On December 31, 2023, we successfully concluded the implementation of a project co-financed by the National Fund for Asylum, Migration and Integration and the state budget entitled "Wielkopolska - Common Future." Initiated in November 2022, the primary objective of this project was to facilitate the integration of Ukrainian refugees in the Wielkopolska province through comprehensive initiatives led by the Office Wielkopolska Province in collaboration with four regional partners: Caritas Archdiocese of Poznań, the Association for the Promotion and Development of Civic Initiatives PISOP, the Regional Center for Social Policy in Poznań (ROPS), and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
Information Points
With the acquired funds from EU and state budget, we established the Assistance Point and 8 Information-Advisory Points. These were strategically located, including two at the department headquarters in Poznań and one each in delegations in Kalisz, Konin, Leszno, and Piła. Additionally, information points were set up at the Foreigners Integration Center of ROPS in Poznań and the Welcome Centre at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. The information points attracted a great deal of interest, serving hundreds of clients monthly. Our staff provided information on procedures, rights, and obligations of migrants, assisting in filling out and completing documents correctly to expedite the process of obtaining residence documents. "Information Saturdays" further provided opportunities for additional information and document submissions. In total, we organized 21 such events, assisting over 2000 individuals.
WSC Contact and Helpline
We carried out diverse informational activities, with our 4-language information portal, migrant.poznan.uw.gov.pl, serving as a consistent and popular resource for clients. Initiated in 2019 and continuously developed through state budget and FAMI funds, this portal receives nearly 600 thousand monthly visits, highlighting a high demand for both general and individual information. In the past year, a dedicated section titled "Support for Refugees from Ukraine" was added, providing up-to-date information on residence and work legalization, along with ongoing informational and integrational activities.
As part of the implementation of the "Wielkopolska - Common Future" project, our consultants handled around 7 thousand phone calls and almost 3.5 thousand email inquiries monthly. To streamline the helpline team's work and efficiently address incoming queries, we designed and implemented a new contact tool utilizing a system of contact forms - WSC Contact.
Available in Polish, English, Russian, and Ukrainian, WSC Contact operates on the principle of profiling client queries, categorizing them into predetermined topics. This innovative approach significantly accelerated the process of providing information to clients.
IT Tools
Our ongoing commitment to innovation aims to continually elevate service standards, and our efforts include the continuous expansion of IT tools supporting our work. A tangible outcome of these innovations is the ability for clients to check the status of their cases, a service we are consistently improving.
In the autumn, we introduced a new functionality - a service for scheduling appointments to collect fingerprint scans using the case status checking interface. This streamlined the process, replacing the previous method of reserving visits through the department's helpline. The new service is easily accessible and intuitive, enabling individuals to efficiently schedule an appointment after being called for a personal visit.
Events and Informational Meetings
Our informational activities in the past year were extensive and conducted dynamically to reach the widest possible audience. To achieve this, we organized both stationary and remote informational meetings dedicated to specific groups of our clients. Meetings for Ukrainian refugees at the Foreigners Integration Center and for students at the Welcome Centre of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań were among the events. Additionally, we conducted online meetings five times with clients interested in various topics related to Ukrainian refugees, students, professionally active migrants, short-term residents in Poland, and those seeking long-term resident status. In total, around 1500 people participated in these informational meetings.
On September 21, 2023, we hosted an Open Day at the main headquarters of WUW in Poznań. During this event, experts from various institutions, including the Poznań City Office, Border Guard, Police Headquarters, National Health Fund, Social Insurance Institution, Employment Office, Labour Inspectorate, Education Board, Tax Administration Chamber, and the UNHCR Representation in Poland, provided answers to individual inquiries in the advisory zone.
Integration Activities for Refugees
Our partners conducted numerous integration-focused activities, primarily for refugees from Ukraine. This included 35 Polish language courses (320 completion certificates issued), 75 integration-adaptation events (1090 participants), 74 adaptation events (1085 participants), and a Family Festival and Picnic. We provided information about all these events on our website: https://migrant.poznan.uw.gov.pl/en/procedures/support-for-refugees-from....
All described activities were carried out as part of the "Wielkopolska - Common Future" project, co-financed by the National Fund for Asylum, Migration and Integration, and the state budget.
