The project initiatives implemented in the coming months will be conducted under the slogan "Dialogue. Communication. Public Safety."
There will be three types of training: intercultural communication, communication focusing on strategies for conflict de-escalation and linguistic communication. The last type of training has two dimensions: one involves communication exercises with people with limited knowledge of Polish (e.g., Ukrainian citizens), and the other concerns communication in English (e.g., with people with no knowledge of Polish at all, such as tourists). The training will be held in the Faculty of Philology building in groups of 20 people, in five sessions during the academic year 2025/26
– explains Dr Monika Tosik, project activities coordinator.
Mutual cooperation
The agreement, signed on Thursday, covers a broad range of cooperation between the entities. The parties agreed, among other things, to develop joint strategies and actions aimed at improving security and the integration of foreign citizens in Lodz, conduct research and training activities, organise symposia, seminars and training sessions, as well as develop training and teaching materials.
We want to teach police officers how to communicate with foreign citizens who have a relatively poor command of Polish, either because they haven't yet mastered it or simply don't need it. This is crucial because simple sentences and a few tricks, which we, as teachers of Polish as a foreign language know, are often enough. We know that these tips are truly useful. The research on communication effectiveness that we conduct as linguists at the Faculty of Philology helps us create such instructions
– explains Dr Mateusz Gaze.
Employees of the Faculty of Philology at the University of Lodz will also benefit from the project. The Municipal Police Headquarters in Lodz has announced that it will conduct safety training for the faculty employees.
We help and protect! This is the motto of the Police in Lodz. Last year, 4.7 million tourists visited the city. This year, it is estimated that 5 million will come, all wanting to feel safe, explore the city and have a good time. I believe that by providing this type of training to our officers, we will be able to better ensure the safety of the citizens of our city and beyond. As part of this agreement, we, as a partner in this project, also want to offer a series of more practical training courses: in self-defence and preventative behaviours
– says the Commander of the Municipal Police in Lodz, Junior Inspector Mariusz Siejka.
Another such project
It should be mentioned that these will be further joint initiatives by both entities. The Faculty of Philology at the University of Lodz and the Municipal Police Headquarters in Lodz cooperated on the “Otwarta Łódź” [Open Lodz] project, co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund under the Knowledge, Education, and Development Operational Programme between 2019 and 2022. Those initiatives enabled public sector employees, who are the first line of contact with foreign citizens, to enhance their linguistic and cultural competencies.
