation in the dimension of public social care and cultural services building on personal and institutional needs: the needs of the members of excluded groups to get closer to their communities as well as gain a bigger share in influencing their own lives and the needs of social and cultural institutions to become more open to their target groups and involve them and the local community in planning and implementing various aspects of their operation (which was and is not an idealistic will to make the world a better place but a very practical interest of the institutions and the societies, as well).

Our main objective was to develop an adult educational methodology that could provide public service operators with complex support for community-based service development. We aimed to provide adult learning opportunities for professionals, the local community members and service users regarding community-based service delivery, with a specific focus on the role of the institution, the community and the individuals (experts by experience). With the field work process and the workshops as well as the development of the professional materials we aimed to enhance the various competencies of the stakeholders and later, the users of the developed materials in order to be able to use collaborative methods to implement the effective community-based transformation of public services. In addition to the the results and profits offered for the public, we also aimed to achieve some organizational objectives: learning a new aspect and new methods of development work (building on peer learners' and workers potentials and common principles - HACD and CAL), extending our field of operation and cooperation (each organization) and developing a methodology to be capable to serve communities in new fields (CMHCD).

We implemented the activities planned in the proposal, completed with some additional local and professional events. At the very beginning of the project, there was a change in the person of the Polish partner (FBIS was first planned to be replaced by Cricoteka, then the final decision was to invite CAL) but after the administrative steps had been made, and a slight change in the project timeline had been accepted, the project flow accommodated to the original plans. Preparatory meetings: online (Covid time), during December 2021 - February 2022, with HACD and CMHCD as well as the representative of FBIS, the original Polish partner in order to find the best solution for changing the Polish partner (the reason for which was the resignation of FBIS for organizational reasons, and then the internal uncertanities at Cricoteka). Kick-off meeting: 03-04/03/2022, Budapest, hybrid, with the participation of HACD (3 persons) and CMHCD (3 persons) offline and the partial participation of the representative of Cricoteka online. The meeting had three main foca: (1) a detailed overview of the project objectives, activities and timeline; (2) a detailed overview and understanding of the project budget and administrative tasks (incl. reporting requirements); (3) preparation of the LTT activity. In April, we had a separate online kick-off meeting with the CAL team where all the info from the offline kick-off was shared with them. Field work: After the common understanding of tasks and deadlines was assured, each team prepared their own plans for their field work with the relevant field partners (if any): - HACD: preparation of the institutional transformation of the day-care service for the elderly (field partner: Szatmári Sub-regional Centre for Basic Social Services, Nagyecsed); - CMHCD: extension and community-based development of the training activities of the Recovery College; - CAL: transformation of a cultural centre into a Community Cultural Centre and the development of the model and network of Community Cultural Centres in Poland (owing to the outburst of the Ukranian war, this focus was sharpened and the field work and the case study finally concentrated at the involvement and integration of refugees; field partner: the Wolska Centre). The field work of the three teams provided the basis and content for the case studies and the lessons and experiences for the handouts. LTT: the training activity was organized by CMHCD and was held in Prague, on 01-03/06/2022 (7 participants from HACD and 6 from CAL). The aim of this activity was knowledge transformation and adaption. CMHCD introduced and taught the Recovery College method to the Hungarian and the Polish team, and the three teams together made plans of adapting and utilizing the transferred knowledge in their particular work. As the holder of the knowledge about the methodology, the CMHCD team started to develop the model of Flexible Recovery College, and collected feedbacks from the two other teams in order to be able to adapt the descripiton of the RC methodology (PR 1) to the project needs. Writing the case studies: each team developed their own case studies presenting their field work and the action plans. The case studies were translated to English and each national language so that each case can be accessible for non-speakers of English, as well. The case studies were uploaded to the organizational websites and presented and disseminated in professional circles and for the public. Also, during the online monitoring and evaluation meetings, the three teams presented their difficulties, failures and successes to each other on a regular basis and gave professional and evaluation feedbacks to each other. Organizing professional events, workshops: during the process of the field work and the preparation of the written project results, each team organized several meetings and workshops for professionals and the target groups in order to involve as many ideas and aspects as possible, and to enhance the network around the project and our cooperation as much as possible. Partner meeting 2: Warsaw, 07-08/03/2023, offline, with the participation of each team (travelling 2 people from HACD, 3 from CMHCD). The main objective and content of this meeting was (in addition to meeting the local partner and community spaces) to make a thorough evaluation of the case studies and the field work done that far as well as to prepare the high-quality preparation of the national handouts. Preparing the handouts: a final agreement on the role and structure of the handouts was made at the Warsaw partner meeting in March 2023, then each team worked on their handouts identically. The handouts were then translated and presented to the professional public, and further plans have been made to disseminate and present them to the professional target audiences (also after project closure). Partner meeting 3: Budapest, 11-12/09/2023, with the offline participation of each team (travelling 3 people from CMHCD and 3 from CAL). This meeting had a triple objective (in addition to meeting local spaces and organizations operating on a community basis in fields relevant for CMHCD and CAL): (1) finalize some issues about the handouts as well as to evaluate the preparation phase, (2) plan the second round of multiplier events and (3) prepare the compilation of the final report. Multiplier events: in line with the project proposal, CMHCD and CAL had two multiplier events, while HACD had three (this change had previously been accepted by the Tempus Public Foundation). The multipliers were targeted either at the service users and the local community or the professionals dealing with the certain target groups (or both at the same time). Please see more details in the Implementation section. Dissemination: although much of the work carried out was background work for some project results, each team tried to concentrate at disseminating the fact of our work process, the new perspectives, method and fields of cooperation as much as possible. In addition to publish our results on the Internet, we laid great stress on contacting the professional audience on targeted channels. Please see details in the Dissemination log and the dissemination documents attached to this Report.

