Category: News

Association SOS Phone - Rijeka has been working to protect victims of violence for almost 25 years. In our work so far, we have seen that violence always has a legal context, which makes it difficult for victims to get out of a violent environment. In addition to the fact that victims of violence often do not have the financial possibility to pay for legal aid, we noticed that after they come to the psychological counseling center of the Association and tell their story, it is extremely difficult for them to go to another place for legal aid and in an unknown environment to talk about their problems again. Therefore, in order for victims of violence to be able to get all the help they need (psychological and/or legal) in one place, we decided to launch a free legal aid program.

What services does Counselling offer?
The Counselling Centre is authorised to provide free primary legal aid in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar and Lika-Senj counties. Primary legal aid covers:
– general legal information;
– legal advice;
– making submissions to bodies governed by public law, the European Court of Human Rights and international organisations;
– representation before bodies governed by public law;
– legal aid in a non-judicial amicable settlement of the dispute.

Who provides free legal aid?
Master of Laws Iva Čatipović, who is authorised to work by the Ministry of Justice. She is assisted in her work by a volunteer legal team of ten law students and young lawyers.

Who is the Counselling Center for?
The counseling is intended primarily for victims of violence. In doing so, we think of all forms of violence – from psychological, physical, economic, sexual violence to mobbing, discrimination, etc.
We have not forgotten other groups of citizens, and in order to ensure their right to free legal aid, we have ensured cooperation with the Legal Clinic of the Faculty of Law in Zagreb. The areas for which the Clinic has established special groups are: family law and child protection, worker protection, discrimination, nationality and asylum, patient rights, protection of victims and witnesses of crime, and assistance in enforcement proceedings.

How is the work of the Counselling Centre for Free Legal Aid financed?
So far we have been fortunate that in 2016 our project was recognized and decided to financially support the City of Rijeka (Department of Health and Social Welfare) and Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (Administrative Department for Social Policy and Youth), and a large part of it relies on the volunteer work of our lawyers and cooperation with the Law Clinic of the Faculty of Law in Zagreb.

How to get free real help?
General citizenship can request legal aid by coming to the premises of the Association in person at times when we have arranged visits to the Legal Clinic. So far we have arranged 3 visits to the Legal Clinic: Wednesday 20 April 2016, 4.5.2016 and 25.5.2016 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the FMA address: Verdieva 11, River.

Victims of any form of violence (not related to the visit to the Legal Clinic) can at any time contact the Association for legal aid and arrange a meeting with the lawyer via e-mail sos.rijeka.help@gmail.com or by calling the help line every day from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the phone number 051/211-888.

Finding a job today is not easy, but with the right knowledge and skills, a number of doors open up. Free education “We know how” has opened it to a large number of young people who have participated in it since 2011.

From the generation, the Centre for Technical Culture Rijeka strives with its partners to adapt the content of the training ‘We know how’ to labour market trends, employers’ needs and the interests of young people. This year, in cooperation with partners from the Cluster for Eco-Social Development and Innovation i the Rijeka Development Agency Porin, we developed a programme based on 3 modules – Social Entrepreneurship and Business Plan (40 hours), EU Academy (40 hours) and Business Idea Presentation (40 hours).

How is education planned?
During the first module, Social entrepreneurship and business plan, young people, under the guidance of a certified trainer, will develop business plans for their own social entrepreneurial ideas. We will analyze the market and the needs of the local community, we will get acquainted with the concept, theory, legislation and examples of social entrepreneurship from Croatia and the world. Upon completion of the module, each participant, individually or in a team, will develop a business plan for their socio-entrepreneurial idea. A team of experts gathered around the project will evaluate the resulting ideas and advise the participants on how to implement them.

Social entrepreneurship is becoming more and more popular and interesting these days, both to entrepreneurs and to numerous donors who are ready to finance ideas based on the Socio - Entrepreneurial Principles. Opportunities for financing such ideas are also offered through European funds, which is why we have developed a module for learners of “We know how”. the EU Academy. As part of this module, participants will learn how to find open competitions and how to read the instructions for applicants, how to collect tender documentation, how to design and present a good project idea. After the training, participants will, independently or in a team, apply project ideas to an imaginary competition and will then receive feedback on the quality of their application from certified project managers.

