Suchergebnisse

The complexity and ambiguity of suicide are the main factors hampering the development of fully effective measures against suicidal behavior. Nonetheless, risk factors identified in the scientific literature allow for creating more and more effective preventive strategies, which seems essential, particularly in countries with high suicide rates. The most effective strategies are multidimensional and operate on a different level, addressing specific target groups (those at risk of suicide, and those professionals who may offer support to them), as well as local communities and society as a whole (to increase awareness about mental health and suicidal behavior). In order to develop effective strategies, tailored to specific societal needs, the in-depth exploration of the phenomena is needed, which may lead to planning evidence-based policies. This article elaborates on the process of research, development, and implementation of the suicide prevention strategy in Finland since the mid-1980s and its role in public policy. The decline in suicide rates in Finland is addressed in this context and the potential inspiration for the Polish suicide prevention is discussed.

The article presents issues related to the occurrence of political risk in local government in Poland. It will attempt to identify the symptoms to demonstrate the possibility of a political budget cycle in local government units. On the basis of budgetary data an empirical analysis of local governments will be carried out, with a particular emphasis on debt levels, capital expenditures, and a result of the budget in the years of local elections and pre-election periods. The presented research results cover all categories of local government units, i.e., municipalities, cities with poviat rights, poviats, and voivodships. The time range of the analysis is 2003-2019. The empirical part is preceded by a literature review, both in terms of the election cycle and the risk related to local debt management. The adopted structure of the article allows obtaining an answer to the question of whether there is a political risk in the surveyed entities.

About 1 million migrants currently reside in Poland, and mainly they are workers from Ukraine. Restrictions on crossing the borders of the Republic of Poland in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic and the prospect of economic recession have become motivating factors for Ukrainian workers to leave the Polish labor market. Restrictions of trade and services in many Polish enterprises forced the reduction of their staff in fear of bankruptcy. Entrepreneurs who dismissed their employees without waiting for government support in the form of the "anti-crisis shield" most often focused on people with the lowest seniority, who are not on employment contracts, and those coming from national minorities. The analysis of the migration of Ukrainian workers in Poland during the COVID- 19 outbreak will allow us to assess the scale of this migration and attempt to answer the question whether Polish entrepreneurs act in the spirit of national patriotism or racism. The study aims to analyze the response of public services and institutions as a result of migration caused by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Migration and compilations related to crossing the state border have revealed the poor preparation of border services for such a large scale of migration. There has also been an increase in the number of cases of national racism in the society.

The aim of the article is to present the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the process of migrant integration in Poland. To achieve this goal, a case study of Łomża and actions taken by a local NGO towards migrants are analyzed. The article was written on the basis of desk research and field research, in which the technique of individual in-depth interviews conducted with the representatives of local authorities and non-governmental organizations was used. The analysis of the NGOs' activities towards the migrants in Łomża showed that these are typical activities taken by NGOs. However, the fact that these actions have taken place in a medium-sized city make it unique, different from the activities taking place in other large cities.

In the last couple of years, the concept of knowledge co-production has become more prominent. However, the meaning of the term and its relationship with the evidence-based policy (EBP) remains ambiguous. The main objectives of the review were to describe how the co-production of knowledge has been defined, the roles that individual actors can play in the process and the relationship between knowledge co-production and the evidence-based policy approach. The author asserted that the knowledge co-production was treated by the researchers both as a participatory research method and as an institutional solution for better policy implementation.

The social economy sector is an important area of public policy implementation in social assistance and the labor market. Social economy entities have instruments of public financial support at their disposal, including returnable ones, enabling them to develop and achieve economic and social goals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they received new support instruments of a unique nature compared to the existing solutions. An important issue is the flexibility of public policy responses and the ability to jointly - the public authority and the non-profit stakeholder community - to develop and implement support to protect this sector, which is sensitive to economic crises resulting from the consequences of operating restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The social enterprise, or more broadly social entrepreneurship, is certainly one of the most fascinating innovations of recent decades, still eluding theoretically satisfactory explanation.

The main aim of this paper is to present the impact which the Government Program for Social Participation of Senior Citizens (in Polish: Rządowy Program na rzecz Aktywności Społecznej Osób Starszych; ASOS) for the years 2014-2020 had on the social activation of the elderly in Poland, based on a case study of one project. The first part of the article presents a justification for research concerning the activation of the elderly in Poland. Next, the paper discusses the main objective of ASOS, as well as its significance as the first national-level public intervention for social activation of the elderly in Poland. Then, the effects of ASOS on the social activation of the elderly are analyzed. The analysis is based on a qualitative approach to impact evaluation of the Active Regardless of Age project, which was co-financed by ASOS. Finally, the authors identify a list of various types of outcomes achieved by the project which apply to social activation of the elderly. Moreover, the issue of generalizing the project findings for the entire ASOS is discussed. Finally, the paper presents research results of the Innovative Social Investment: Strengthening Communities in Europe (InnoSI) project funded under the Horizon 2020 Program.

