June 2022
4IM kick-off conference
The city of Košice, as a consortium partner, hosted the opening conference of the project "4IM Urban Initiative for Innovative and Integrated Social Services and Employment Development in Miskolc" on 01.06.2022.
The aim of the event was to provide an overview to project stakeholders, partner representatives and project owners. In addition, the relevant policy units and policy-makers were informed about the objectives of the project, the planned activities, the range of collaborating organisations and the possibilities for contributions. A key objective of the kick-off conference was to give the EU-funded initiative wide publicity.
A large delegation from Miskolc attended the event, with many interested professionals, who were welcomed by Igor Rolny, Head of the Crisis Management Centre of the Municipality of Košice. In her introduction, Andrea Varga, Deputy Mayor of Miskolc, as the leader of the consortium implementing the project, underlined that tackling the problem of deprived neighbourhoods requires a series of strategic interventions. One element of this is the current project, which is a milestone in a long-term process. Due to its experimental nature, it provides an opportunity to check out new methods and tools. Linked to this idea was the presentation by Monika Chaba, Social Policy Officer at the European Commission, which looked at the activities related to the introduction of a guaranteed minimum income in the European Union.
Gábor Osgyáni, representative of the Network for Regional Development Foundation, the professional coordinator of 4IM, presented in detail the background, the professional content and the expected indicators of the project. 10,000 people live in 16 deprived neighbourhoods in Miskolc. The project involves 300 people in two sample areas, Tetemvár and Bábonyibérc, through a community coaching process, with the aim of measurably improving their quality of life by the end of the project. This will be accompanied by a review of the social care system and the structure of city-wide services, which will be adapted to the needs and demands of local households in the deprived neighbourhoods involved.
The real needs are revealed by a household-level survey, the theoretical and methodological issues of which were presented by Dr Kinga Szabó-Tóth, Associate Professor at the Institute of Applied Social Sciences of the University of Miskolc, also a consortium partner. The survey took place in summer 2022.
For the implementation of the project, a Social Innovation Standing Committee has been established in Miskolc, which includes representatives of all relevant municipal institutions, several NGOs and governmental organisations, as well as delegates from the affected deprived neighbourhoods. The working organisation of the Board is the newly established Social Innovation Resource Centre, whose objectives and operation were presented by the Head of the Resource Centre, Norbert Képes. The organisation acts as a bridge between city decision-makers and local action groups made up of people from deprived neighbourhoods, helping to implement grassroots initiatives.
The social innovations created in the project are expected to be extended to other deprived areas of Miskolc and to the city of Košice. The problem of deprived neighbourhoods in Košice goes back many decades, and the experience of dealing with the problem so far was presented by Igor Rolny, head of the crisis centre.
Finally, the conference participants were given an insight into the EU-funded co-projects, which were presented by Ms Armelle Ledan, European Social Innovation Expert, representing AEIDL.
Participants were able to learn about the Košice Innovation Project, which creates social rental housing, not only in the lecture hall but also during the afternoon site visit.