A talented boy, whose parents have been struggling to support him, find the joy of
fulfilment. A perfect recipe for both an award-wining movie and for a moving evening
screening to start our conference. If you plan to attend the conference but are still
considering if you should be there on September 11, please feel invited to both the
screening and the meeting with the filmmakers.

The main protagonist of the movie Sonata is Grzegorz Płonka. At the age of 14, he
was diagnosed with hearing impairment. Previously, it was assumed that the boy had
autism, but the breakthrough diagnosis changed his life. It gave him new dreams and their
fulfilment in playing the piano. Come and discover the story about the daily struggle of the
protagonist and his family, as they discover the truth and develop his talent.
The film has won many awards - including the Audience Award and Special Award at
the OFF Camera Festival, Złote Lwy (Golden Lions Award), and Orły (the Eagles Award).
The screening of Sonata will open this year's ISBA Conference. I will be held on
September 11 at the Lower Silesian Film Centre (DCF), which is a Conference Partner.

Please join us at the meeting with the authors of the book People Who Care (Personas que cuidan), published by the Chilean Foundation for Disability in 2022. The team – Matias Poblete Sandoval, Catalina González Maldonado and María José Salazar Soto  – will share their experience. The meeting will be led by Aleksandra Matyja and will focus on creating specific type of services and on the situation of people with disabilities and their families in Chile. 

The event is part of the Polish Network of Respite Tourism networking activities and will accompany this year’s International Short Break Association (ISBA) conference, held between September 11 – 14 in Wrocław, the capital of the Lower Silesia in Poland. 

The meeting with representatives of the Chilean Foundation for Disability is addressed to all people active in the area of respite services – both within official institutions and NGOs. During the meeting, we will discuss good practices related to establishment of this type of services, as well as good practices and solutions that are effective in the daily work within the respite services sector.  

lmportant information:

The meeting will be held on the 11^th of September at 2 p.m – 3.30 p.m in Dolnośląskie Centrum Filmowe (Lower Silesian Film Center, address: Wrocław, Piłsudskiego 64A). The meeting is open to all public and no registration is required. The meeting will be held in Spanish, with consecutive interpretation into Polish provided. The meeting will also be interpreted into Polish Sign Language.

Participation in the event is deemed to signify acceptance of the Terms and Conditions available both at the venue and online by clicking this link: [LINK].

The meeting is held within the framework of the task "Polish Network of Respite Tourism - networking meeting". The task is financed from the funds of the Marshal's Office of the Lower Silesia Region.

The event will be hosted by the institutional partner, the Lower Silesian Film Center - one of the cultural institutions of the Local Government of the Lower Silesia Region.

We have already described the beauty of Wrocław, the city that is hosting our conference. Now, we wish to show you the region of Lower Silesia that you will be visiting. To this end we invite you to watch the promotional film made by our friends from the Lower Silesian Marshal's Office, which has just been submitted to the CIFFT Circuit 2023 - a global competition, in which Video Ads and Promotional Films for tourism destinations compete for the prestigious title of the World's Best Tourism Film. The film is a real feat (you will find the link below) - it shows the side of Lower Silesia that we find delightful - a friendly place for cycling amateurs and professionals. The film also demonstrates that Lower Silesia is a region for everyone - including people with special needs, who will also find suitable places for cycling here, as we are all #EqualInPassion.

By winning the award at the festival, Lower Silesia will gain valuable points that qualify for the World Tourism Film Awards. Please, cheer for Lower Silesia, so it can join the illustrious group of winners that includes: Madrid Destino, Turismo Andalucía, Hungary Convention Bureau, Business Iceland, Lithuania Travel, Uganda Tourism Board and Tourism Australia.

Before it happens, however, let us meet for our conference. Ticket sales start soon. If you wish to be kept in the loop please subscribe to our newsletter here: https://isba.me/about-isba/#section-newsletter

Introduction

Murals are large-format paintings covering the walls of city buildings. Colourful walls and courtyards
certainly prevent Wrocław's neighbourhoods from being dull or ordinary. Following the city’s mural
trail can be one of the interesting ways of exploring the city when you come to the ISBA 2023
conference. The city guidebooks will tell you all about monuments and tourist sites, but during this
unusual walk you will gain a different perspective on Wrocław. You may find some hidden gems in
seemingly ordinary courtyards and streets.

