11. LESSON 10. DEMONSTRATION OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CASE
11.3.3. The strategic plan of a non-governmental organisation (Kurt Lewin Foundation)
The strategy of Kurt Lewin Foundation is demonstrated in this subchapter, which is an appropriate example for young geographers to make a strategic plan. The foundation provides the enhancement of democratic society based on personal responsibility and cooperation, the head of its Board of Trustees is György Liget, the national specialist of CSR. We demonstrate the strategic plan of the organisation accepted in Budapest in 2010 without changes.
1. INTRODUCTION
The Kurt Lewin Foundation organised its work in the previous year according to the strategy of 2006-2009.
Closing this period they rethought the future and mission of the 15- year-old organisation, reworded their objectives, values, and thought about the efficiency of connected tools.
Making the strategy was based on own experiences and approaches, moreover on demands and reactions of external environment. The enhancement of conflicts among groups and within the group, losing confidence in democratic institutions, and distortion of democratic debate is experienced considering the present Hungarian society. We summarized in our strategy, what kind of answers will be given in the following years to these challenges.
2. WHO ARE WE?
The Kurt Lewin foundation is independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation; its colleagues are specialists dealing with social sciences.
• the ideas, opinions, arguments and cons of colleagues are channelled in the frame of
• everybody feel and know that his daily activity is for achievement of objectives,
• there is a workplace atmosphere, which makes attractive the common work despite the difficulties,
• the high-level work is expected,
• there is opportunity for professional development,
• colleagues are open for constructive critics of others and from outside,
• the voluntaries, trainees and the subcontractors are honoured colleagues; calculable and correct conditions for common working is provided for them,
• colleagues can be proud of their work.
Our central values:
• variegation
• cooperation
• critical thinking
• innovation
• professionalism
• transparency
• optimism 3. OUR VISION
We imagine a Hungary, where the members of the society
• think that the transparency and legality is a value and an expectation,
• represent their own opinions, interests and able to review them,
• pursue to know their closer and wider environment and the social facts,
• open-minded for understanding the others’ interests and accepting opinions and constructive critics,
• pursue to word common objectives and their implementation.
Summarizing the members of the society create a mutually beneficial cooperation, where everybody takes part as an active and interested citizen. By that they have created such a community, where the members take responsibility for themselves and each other, and are able to do anything for their happiness.
4. OUR MISSION
The Kurt Lewin Foundation provides the enhancement of democratic society based on personal responsibility and cooperation.
5. OUR OBJECTIVES
The aim of the Kurt Lewin Foundation is to strengthen the social dialogue, to increase the citizens’ activity and to promote social investments by
• collecting objective social and citizen knowledge and spreading them widely,
• knowing and treating social prejudices,
• uncovering the problems of communities involving the stakeholders, identifying the possible solutions,
• promoting the assertiveness of underprivileged groups,
• facilitating meetings having positive output among different members of society,
• supporting cooperation among groups and sectors,
• developing the efficient and democratic operation and communication of different organisations.
The Kurt Lewin Foundation has not a goal, which focuses on:
• occasional advocacy,
• excluding of anybody,
• taking part in actions for political party aims.
6. OUR TARGET GROUPS Our direct target groups:
• • specialists and persons acting in organisations, who have multiplier effect, primarily
• school citizens (teachers, persons, pupils)
• heads of business organisations,
• heads of non-governmental organisations,
• responsible, active citizens, opinion-formers, who are ready for community-level democratic cooperation.
Our indirect target groups are people who are concerned by the above mentioned activities, primarily
• students of higher education,
• colleagues of business organisations,
• colleagues of non-governmental organisations,
• members of underprivileged groups.
7. OUR TOOLS Research:
Utilizing the toolbox of social scientific research we carry out examines based on focus group, interview, observation, and questionnaire. Surveys focus on uncovering social phenomena, with particular regarding problems of underprivileged groups. These methods are applied for monitoring programmes, controlling organisations, uncovering the characteristics of organisational operation. Our research programmes support the developmental opportunities in the analysed field.
Tuition, development:
Our tuition programmes (training, caching, further training, lesson development, organisation and community development) are concentrated primarily to the fields of democratic cooperation, communication, conflict treatment. We try to achieve to find solutions for the organisational problems commonly by involving participants, channelling their opinion in order that communities could work in a pleasure atmosphere efficiently.
Communication, awareness:
Social scientific facts are relayed in a user-friendly way by our websites, broadcast, and publications. Besides that we put emphasis on the demonstration of different aspects, values and interest. Our programmes offer opportunity for crashing the different opinions in the frame of democratic debate and the channelling of feedbacks of media consumers.
Tenders:
Our tender programmes make the processes transparent and democratic, which determine the method of selection partners and services, and support activities. Our method is based on our decades of experience in the Hungarian non-governmental and business sector and our relationship system, which application is based on demand survey in every case.
We pursue to apply the above mentioned tools building on each other and connecting, thereby make our work more efficient (Kurt Lewin Foundation, 2010).
The planning participants: Cake Baly Olivio, Gábor Héra, Márton Illés, Julianna Kiss, György Ligeti, Judit Mocsári, Ágnes Oravecz, Mónika Paulik, Angéla Sánta, Angéla Szabó, Katalin Széger.