The last working visit for sharing experience in the frame of the EFFECTS project, co-funded by Erasmus+ programme of the EC, was organised by the lead German partner in Berlin in late June. The partners’ organisations came together to discuss and formulate their learning and recommendations. We have spent almost two years working with this group of highly motivated and knowledgeable colleagues from different organisations and countries discussing practices of common interest.

The leading question of the whole project was “What is “good” educational support and how can the needs of families best be met within a neighbourhood?”. The idea that brought us together was to share and discuss various practical concepts and good practice of district work in a European comparison.

After a series of study visits to Freiburg, Liverpool, Gothenburg, Sofia and Osijek, we got together in Berlin. The partner organisations shared their Impressions, results and recommendations at the end of two years intensive exchanges among them during study visits and conferences in all participating countries.

As usually the team of Tulip Foundation invited colleagues form other organisations working with children and families in Bulgaria to join us at the working visit to Berlin. Maryia Daneva from Samaritans Association in Stara Zagora, Raina Dimitrova from Health and Social Development Foundation in Sofia, Miroslava Madjarova from the NGO Club in Targovishte and Aleksandrina Valcheva from the Office of the Ombudsman of the Republic of Bulgaria, took part in the study visit.

The first three colleagues are engaged in the projects for setting up family centres in the respective communities. On the last day of our visit we visited together a family centre in Neukölln Berlin with the support of our good colleagues from the Social Youth Service Neukölln. We learned a lot about the concept and the activities for children and their families.

Another interesting visit was the one to the Fathers Centre in Berlin, where the Head manager Eberhard Schäfer told us a lot about the development of the role of fathers in Germany.

On 26 June we hold the closing conference of the EFFECTS project at the High School of Governance in Berlin. There is more information in the agenda for the event.

The last conference was closed with a special concert and emotional speeches, but the lasting partnership will develop over the next years.