Nadodrze

Our journey starts in Nadodrze, where we can see street art by artists from Poland, Great Britain and
Italy. Some of the Nadodrze tenement houses have been transformed due to the revitalisation
projects carried out by the city, while others have been decorated by artists and the local community.
Most of the murals in Nadodrze were created by artists invited by Wrocław's BWA (Contemporary
Art Gallery) as part of their Out of Sth project.
The courtyard between Jedności Narodowej and Roosevelta Streets is quite unique – it is actually a
great outdoor art gallery. All we need to do is to cross over to Nadodrze to find ourselves in another
world, full of art. 250-metre-tall paintings surround us on all sides. The walls are covered by ocean
blues, garden greens and blooming flowers, there are various creatures, the coral reef, dinosaurs and
quadrupeds captured in mid-movement. Every image here looks quite alive. The courtyard has been
transformed by local residents working together with artists from Wrocław. It demonstrates how
effectively we can create a sense of local belonging. Walking around the courtyard, we get the feeling
that we are participating in the daily life of the residents from nearby houses, and the pained figures
seem very vivid and realistic. Some are portraits of residents themselves. The murals tell us the story
of their hobbies and passions (also which sports club they cheer for), their favourite pets. There is a
poem and a sculpture of a very special big cat that also lives in Wrocław.
On the other side of the street, there are even more paintings - at 18 Rossevelta Street, we will find
murals related to Polish history, at number 24 - portraits of Polish women who were important
figures in Polish history - from Saint Jadwiga, the Queen of Poland, to the athlete Irena Szewińska.
There are murals inspired by the work of the world's greatest painters and the courtyard walls host
tributes to van Gogh, Munch, Wyspiański, Chagall and Frida Kahlo.
Still in Nadodrze, at 43 Rydgiera Street, there is a heart made of 430 ceramic tiles, created by people
who live or work in Nadodrze: children, young people, adults, NGO activists, artists and others. Each
of the makers has put a piece of their heart and their artistic skills into the project.

Rynek - the City Square

The location between Ruska Street and Św. Antoniego Street hosts an exceptionally colourful
courtyard, the walls of which have been painted by various artists. There is an octopus, a sea turtle
and many other creatures. After dark, the spot at 46a Ruska Street can also be admired in the glow of
neon lights.

The Botanical Garden and its vicinity

We do not always need to travel far to admire mural paintings in Wrocław, some of them will reveal
themselves during our daily commute by tram or while walking along the city's main street -
especially if you happen to be at the intersection of Sienkiewicza and Wyszyńskiego streets. The
mural on the tenement house at number 36 was one of the first to be created in Wrocław. It depicts
Wrocław buildings illuminated by the light of street lamps. The painting also features apple trees,
leaves, a black cat and a bicycle put against the wall.

Wyspa Słodowa

We propose to end our walk in one of Wrocław residents' favourite spots - the island called Wyspa
Słodowa. The entire side wall of one of the tenement houses on the island is covered by a mural
depicting a mysterious lady - a white and black figure dressed in an elaborate dress made of padlocks,

We propose to end our walk in one of Wrocław residents' favourite spots - the island called Wyspa
Słodowa. The entire side wall of one of the tenement houses on the island is covered by a mural
depicting a mysterious lady - a white and black figure dressed in an elaborate dress made of padlocks,

she even swallows one of them. It is the work of an internationally renowned artist called Blu, who
thus decorated the capital of Lower Silesia.
The Concordia Design location - our venue for this year's conference - also features a mural, one
made by the artist Alicja Biała. The painting covers over 500 square metres and focuses on the
importance of a mindful approach to others in today's fast-moving world, the significance of going
slow, in respect of the everyday, enabling contact with nature. The mural includes both real-life
characters and imaginary creatures, all placed within a landscape of four horizontal planes located on
the walls and the ceilings.
When you come to ISBA 2023, you will have the opportunity to see the city's street art with your own
eyes, enhanced by the colours painted by the autumn, adding its own charm to all outdoor art
galleries you visit. Please, feel welcome to join us!