The article examines how the perception of gender identities of tenants and owners was constructed in normalizing discourses regarding re-privatization/property restitution in Warsaw in 2004-2016. As a theoretical approach, it applies the feminist post-structuralist perspective developed by Sophie Watson (2000a). The data were collected with discourse analysis, as proposed by Judith Baxter (2008a). The article identifies two discourses pertaining to re-privatization/property restitution in Warsaw: 1) property restitution discourse, under which returning property to former owners (or their heirs) is presented as a moral imperative; and 2) expropriation of tenants discourse, focusing on abuse, fraud and human misfortune stemming from the passage of municipal housing stock to the descendants of former owners. In both discourses, tenants were ascribed a feminine identity, and owners a masculine one (G. Hofstede, G.J. Hofstede, 2007). That affected the tenants' and owners' positions in the housing policy process.

Citizen participation is becoming an important element of self-government practice in Poland. One of the tools supporting the process of involving residents in local government matters is participatory budgeting. Its fundamental importance is to provide residents of local government units with the possibility of deciding on the allocation of some budget expenses, in particular those relating to infrastructure investments. Participatory budgeting is one of the most effective citizen practices aimed at involving residents in managing their cities. However, it can be a tool or a single project and a part of a thorough, long-term, and comprehensive reform of urban policy, based on the city's administrative reform. Citizen engagement is also seen as an instrument of state effectiveness. When citizens can meet their needs and hold public institutions accountable, public money is likely to be used more efficiently to deliver public goods and services that are better suited to citizens' needs. Recognition of the potential of citizen involvement in public affairs is widespread. The aim of the article is to present the concept and genesis of citizen participation as well as to analyze and compare the completed editions of the Zielona Góra Participatory Budgeting in 20132020. A particular attention was paid to the types of winning tasks and the principles of budget implementation.

When analyzing the importance of Maghreb in Spain's foreign policy, attention should be paid to its geostrategic location, between Europe and Africa. This gives priority to southern Mediterranean countries. The historical experiences and socio-cultural pluralism (the clash of Christian and Muslim civilizations) are also important. The mutual economic relations deserve attention. Spain's relations with the Maghreb are often seen only through the prism of relations with Morocco. They can be described as so-called relación obcesiva. For decades, bilateral relations focused primarily on issues such as immigration, Spanish possessions in North Africa, and the issue of Western Sahara. The main goal for Spain was to stabilize not only Morocco but all of the Maghreb. The strategic importance of the region was due to its geographical proximity, economic and trade potential as well as cultural influences.

The assessment of the implementation of the environmental policy in China is usually made in the context of the application of environmental law. The author proposes a different approach, assuming that the policy outcomes depend not only on such or other prerogatives at individual levels of management but on the mutual interaction of individual actors. The article indicates to what extent the central authority is able to define policy goals along with an adequate system of supervision of implementation, what is the perception of local authorities, and in what conditions local authorities are willing to accept the objectives of the ecological policy. It has been identified in which conditions sub-national authorities may distort centrally planned activities related to environmental protection.

The year 1999 marked the beginning of reforms in social insurance in Poland. Changes which were implemented then regarded mainly retirement insurance. Until the reform was introduced, the retirement insurance had operated under a pay-as-you-go system. However, political changes in Poland, as well as adverse demographic trends, led to ineffective functioning of the existing system of financing liabilities arising from retirement insurance. It was necessary to introduce changes that, above all, would allow for maintaining an appropriate level of retirement pension. The following article concentrates on one selected aspect of this insurance - Open Pension Funds (in Polish: Otwarte Fundusze Emerytalne; OFEs) and presents major changes occurring in 2002-2018, their reasons and effects. The analysis is mainly based on data from the Financial Supervision Authority and the Social Insurance Institution.

Effective regulation of the financial market is clearly crucial to innovation and the future success of the financial services industry and, in particular, FinTech companies. Prior to the global financial crisis, financial innovation was viewed very positively, resulting in many markets in the deregulatory approach to financial regulation. During the crisis, the regulatory pendulum swang to the other extreme. Dramatic technological change has spurred the development of financial technology companies (FinTech). FinTech and other financial services providers profoundly challenge the current regulatory paradigm. Financial regulators are increasingly seeking to balance the traditional regulatory approaches to financial stability and consumer protection with promoting growth and innovation. The resulting regulatory innovations include technology, innovation hubs, regulatory sandboxes, and special charters. This paper analyses new regulatory approaches, structured experimentalism (such as sandboxes), and the development of specific new regulatory frameworks.

The restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic limited the functioning of society as a whole. For organizations working in the field of social activation, e.g., for older people, this meant that existing activities came to a stop. Was it, therefore, possible to continue activating older people? The aim of this study is to identify the ways in which selected organizations in Poland tried to cope with this situation through their Facebook pages. Posts from 20 accounts run by entities involved in the social activation of older people in four provincial cities were analyzed. As a result of a thematic analysis of the collected posts, it was possible to determine the spectrum in which the examined pages functioned, i.e., from a creator of reality providing the latest information, to a close friend who cares for, helps, and even talks to the recipients. Also connected to this was the form of activation carried out on the sites. The research revealed varying degrees of participation in activities conducted by organizations and institutions, and the conclusions presented here are a contribution to research into social media in public policy and the activation of older people.