Due to missing possibilities in Europe for staff to get qualified in the field of deafblindness, it is strongly indicated to develop a broad and innovative staff training program. This is even more needed as you keep in mind the necessity for an outstanding expertise in the work with people with deafblindness, respectively the fatal consequences of a lack in expertise because of the high dependency of people with deafblindness owing to their combined loss of senses. This program can secure the participation of people with deafblindness in the society during their whole span of life. Therefore it has to be taken into account that - because of the high specific of deafblindness in connection with comparatively just a few high qualified professionals - a pooling of competencies of the leading centres for deafblindness in the German language area (one from Austria, one from Switzerland and four from Germany) and the Netherlands (two centres) is required. It is solely with this method possible to generate a sustainable staff training program and an appropriate standard in the qualification of staff. The choice of the seven involved centres and 14 representatives (the so called "core team") is based on the highest possible excellence in expertise (i.e. international Master´s course "communication and deafblindness" and experience (up to 40 years of work experience) in the field; it was possible to involve the best in their field in PropäK EQUAT and for the development of the staff training program. Our goal is to develop a staff training program which consists on the systematic-methodic level out of six modules (I presence modules; II transfer phases; III learning partnerships; IV onlinesharing; V individual portfolio; VI learning congress) and on the level of content out of five qualification fields (I video analysis; congenital deafblindness and social interaction; III meaning making and practical training ; IV combined sensory impairment and acquired deafblindness; V learning congress). This training program addresses staff which is working with children and adults with deafblindness. Innovative is the way of teaching, as this is based on current findings from research in adult education and neurophysiology. Our method of developing the staff training program is to divide the whole program into six different contents and to allocate responsible people for these parts as well as team partners for them. These six parts form the six intellectual outputs: Four basis modules referring to the four standard books on communcation and congenital deafblindness which were translated from English to German in the prior EU project. Beside these four basis modules there are two special modules which focus on video analysis and on combined sensory impairment as well as on aquired deafblindness. In every qualification area the six systematic-methodically modules are considered. The concrete result is a folder for participants and for lecturers of the staff training program which contains aspects of content and methods attached to the qualification areas. This folder makes an independent implementation and participation of and in the staff training program possible. Due to the staff training program the expertise in the German speaking area will increase and for the first time an European Standard will be developed. After the project, the staff training program shall be translated and a very high impact is possible. Generally, participants and people who were involved in the development of the program will gain more motivativation for their everyday work. Additionally the field of deafblindness will become more and more recognised as a field on its own. Next to the development of a staff training program a big impact will be reached by the two multiplier events, the future learning congresses which go along with the staff training program as well as the goal directed public relations. Within the core team meetings the topic consultation for youths and adults will get a special space, which accords to the spirit of time of inclusion and leads to a shared expertise in this area between the partners as well as to a shared expertise with other partners with whom this knowledge is being shared. Altogether seven core team meetings will take place and additionally two meetings of the working group, whereas the preparation referring staff training program is fulfilled by the members who are responsible for a part and their team partners and the core team works as a corrective. Sustainable are the learning effects of the participants of the staff training program (there will be a pilot), the increasing motivation of the people who are developing the program as well as the increase in expertise in this team and in the core team. But also the existence of a program in German language as well as the possibility for translation into other languages. The European Network is being tightened and can in future open up for more partners.
Due to the lack of qualification offers in the field of deafblindness throughout Europe, it is strongly indicated to develop a broad and innovative staff training program. This is even more needed as you keep in mind the necessity for an outstanding expertise in the work with people with deafblindness. The effect of the absence of expertise due to the high degree of dependence of people with deafblindness owing to their combined loss of senses is fatal. This program is the only way to ensure the participation of people with deafblindness in society throughout their entire life span. For this purpose, due to the high specifity of deafblindness in connection with relatively few highly qualified professionals, we have concentrated on a competence pooling of the eight leading centers for deafblindness in the German language area – two from the Netherlands, one from Austria, one from Switzerland and four from Germany. Only in this way could a sustainable implementation of the development of a staff training program and an appropriate standard in the qualification of staff be guaranteed. The selection of the participating institutions with a total of 15 experts (core team members) is based on the highest possible professional excellence (e.g. international Master’s course "communication and deafblindness") and experience (up to 40 years of professional experience) in the field. It was possible to involve the best in their field for cooperation and their individual areas are taken into account in terms of content and method. The aim was to develop a structural-methodological approach comprising six modules (I presence modules; II transfer phases; III learning partnerships; IV online sharing; V individual portfolio; VI learning congress) and on the level of content out of five qualification fields (I video analysis; congenital deafblindness and social interaction; III meaning making and practical training; IV combined sensory impairment and acquired deafblindness; V learning congress) for people, who are working with children, youths and adults with deafblindness, which has been very successful. Innovative is the way of teaching, as this is developed and differentiated on current findings from research in adult education and neurophysiology. The method of developing the staff training program was created by developing six high-quality modules in partial responsibility and supporting team partners: These are four basic modules based on four standard books on communication and congenital deafblindness, which were translated from English into German in the predecessor project PropäK and two special modules focusing on video analysis and combined sensory impairments, respectively in the denomination of the extended group of persons implemented in the four basic modules. The six modules are taken into account in each qualification. The concrete result is a folder for those carrying out the qualification program, which contains aspects of content and methods attached to the qualification areas. This folder makes an independent implementation and participation of and in the staff training program possible. Due to the staff training program the expertise in the German-speaking area and with subsequent translation also in other language areas was significantly improved and for the first time an European standard was developed; participants and developers have become more motivated. In addition, the field of deafblindness will become more and more recognized as a field on its own. In addition to the development of a staff training program, the work of the network was influenced above all by the three multiplier events, the future learning congresses in the course of the staff training program and the goal directed public relations. Furthermore, the topic of consulting - both in the children and youth as well as in the adult sector - was a further focus of the core team meetings, which corresponds to the spirit of inclusion and to a shared expertise of the partner institutions and of the institutions with which this knowledge has been shared. A total of seven core team meetings and twelve additional working group meetings took place, whereby the preparatory work in matters of staff training program was carried out by partially responsible persons and team partners and a corrective was then developed in the core team. The learning effects of the participants of the staff training program, the increasing motivation of the developers as well as an increase in professionalism, but also the existence of a German-language program as well as the possibility of translation into other languages and the existence of a consolidated European network, which will be expanded by additional partners in the future, are thus sustainable.