The project New Horizons is addressing the needs of a very specific target and at the same time heterogeneous target group - people who have acquired disability after an accident or illness which is still under investigated at EU level. While a comprehensive quantitative analysis of employment situation of people with various types of disabilities has been published by Eurostat in 2015, the qualitative analysis of the concrete needs of people who have lost their job or are at risk of losing it due to some accident or long-standing illness, it still missing.One of the main aims of the current project is to explore in details the challenges this specific target group is facing in the process of re-integration in the labour market and the society as whole. This would be the basis for the adaption and upgrade of a training programme for career counselling for unemployed people with acquired disabilities. The programme will be piloted with a small group of experienced adult trainers/career counsellors at EU level and then disseminated with broader groups of adult educators at national level. The training programme will be accompanied by a Career counselling manual which will describe the holistic methodology of the counselling process which not only aims at increasing the employability skills of this disadvantaged target group but also at fostering their self-awareness, self-esteem and self-motivation and empowering them to full participation in the society. The Empower yourself career kit will play an additional motivational role for the long-term unemployed people with disabilities through making them familiar with real success stories, motivational video etc. Mutual exchange of experience, ideas and support will be fostered through the Online Social Tool which will go beyond the pure e-learning platform by creating a community of unemployed people with disabilities with similar interests and needs as well as counsellors willing to support them in their full re-integration in labour market and society. Another innovative element of the project outputs in New Horizons is the possibility for assessment and validation of concrete skills and competences acquired by both target groups – unemployed people with disabilities and counsellors which will foster their personal and professional development. Last, but not least, the project results will be discussed and disseminated with relevant stakeholders as ministries, agencies, employers, NGO’s working with people with disabilities, hospitals, rehabilitation centers etc. in order not only to raise awareness about the needs and the potential of this disadvantaged target group, but also to formulate concrete policy recommendations which will be addressed to the responsible decision makers at national and European level.The direct target groups which would benefit from the project activities and outputs are appr. 60 trainers and counsellors in the participating partner countries, and appr. 60 long-term unemployed people with disabilities acquired after an accident or a long-standing illness. The indirect target groups which will be reached through the various training and dissemination events as well as through the partner networks will go beyond 500 at international level.The New Horizons Methodology, that will be applied in the current project, has the following key values:• Holistic approach incl. making use of a rich variety of activities type offered by Erasmus+ in order to meet in a holistic way the needs of the target group• Involvement of all partners and distribution of tasks according to the areas of expertise of each partner• Orientation towards Competence Oriented Learning in the development and implementation of all educational and training materials• Promotion of Validation of Formal and Informal Learning for all target groups and final beneficiaries • Impact on EU level: Project management and training/research experts in each partner countryBeside the long-term impact on unemployed people with acquired disabilities, other directly linked target group will benefit in the short- and long run from the project results:• Career counsellors and adult trainers experienced in working with disadvantaged groups • Patients’ associations and other NGOs who are supporting people with varies types of disabilities • Health and psychological staff in rehabilitation centers who might be involved in the counselling process.For a widespread impact of New Horizons project outputs, awareness raising among the following stakeholders as well as closer cooperation between them will be fostered in the short and long run:• HR-Managers and Managing Directors of companies that are socially responsible • Policy makers such as ministries (Labour and Social Affairs), agencies such as Agency for Social Assistance etc.• Labour market authorities such as Employment Agencies, Job centers etc.• General Public
The project New Horizons aimed at addressing the needs of a relative large and heterogeneous target group - people who have acquired disability after an accident or illness which affected severely their personal and professional life. While a comprehensive quantitative analysis of employment situation of people with various types of disabilities has been published by Eurostat in 2015, the qualitative analysis of the concrete needs of people who have lost their job or are at risk of losing it due to some accident or long-standing illness, are still insufficient. One of the main aims of the current project was to explore in details the challenges this broad target group is facing in the process of re-integration in the labour market and society as whole. This was the preparation part of the elaboration of a customised training programme for career counselling counsellors of people with acquired disabilities. The programme was first piloted with a small group of experienced adult trainers/career counsellors at EU level and then disseminated with broader groups of adult educators/counsellors/social workers at national level. The training programme was also accompanied by a Career counselling manual which described the holistic methodology of the counselling process following the principles of the existential counselling - focusing first on fostering the self-awareness, self-esteem and self-motivation of people with disabilities, and thus enhancing their career perspectives, improving their employability skills and empowering them for full participation in the society. The Empower yourself career kit summarised at the end in a visual way the most important steps of the programme, with concrete activities, advises and motivational stories for the long-term unemployed people with disabilities. Mutual exchange of experience, ideas and support was made possible through the Online Social Tool which was evaluated as a very useful and well-structured e-learning platform. Another innovative element of the New Horizons project concept was the possibility for assessment and validation of concrete skills and competences acquired by the counsellors in the course of the implementation of the New Horizons Career Counselling Programme which aimed at fostering their personal and professional development. Last, but not least, the project results will presented and discussed with relevant stakeholders as ministries, agencies, employers, NGO’s working with people with disabilities within the frame of round tables in each partner country in order to raise awareness about the needs and the potential of this disadvantaged target group. The direct target groups which took part in the the project training activities and outputs are 110 trainers and counsellors in the participating partner countries, who are working actively with unemployed people with different (physical or mental) disabilities acquired after an accident or a long-standing illness. The indirect target groups which were reached through the various training and dissemination events as well as through the partner networks reached beyond 500 at international level. The New Horizons Methodology, that was applied in the current project, has the following key values: • Holistic approach closely following the principles of the existential counselling which starts with exploring and understanding the context and specific needs of the counselled person before defining together the concrete steps and measures about personal and career development. • Involvement of all partners and distribution of tasks corresponding to the concrete areas of expertise of each partner • Orientation towards Competence Oriented Learning in the development and implementation of all educational and training materials • Promotion of Validation of Formal and Informal Learning for all target groups and final beneficiaries • Impact on EU level: Project management and training/research experts in each partner country Beside the long-term impact on unemployed people with acquired disabilities, other directly linked target group also could benefit from the project results in the short- and long run: • Career counsellors and adult trainers experienced in working with disadvantaged groups • Patients’ associations and other NGOs who support people with varies types of disabilities • Health and psychological staff in hospitals/rehabilitation centers. For a widespread impact of New Horizons project outputs, awareness raising among the following stakeholders as well as closer cooperation between them were fostered in the short and long run: • HR-Managers and Managing Directors of companies that are socially responsible • Policy makers such as ministries (Labour and Social Affairs, Health), agencies such as Agency for Social Assistance, etc. • Labour market authorities such as Employment Agencies, Job centers etc.• General Public