In order to present the business idea as best as possible in the everyday environment, it is necessary to place it in the online world through the website. That is why the participants of the training during the module Presentation of a business idea They will create a visual identity for their ideas, which they will then create with the support of a graphic designer, and then learn how to edit and update the website. In order to complete the whole story through several workshops, public relations experts will teach participants how to present their business idea to associates, partners, donors, employees and the public.

How can I get involved in education?
In education “We know how” completely free of charge, thanks to financial support the Ministry of Social Policy and Youth, persons who meet the following conditions may participate:

• They're 15 to 30 years old,
• They are unemployed people.
• They have a permanent residence in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.

Upon completion of the training, participants will receive diploma which describes all newly acquired knowledge and skills.
We take the best students to the Study trip to Veneto, Italy where they will get acquainted with examples of good practice of social entrepreneurship and cooperatives.

You can apply until 6 December 2015 at 23:59 via web forms. Before you complete the application, we advise you to check schedule giving lectures.

Since 1 September 2015, the Rijeka Development Agency Porin has been participating in the Erasmus+ project ‘Enterprise in Interface’ – ENTER. The first partnership meeting took place on 1 and 2 October in Belfast. The duration of the project is 24 months.

Partners in the project are:

• East Belfast Enterprise – Northern Ireland Development Agency located in Belfast
• Canice Consulting – a consultancy agency in Northern Ireland specialising in online learning;
• Creative Spark is a training agency for people living in the ‘interpretation’ area, Dundalk-Ireland
• Momentum is a training agency focusing on social inclusion, Leitrim, Ireland
• Association for the Development and Emancipation of Muslims (VOEM) is a national non-profit organisation active in adult education and promotes an open and tolerant society through social dialogue.

Conflicts in Northern Ireland have left behind many conflicts between Protestants and Catholics. Unfortunately, as immigration and ethnic diversity grow, there is a greater conflict between groups, causing ethno-religious tensions in urban centres across Europe. If left unaddressed, these tensions can cause further ghettoization, poverty and even open conflict, threatening a Europe that aims to achieve a peaceful and prosperous society for all.

Given the neutrality of entrepreneurship development within the public policy order and the emergence of innovative business models of mixing social and economic goals, now more than ever, education and training enterprise programmes have a major impact on personal and collective economic and social development in conflict areas.

The aim of the project is to improve the access and quality of training of social organizations to vulnerable groups living in the areas of confrontation by updating their knowledge, skills and organizational abilities.

To achieve this, we will:

1. a) Establish 4 ‘Enterprise in Interface’ alliances, with stakeholders from the public, private and non-profit sectors working together to explore the needs and opportunities to promote successful entrepreneurship in communities, and develop collective and individual strategies in 4 regional operational programmes.
2. b) Create, publish and promote the ‘Entrepreneurial Toolkit’ and encourage the creation of further Alliances across Europe.
3. c) Develop and publish a training plan and programme and training materials for emerging vocational practices, social innovation and business models and skills needed to effectively employ participants from these vulnerable backgrounds.
4. d) Test, publish and strongly promote the course, in order to facilitate its inclusion in mainstream vocational education.

The Rijeka Development Agency Porin participates in the project as a representative of the city, which is an example of good practice. Rijeka is a multicultural, tolerant city where members of different religions and nationalities live in peaceful coexistence (as evidenced by the fact that there are Catholic and Orthodox churches in Rijeka, as well as synagogues and mosques that allow members of different religions to perform their religious ceremonies with dignity, as well as the fact that members of 22 national minorities live in Rijeka).

If you want to see how the first partner meeting went, check out video.

The Ministry of Labour and Pension System, the Managing Authority for the Operational Programme ‘Efficient Human Resources’ 2014-2020, organised a Round Table on the European Social Fund for the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, which was held on 19 November 2015 at 10 a.m. at the Rijeka Development Agency PORIN.