Photographs available at (to be tagged): https://www.wroclaw.pl/extra/murale-wroclaw-mapa

It's already known! Proven and one of a kind. The place of our meeting during the ISBA
conference. It is Concordia Design building located on the picturesque Malt Island in the
vicinity of the historic Ostrow Tumski and a few steps from the Wroclaw Market Square. The
building itself is a business and cultural center. Interesting architecture and lots of greenery
around. On site, in addition to participating in the conference, you will be able to relax both
inside and outside, and from there you will easily get to many attractive points in Wroclaw.
We will tell you more about Concordia in the near future. In the meantime, it's worth
checking:
https://www.concordiadesign.pl/konferencje-wroclaw/
It is also worth knowing and saving in the calendar that registration for the ISBA 2023
conference starts on April 1. However, only for a month, i.e. from April 1 to April 30, 2023,
the conference fee is available at a promotional price. The sooner you decide to participate,
the better. Click the link below to learn about the conference fee:
https://isba.me/registration/

Warto też wiedzieć i zapisać w kalendarzu, że 1 kwietnia rusza rejestracja na
konferencję ISBA 2023. Jednak tylko przez miesiąc, czyli od 1 do 30 kwietnia 2023 opłata
konferencyjna dostępna jest w promocyjnej cenie. Im wcześniej podejmiesz decyzję o
udziale, tym lepiej. Kliknij link poniżej, aby zapoznać się z informacją nt. opłaty
konferencyjnej.
https://isba.me/pl/rejestracja/

1. Let us talk about respite services as such. What is especially notable in this kind of support?

I believe respite services are a unique and much-needed form of support because they draw attention to a group of people who are often forgotten. The closest family members, those who provide care for people with disabilities on a regular basis, who often devote all their time to that care. Like anybody else, carers also need a break. And respite services provide them with such a break, preventing burnout. It is often mistakenly assumed that the main beneficiary of respite support projects is the person living with disability, in need of care, or the elderly. However, the prime focus here is their family, people from their immediate environment. Of course, people with disabilities also benefit from respite projects.

2. The next International Short Break Association (ISBA) conference will be held in September 2023. Why should people attend?

Attending this conference is, among other things, an opportunity to see how respite programmes work in other countries. It will be a space in which we will share our experience and discuss possibilities of adopting particular ideas in our countries, where we will brainstorm to open up to new solutions and perhaps even improve them. The conference will also facilitate networking between organisations from different countries - this is always a very important aspect. An inspiring meeting among specialists is priceless.

3. The conference location, Wrocław and Lower Silesia - are they also assets of this year's edition?

Of course! On the one hand, the conference is a meeting of experts, specialists and professionals who can jointly develop innovative solutions, and on the other hand, it is an opportunity for participants to have a nice time in an interesting place - it is part of the conference programme. Lower Silesia and its capital, the city of Wrocław, have plenty to offer. Wrocław is one of the most beautiful, most visited Polish cities with a remarkable history and many modern attractions. You can read about some of them on our conference website. Lower Silesia also offers a wealth of different kinds of experience. Visiting tourists are usually delighted. I suggest that as you plan your visit for the conference, you might also consider spending a few extra days here to delve deeper into the city and the region.

4. Please, tell us about your Association/Foundation.

Our "Potrafię Pomóc" (I Can Help) Foundation was set up in Wrocław almost fifteen years ago. It emerged out of collaboration started between parents of children living with disabilities and rare diseases. We decided to work togeher to find solutions and help our children, to support other families who found themselves in a similar situation. This is how our story began, and today, the Foundation is a well-established organisation that supports around 10,000 people every year. We run the first respite care flat in Wrocław, which is also intended for people who are bedridden or require respiratory support or enteral feeding. We run assisted living projects and summer activities for children and young people with disabilities. Our initiatives in Wrocław include: Rehabilitation and Education Centre for Exceptional Children and Therapeutic Pre-school Facility for Exceptional Children. We have established the Bartłomiej Skrzyński Diagnostic and Therapeutic Centre for Rare Diseases, which is quite unique in the country, and we run the Accessibility Institute. We are happy to share ideas and keen to observe good practices, collaborate with other organisations, the local government and representatives of state institutions - we know very well that "More is Possible Together"!

