Citizen Network Greece and Puzzle
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Vasilis Kalopisis, Coordinator of Citizen network Greece, explains how Citizen Network is developing and the innovative work of the Puzzle Social Enterprise.
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Citizen Network Greece and Puzzle
- 2. Citizenship, a magic world? Citizenship – membership
- 3. Why did we set up Citizen Network Greece ? Connect Share Contribute Make a change
- 4. Citizen Network members in Greece • Puzzle Social Enterprise - http://puzzle-se.eu • SKEP - https://www.skep.gr/ • Myrtillo - http://www.myrtillocafe.gr/ • i-living - Independent Living Organization of Greece https://www.facebook.com/gr.iliving/ • Margarita Vocational and training centre https://www.eeamargarita.gr • Association of Parents and Friends of people with Autism disorders of Rethymno Crete - http://www.autismreth.gr • Place Identity Clusters https://placeidentity.gr/
- 5. Together we can build a word where everyone matters Citizen Network http://www.citizen-network.org/ vasilis.kalopisis@citizen-network.org
- 7. A new organisational model From a paternalistic- top down control management style to a values-driven culture which is participative and consensus oriented.
- 8. Fields of activity • Developing projects aiming at improving the quality of life of people who belong in vulnerable social groups • Research Studies • Consulting organizations providing social care • Training of professionals • Composing and implementing European and nationally funded programs (e.g. Erasmus+)
- 9. Examples of our work • Puzzle Project. Developing Easy to read formats for PWID • ELPIDA project. E-learning platform for parents of PWID http://www.elpida-project.eu • Speak up ! project. Self advocacy + public speaking
- 10. Thank you for your time and your attention Vasilis Kalopisis Citizen Network Greece Coordinator vasilis.kalopisis@citizen-network.org
Editor's Notes
- We are very happy to be a part of this conference where we all have the opportunity to learn about new approaches and projects which aim to improve the life of people with intellectual disabilities. Our role in this conference as Citizen network members will be to bring the conversation from the high scientific and academic level down to earth. We want to create a welcoming space for dialogue between the professional and academic level and everyday life where people with disabilities fight and sometimes they succeed and sometimes they fail to get included, in other words to have a normal life - in other words to be citizens and act like citizens. And believe me there are many passionate people out there in Greece and in the UK and everywhere around the world who, through their innovative thinking and acting, they pave the way for positive change, for a world where everyone is important. On the first part of my presentation I will speak to you about Citizen network Greece and why did we decide to set it up. On the second part of my presentation I will speak about social enterprise Puzzle which is the strategic partner of Citizen Network international here in Greece
- But first, let me make a connection with Simon’s presentation and share with you some thoughts on Citizenship. In Greece we very much like to remember how great we were in the past. So I will be no exception to that rule and will start by saying that Citizenship, the concept of membership to a community appeared in Greece some three millennia ago as a participation in the social and political life of small-scale communities. Citizenship is a concept that has evolved over the years and is constantly changing and transforming according to the needs and social perceptions of every period in time age and society. The core notion always remains the idea of membership to a political group, a community, a city, a state, a group of states. But Citizenship is not merely a legal construct but rather mainly is a mode of social behavior. Citizenship offers us a lens through which we can understand the ties between an individual and the world in which he or she lives. It is a right, a duty, a privilege that we use everyday and by using it we also shape it. We believe that the concept of Citizenship can be a connecting framework which helps us realize the common values underpinning our communities. In this way by opening the concept of Citizenship to include people and groups of people who have been previously marginalised we can have a powerful instrument of positive social change.
- In Citizen network Greece we are members of Citizen network international, a movement that is growing in many countries all over the world. But why did we set up Citizen network Greece? First of all, Because we are citizens and we believe that citizenship, this quality of ours , this power, this asset is so often underestimated, under-expressed and undervalued. Also, because we want to connect, to bring together all the positive initiatives in Greece which advance citizenship for people with intellectual disabilities and for many others who face oppression, stigma and exclusion and we want to bring these positive Greek initiatives in touch with similar efforts all around the world. In Greece, we are very good at pointing out the negative aspects of our society, at criticizing all the dysfunctions and at complaining that no one and especially the organised state understands us. But we are not very good at working together building on our strengths. With Citizen network Greece, we try to reverse this attitude and collaborate for a better future for all. We also set up Citizen Network Greece, because we want to learn from each other, to share resources, share information, knowhow, skills, and successful stories. We also want to contribute and empower others to contribute. Contribution is a need for everyone which is often overlooked especially when it comes to people with disabilities. But as Simon wrote “It is not enough to just give people money, services or products. People must be free and able to contribute. This is partly because freedom and the ability to contribute are essential elements of the good life and human well being -‐ but it is also because any other approach is unsustainable.” Because we want to make a change, we want to create new stories of people with or without disabilities living and working together as citizens do. More so, we created Citizen network because we do care. Pericles, according to Thucydides, said: “We do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he has no business here at all”
- Citizen Network operates in Greece since 2017. It’s members are: Puzzle –A social enterprise aiming to change things in the field of social care provision in Greece. (http://puzzle-se.eu/) Myrtillo – A cafeteria and arts centre which is an innovative self-supporting business and training entity, where all employees –with or without disability-are jointly responsible for its viability. (http://www.myrtillocafe.gr/) SKEP – A nongovernmental organisation of self advocates implementing disability awareness programs through experiential learning. (http://www.skep.gr) I-living – A group of self advocates promoting the Independent Living philosophy in Greece. (https://www.facebook.com/gr.iliving/) Margarita – An innovative vocational training centre, which opens the way for the integration of people with intellectual disabilities into the labour market. (https://www.eeamargarita.gr/en/) Later on we ll have the chance to learn more about most of these organisations
- Through this great opportunity that we have here in this wonderful conference I would like to invite everyone , either as an individual or as an organisation who share the same values and the same social vision to Join us Together we build a word where everyone matters.
