Ending homelessness through Poland's kaucja return system
CAN IT! turns Poland's deposit-return system into paid, dignified work for people experiencing homelessness. Every 0,50 zł deposit is split in half: one half is a wage, the other funds the loop. Here is the model at a glance, with every document and a live earnings simulator.
The film
90-second overviewThe 50/50 rule
For every 0,50 zł deposit reclaimed, half is paid as a 100% take-home wage and half runs the whole system. Grants and the expert panel's donated expertise only fund the one-off build, never the running loop, so the model stands on the kaucja itself.
Start here
Concept & Briefing Paper
The whole system, the kaucja context, the model and the national rollout.
Earnings simulator
See what a service user can earn from returned cans, in Polish or English.
The full concept pack
Open any document in the viewer, or download it. All figures are illustrative and confidential to the panel.
Learning
CAN IT! as ready-made, bilingual service learning, mapped to the Polish curriculum and the 2026 project-week reform. Hover a stage to see what it looks like, then open any material.
Poland is rolling out several curriculum reforms that schools have been left to interpret with little guidance. CAN IT! turns that into an opportunity: a free, ready-to-run programme that already covers the new subjects and project-week requirements, so a school can adopt it straight out of the box.
Przyroda is expanding into two more year groups and extra hours, and schools are not ready. Build your programme around CAN IT!, with free use of the PALAWAN 1.0 model for curriculum development, and walk into the new subject already covered.
From the 2026/2027 school year, the Kompas Jutra reform makes a group project week obligatory for grades 4–8. CAN IT! is built for exactly this: a real, local, measurable project that all but runs itself, with lesson plans, roles and outcomes ready to go. Service completed this way is also recognised toward secondary-school admission under the Prawo oświatowe (art. 134 and 148). A school adopts CAN IT! and meets the requirement on day one, at no cost.
Service learning, stage by stage
The curriculum map
Hover a cell for detail Compulsory / core Enabled / building Optional / not yetIndicative materials
A powerful AI model that connects learning across policy, countries and context to deliver outstanding outcomes for students of all ages. Provided by cosmoeducation.org
The Experts
The eleven experts giving their time to build CAN IT!.
What the Panel of Experts does
The invited panel gives its time and expertise for free to build CAN IT! from its first city to a national movement. In practice, that means:
- ◆Design and build the service-user app and the smart-point collection network.
- ◆Secure permitting, legal, compliance and the social-enterprise set-up.
- ◆Open doors across retail, government, healthcare and social care.
- ◆Guide the launch, the training and the outreach in the first city.
Their donated expertise, worth about 1M zł, means grants and the kaucja never fund the one-off build. The panel turns the concept into a working, funded venture, and lends its name and networks to get it off the ground.
Service-user earnings simulator
An interactive, Polish-first calculator of what a service user can earn from the kaucja. Adjust the cans, days and share to see take-home pay. It also installs to a phone home screen as an app.
Start local, scale nationally, take the concept globally
Do for urban poverty and social inequality what Uber did for taxis: a simple, trusted service that turns an everyday act into dignified work, then scales it city by city.
A proven model, worldwide
Hover a lime country to see how its deposit-return worksWhere are we going next?
Poland's ten largest cities · hover a pulsing city for the live local pictureA modest five-year path through Poland
Cities live and the annual impact as CAN IT! scales. Illustrative, not a forecast.
Join the panel, build a national movement
This is an invitation to a small panel of experts to shape and champion CAN IT! from the first city to a national programme.
The ask
- Roughly 3 to 4 hours a week to begin with, mostly in the evenings so a 9-to-5 can continue.
- Across the panel, that donated time is anticipated at around 1M zł of expertise in kind, so the pilot launches without buying the build.
- A short introductory call to start, then a light, flexible commitment as the pilot takes shape.
What the panel brings, by skill
Eight areas of senior expertise, orbiting the first Polish city they bring to life. Hover a skill to see what it delivers.
Ready to say yes?
Find your card and respond.
People experiencing homelessness earning viable salaries and becoming financially empowered. Open The Experts, click your card, and tell us "Count me in!" with the evenings you're free next week at 19:30 for an intro call.