1. Let us talk about respite services as such.  What is especially notable in this kind of support?

The key objective is to support families and those caring for older people or people with disabilities, to enable them to regenerate, both mentally and physically, to mitigate stress involved in performing everyday tasks, so that they can function better as they fulfil various roles in life. At the same time, it is equally important to offer e.g., people with disabilities an opportunity to take part in activities that foster their development, in line with their needs. Without these, the service will not succeed.

2. The next International Short Break Association (ISBA) conference will be held in September 2023. Why should people attend?

The ISBA conference is a unique opportunity to learn about international solutions in the area of respite and family support services. In addition, it creates an opportunity to forge connections with people from other countries, who are committed to their work and who also value the power of relationship building. For the first time the conference will take place in Poland, and since previous conferences have been organised in the US, UK, Iceland or Australia, participants from our part of Europe will now have much easier access to the event. In my view, due to the extraordinary openness of the ISBA community, it has always been more than a conference - it is an experience!

3. The conference location, Wrocław and Lower Silesia - are they also assets of this year's edition?

The event fits in with the city's long-standing policy of promoting Wrocław as open-minded, “Wroclaw - The meeting place”, or “Wrocław Without Barriers”. The city has traditionally hosted large international events such as EXPO, EURO and World Games. The overall ambience is conducive to meeting new people, given a rich cultural and tourist offer, which is true of both Wroclaw and the entire region.

4. Please, tell us about your Association/Foundation.

For more than 10 years, Imago Foundation has been a national pioneer in the development of personal assistant and respite services, accessibility, vocational counselling and adventure therapy. Our programmes currently benefit approximately 450 people per year in six different cities and regions in Poland. Networking with public administration institutions and other foundations or associations is our daily bread, a way to achieve our goals. Cooperation with our foreign partners has always been an inexhaustible source of inspiration which we like to share - in recent years we have organized more than 40 study visits for over 400 participants.

1. Let us talk about about respite services as such. What is especially notable in this kind of support?

People who care for a dependent family member on a daily basis tend to arrange their entire life around that care. As they commit themselves wholeheartedly and strive to provide the best possible care, they often forget about themselves and their own needs. Caring for a dependent person on a continuous basis can be very exhausting physically and mentally. That is why it is so important to give carers the opportunity for respite, a break from their demanding duties, a moment just for themselves, which is how I imagine respite services need to be implemented.

2. The next International Short Break Association (ISBA) conference will be held in September 2023. Why should people attend?

As a non-governmental organisation, we keep an open attitude and look for new solutions. We implement many ideas intuitively at first and then come up with proven solutions. However, we are aware that there are many such solutions and proposals, and many of them are already fully operational, including their legal aspects. That is why it is worthwhile to attend the conference - it will be an opportunity to participate in an international 'brainstorming', an 'idea factory', where we can both examine data presented by others and generate our own ideas. Join us!

3. The conference location, Wrocław and Lower Silesia - are they also assets of this year's edition?

Yes, definitely! Wrocław is a "meeting place" full of open-minded people. In the streets you can also come across little dwarf statues, among them those with disabilities. The city is the capital of truly magical Lower Silesia - you may want to see and experience its ambience for yourself.

4. Please, tell us about your Association/Foundation.

BONITUM - Wrocław-based Association for People with Intellectual Disabilities was established in 2014 by parents of adult children with intellectual disabilities. One of the Association's successes has been creating the BONITUM Community Self-Help Centre, set up in 2018. The Association organises numerous workshops, trainings, lectures both for people with intellectual disabilities and their families and friends, provides personal assistant and respite services, organizes integrative tourist trips, competes in numerous Special Olympics disciplines, cooperates in the Work Coach project. Members of the association also attend scientific conferences, co-produce award-winning THEM-movie series episodes and participate in international projects.