Concrete outputs: PR1: Methodology of community participation through Recovery College principles and experiences PR2: Case study of the community-based social service development action plan (HACD) PR3: Case study of the community-based cultural service development action plan (CAL) PR4: Case study of the community-based mental health service development action plan (CMHCD) PR5: Online hand-out of the community-based intervention - Community-based solutions for the delivery of social services (HACD) PR6: Online hand-out of the community-based intervention - Community Cultural Centre: How to implement cultural services with communities and vulnerable groups PR7: Online hand-out of the community-based intervention - Personal experiences as a bridge to understanding. Conversations on how sharing experiences can become a tool for learning, help and support. Other results of the project: Personal level (amongst others): - Some target group members became experts by experience with the necessary skills to realize and word their own needs as well as to transmit these to open professional actors and to involve their peers into community-based planning and implementation processes. - New relations and contacts have evolved that give ground to long-term friendship, partnership and cooperation. - New needs and resolutions were born within the target groups (elderly, refugees, people with mental health), e.g. learning English or other new skills, uptaking the responsibility of teaching others, creating their own little communities etc. - Project experts have found new perspectives of developing their professional knowledge and practice and have become able to use a new methodology and approach. Organizational level: HACD: - Knowledge of a new methodology upgrading and using resources Hungarian community development has been underusing so far (specific resources of experts by experience and common principles). - Valuable professional cooperation in a professional field new for us (public service in elderly care). - More than 15 workshops with professionals and service users. - Two radio reports and two articles. - Bases of a new adult education training material. - Plan of a next application aiming to further enhance the cooperation of public service providers and community development. CMHCD: • 2 courses - Everyday Mosaic, Every Stone Has Its Place; Resilience and Recovery developed during ME, which are further taught in the Recovery Colleges – CZ, Slovakia. • 14 workshops on national level - Recovery College courses • Following the Case Study and Action Plan, funding for a Flexible Recovery College has been secured. As well as meeting the project objectives, this ensures the sustainability of the outcomes. • Application for the 14th EESC Civil Society Prize • Thanks to the Recovery Colleges Fan Meetings in the ME, the impact of the project has been extended to the whole Czech Republic and Slovakia. CAL: In addition to developing all the required outputs, the CAL Association came up with the initiative to set up a network of community centres interested in implementing the Community Cultural Centre model and co-producing social services in the area of culture. Networking and communication in this environment regarding the development of this idea was initiated.