Community Initiatives Partnership Program

In 2004, in cooperation with the German Robert Bosch Foundation, we began to implement the grant program aimed to expand cooperation among NGOs from Poland, Germany and the Kaliningrad District. Within the program we support tripartite cooperation projects that serve to develop local community initiatives in the District and to integrate these initiatives into transboundary cooperation that contribute to improved quality of life in the Kaliningrad District.

We conducted the pilot edition of the program in 2004. Grants were awarded through a two-tier procedure: first, teams from three states filed letters of intent. Subsequently, some were selected to file complete applications. Eighteen letters of intent were filed for the competition, of which 15 were qualified for the second phase. Of the 13 applications filed in the second phase, the international expert commission selected 8 projects for funding. The grants will be disbursed in 2005.

Teams qualified to the second stage of the program took part in a three-day meeting organized as part of the Friendly Neighbourhood Forum conference in Elbląg. During the meeting, organization representatives had an opportunity to work on applications, consult projects with Program Coordinators from the Stefan Batory and Robert Bosch Foundations as well as participate in intercultural communication workshops. For the majority of teams, this was the first opportunity to personally meet and discuss details of the planned project.

Operational costs of the program: PLN 70 792,46