Open Café

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International Projects' Association INPRO

Organisation:

International Projects' Association INPRO

Country:

Poland

About organisation:

INPRO stands for International Projects Association and is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) working with young people in Rzeszow, in Poland overall, and internationally. We organise youth exchanges, European Solidarity Corps/volunteering projects, trainings, school projects, and other European programmes. INPRO is also a Eurodesk point. The mission of the organisation is to make people believe that international initiatives bring added value and progress to the development of a community. INPRO initiatives are generally dedicated to the personal development and education of young people. However, with its offer, INPRO also reaches people from other cultures, regardless of their origin, age, or views. In Poland, INPRO is considered one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Erasmus Plus (Youth Sector) and the European Solidarity Corps program.

Title of the project

Open Café

Start date:

10/8/2021

End date:

21/12/2022

Objectives:

Our project is called “Open Café”. We organise meetings for locals and people who want to gather together, speak English, have fun,and meet new people. The various topics that we discuss are usually connected to human rights, global and social issues, science, and philosophy. We always do this from an approach of integration, and with the aim of breaking language barriers and stereotypes. Open Café is a place where people can learn about various cultures, share their own experiences, and take part in fun activities and workshops. No matter where you are coming from, Open Café builds an international family together with foreigners living in Rzeszow, volunteers, and locals. In “Open Café” we are free from any kind of judgement or discrimination, any idea is welcome and there is no such thing as a wrong opinion. These meetings are organised every Wednesday, at 6.00 p.m., in Urban Lab, Rzeszów. Open Café meetings are held in English and facilitated by international volunteers working in our organisation thanks to the European Solidarity Corps program.Open Café is also a space to talk about and expand awareness of local and global social issues. Every week we reach an average of 50-60 people, some of them are already known as our ‘usual’ participants that hardly miss any session, while also welcoming new faces who reach us thanks to our social media and local events.

Why the project was: empowering young people, adapting to changing realities, or thinking out of the box:

Open Cafe is facilitated by a group of young volunteers who are part of the ESC program and come from countries such as Armenia, Georgia, Spain and Turkey. Every week these young volunteers elaborate on current social and political issues and adapt it to achieve a unique debate for the attendees. This is an opportunity for volunteers and participants to discuss topics and change negative social stereotypes, ethnic discrimination, or legislation affecting the freedom and rights of the people living in Poland. Even though the meetings are open to everyone, regardless of age, gender or nationality, INPRO dedicates specific effort to involve the youth community of Rzeszów in the event. Open Café is a space in which people of all ages can attend knowing they will learn, develop social and linguistic skills, and at the same time have a nice afternoon. Our volunteers have the opportunity to improve their linguistic, social, and organisational skills by hosting these meetings and learning from each one of them to be better facilitators and event managers. They also hope to inspire and encourage young people to follow their steps and participate in other projects of the European Solidarity Corps and Erasmus+.

How the project was inclusive:

Open Café's goal is to foster a more open and integrated society. In order to accomplish this purpose, it is very important for us to raise awareness of European programs’ opportunities for young people. Every week, we present the new opportunities available in INPRO, from youth exchanges to educational training, in our meetings. If they are interested in any of them, we remind them of our role as Eurodesk point. Open Café works as a Eurodesk point where young people can get acquainted with all the opportunities offered by the European Union under the name of Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps. Participants can come to the lobby and have a chat with our volunteers to know more information about the upcoming opportunities that they can participate in. Urban Lab, where the Open cafe takes place, has a quite convenient area to present promotional materials such as brochures, roll-ups, and games provided by Eurodesk.

Green aspect:

People who come to Urban Lab, the public space where we run Open Café, can freely drink tea and coffee. We exclusively use glass cups and mugs to protect the environment and reduce unnecessary waste of plastic. We also make sure the glasses stay clean during the whole event so they are always accessible to the participants. In addition, we have separate bins for each waste in the kitchen, including plastic, cardboard and bio. In this way, we encourage the participants who come to the event to be eco-friendly and respectful with the environment.We pay attention to the use of as little paper as possible by using the possibilities of technology in our event. For this purpose, we provide participants with access to the presentation by showing a QR code. We use a projector and white board in order to reduce paper use. We also use the space of discussion to bring to the table ecological topics such as waste reduction, fuel consumption, overconsumption, or minimalist lifestyles. By doing this, we are able to create awareness about these topics and achieve a small but eco-friendly change in the community of Rzeszów.

How the project has given a European dimension to your event and ensured the visibility and promotion of Eurodesk?

Open Café's goal is to foster a more open and integrated society. In order to accomplish this purpose, it is very important for us to raise awareness of European programs’ opportunities for young people. Every week, we present the new opportunities available in INPRO, from youth exchanges to educational training, in our meetings. If they are interested in any of them, we remind them of our role as Eurodesk point. Open Café works as a Eurodesk point where young people can get acquainted with all the opportunities offered by the European Union under the name of Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps. Participants can come to the lobby and have a chat with our volunteers to know more information about the upcoming opportunities that they can participate in. Urban Lab, where the Open cafe takes place, has a quite convenient area to present promotional materials such as brochures, roll-ups, and games provided by Eurodesk.

Impact:

This event is based on the fact that every week local people and young people come together and discuss a topic with people from different experiences and cultures. For this reason, we try to communicate, discuss, overcome the language barrier, and break the stereotypes by using English with approximately 50-60 people at Urban Lab every week. Incoming participants have the opportunity to improve their English, self-confidence, public speaking, and discussion skills. In addition, they renew their current knowledge in many fields such as psychology, ecology, philosophy, education and technology, and they can convey their knowledge to people. With these meetings what we have mainly achieved is what we like to call the ‘INPRO community’. For many people, gathering every week has already become a habit, and for most of them, Open Café is a must-be activity in their weekly planning. They know every week they will meet here with long-lasting or new friends, to have interesting discussions and enjoy their time in an international environment.