- Puzzle is a social enterprise founded in 2015. We are happy and proud to be a strategic partner of Citizen network international from its first steps. Our aim is to bring a breath of fresh air in the field of social care provision in Greece. We aspire to be an agent of change. The Puzzle team is comprised of professionals with many years of experience in supporting people from vulnerable social groups and in managing positions in organisations providing social services mainly to people with disabilities. We are inspired by the principles of social inclusion and equal, active participation of all people and we are committed to take action in order to make this vision come true. Because, as we say, we are all pieces of the puzzle, all unique, all equally important. This is especially so, in tough economic times such as now, where issues of equality and justice can often fall off the radar, or be regarded as social luxuries. Unfortunately, often bad times for majorities are even worse times for minorities. We know that from first hand experience in Greece over the last 10 years. But we are convinced that the more power, voice, agency have, people who have previously been on the margin or the bottom of a community, the more strong, adaptive, resilient and rich that community, that society becomes. It is impressive how many grassroots, civil society initiatives have been developed in Greece during these years of crisis. When a community chooses to integrate immigrants and newcomers, chooses to ensure that people who come from ethnic or racial minorities are not second class citizens, chooses to embrace the gifts of people with different kind of abilities, then this society becomes more powerful and life becomes better for all.
- One thing that we do differently in Puzzle is that we try to bring forward a new organisational model. We try to be consistent to what we say and we try our behaviour to reflect our values. So often, around us in Greece and I am sure all over the world we see that organisations which preach respect, inclusion and equality are often managed in a highly hierarchical top down command and control style. We don’t like this organisational model and we believe that is also totally inefficient in producing positive social change. We follow a a values-driven culture which is participative and consensus oriented. We see our organisation, Puzzle, as a living entity, with its own creative potential and evolutionary purpose. Our work is based on peer relationships. This photo with the bird cluster, reflects very well the way we work together in Puzzle Social Enterprise. We focus on the strengths of each one of us, not on failures and what‘s wrong. Depending on the type of each job we undertake, the person who has more knowledge and experience in the subject takes the lead and the rest of us follow and contribute the best way we can. In this way we have developed a distributed leadership style where self-management replaces hierarchical pyramids.
- We are developing projects aiming at improving the quality of life of people who belong to vulnerable social groups, mainly we concentrate on people with intellectual disabilities. We do Research – We have conducted Research on Human rights, on issues of accessibility, on parents needs etc. We think that Research is lacking from our field in Greece. There is insufficient research data on a number of issues. For example, we are talking about de-institutionalization but we have not defined what institution means, we do not know how many institutions we have, how many people with disabilities live in these institutions, what is the quality of their lives (although for this I think we can safely make some assumptions ). Research can often be the first crucial step, Research can provide a framework for change if we want to take things forward. We also act as consultants for organisations providing social care. We do capacity building for them, we develop together standards to ensure quality of provided services, we do training for their staff, we explore national and international funding opportunities and we develop networking with other organisations both at a national as well as at an international level.
- Just a few examples of our work Puzzle Project: This was an International project which was completed a year ago where we co-developed informative documents about Human Rights together with people with intellectual disabilities using a methodology which combines Easy to Read principles with digital technology (video, photographs, wikis etc). ELPIDA Project: This is a project that we are running now and is also an international project (Erasmus+). During this project, we are developing an e-learning platform mainly for parents of persons with intellectual disabilities which will be available in six languages in Autumn 2018 and will contain 6 interactive educational modules aiming at providing training, awareness raising and attitude change in the areas of Human Rights, Communication, Ageing, Stress Management, Transition to Adulthood and Sexual Health. Speak up ! Project: We are developing this project now. Among other partners Inclusion Europe and Public Speaking experts combine skills in order to empower groups of people with intellectual disabilities in Greece, Spain and Cyprus to become motivational speakers, to speak up publicly for their rights and share successful stories.