BACKGROUND: According to the WHO, approx. 15 % of the world's population lives with disabilities. People with disabilities face difficulties to find employment and are at a high risk for poverty, even in the EU. Due to the current refugee movement to Europe, an additional population group is at risk. Many EU member states have already begun measures to improve integration processes. As a result, it is necessary for the VET system to provide educational programmes that address the needs of people with and without handicaps and to satisfy the needs of the economy for a skilled workforce. Good inclusive approaches already exist the education system, but the VET-sector is still at the beginning of this process, with large differences from country to country. This makes joint European solutions necessary. This is the starting point for our project ‚GastroINKLUSIV‘.The OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT ‚GastroINKLUSIV‘ is to explore and demonstrate opportunities for inclusive VET education, to develop inclusive learning models and materials for professional vocational education, and to derive generalizable results for the strengthening of inclusion in VET. Our project is a contribution to strengthening the quality of VET and equal participation for all in education and work.The TARGET GROUPS are young people in vocational training (with a focus on persons with disabilities/special needs), VET-teachers and trainers, companies, chambers of trade and commerce, business associations, public authorities and regulatory bodies. During the project, we will reach about 300-400 young people in vocational training (including around 110 people with disabilities/special needs), at least 300 teachers, 300-400 actors in the economic sector, and approx. 100 stakeholders in politics and government. Our PROJECT PARTNERSHIP brings together eleven partners – VET schools, experts for inclusive education and global learning, and companies from the catering sector from three EU countries (Germany, Austria and Italy). A strategic advisory board with representatives from government, chambers of trade and commerce, associations, and unions will support to the project. PROJECT ACTIVITIES will include networking with stakeholders, development of innovative inclusive learning units for professional vocational education, guidelines for the development of inclusive learning materials and for the strengthening of inclusion in VET-school and in businesses, as well as recommendations for political, economic and educational players, PR work, dissemination and transfer measures.The PROJECT METHODOLOGY interlinks multiple levels of action: capacity building at VET schools, awareness raising for decision-makers, competence development for teachers and practical application by young people in vocational training. Participation is a basic principle for the success of inclusion.For each area of action – learning material, didactics, inclusion, stakeholder work or dissemination – we will set up local working groups with relevant stakeholders (Berlin, Vienna, Vicenza). At the same time, we will cooperate in transnational working groups in order to create synergies.The MAIN PROJECT RESULT is an innovative model for inclusive learning for professional vocational training. The focus is on learners with cognitive, language and learning difficulties. Adapted methods and materials that reduce language complexity in the learning process decrease barriers and enable learning in heterogeneous groups. The model includes inclusive learning units for professional vocational training, expanded competencies of teachers on inclusive education and internal differentiation of teaching processes, strengthened cooperation between VET schools and businesses, and new approaches to supporting an inclusive culture in vocational schools and companies.‚GastroINKLUSIV‘ generates a variety of IMPACTS, including: *Improved opportunities for young people with special needs to successfully acquire vocational qualification and employment*Increased competence of teachers to use inclusive approaches in teaching, to work with heterogeneous learning groups and to support learners with special needs* A strengthened culture of openness and equal participation in the vocational school and higher attractiveness of VET education* Enhanced empowerment of companies to handle diversity and to work with young people with special needs *Increased awareness of public authorities of the need for inclusive VET and of their own role in this processThe LONG-TERM BENEFIT consists particularly in the successful placement of persons with special needs in education AND employment. This is a political benefit (greater social cohesion), a social benefit (participation of young people with disabilities/special needs) and an economic benefit (improved access to the 1st labor market for people with special needs, more skilled workers available to companies, decreased need for public assistance).
GastroINKLUSIV contributes to the strengthening of the quality in vocational education and training, with the goal of equal participation of all in training and occupation. Eleven partner institutions from three EU countries worked together in the project- vocational schools, educational actors and companies from the gastronomy sector in Germany, Austria and Italy. Using the gastronomy sector as an example, the strategic ERASMUS+ partnership highlights opportunities for inclusive learning in vocational education and training. From September 2016 to August 2018, transferable models for differentiated learning in professional vocational education as well as learning materials in three difficulty levels - in standard, simple and easy language - were developed and tested in two phases. They are based on an interlocking approach of three levels of action: capacity building, competency development for teachers and practical application by trainees. The target groups of the project were: 1) trainees with handicaps and special needs. The focus was on young people with cognitive and linguistic limitations in understanding (concentration, abstraction) and command of language (reading/writing, hearing/speaking), 2) teachers at vocational schools, companies as employers and representatives of chambers of commerce or trade associations, and 3) authorities and regulatory bodies which influence the framework conditions for vocational schools. Our activities included the development of innovative inclusive learning units on four topics: meat, fish, vegetables and the food waste and a simulation game on poultry exports as well as the preparation of a manual for the development of inclusive learning materials and a guideline for inclusion in vocational schools and businesses. The goal of strengthening inclusion in vocational education and training was served by targeted networking and a series of dissemination measures. The activities were supported by strategic advisory boards, which were established in each country at the beginning of the project, with members from chambers, associations and trade unions as well as from politics and administration. The focus here was in particular on the practical suitability and EU-wide transferability of our learning and teaching approaches. The conclusions were relevant for the additional project results, including the good practice paper on inclusion in vocational schools and companies and recommendations for action for actors from politics, business and education. The immense innovative potential of the project is based on the fact that it succeeded in proving that topics such as sustainability, globalization, etc. can be implemented in inclusive teaching approaches, so that apprentices become conscious of the effects of their own actions in their professional and private lives and can strengthen their self-efficacy and professionalism. The project results illustrate exemplarily how inclusive learning can function in vocational schools and companies. As a result, materials are available in several languages that can be researched online and accessed via websites or ordered via partner institutions after the end of the project. They help to break down barriers and facilitate learning in heterogeneous groups. Cooperation between vocational training institutions and companies has been strengthened in all countries and the innovative approaches and materials for inclusion are easily applicable for vocational schools and companies at the national and European level. They are not only suitable for the training in the gastronomy sector. They can be adapted to other occupational fields and training areas, such as in the social field or in trades. Addressing topics such as sustainable handling of food, food waste, discrimination etc. is of interest and desirable for many other occupations. The success of the project is documented by the Sustainability Award, which GastroINKLUSIV received in May 2018 as part of the educational congress WeltWeitWissen 2018 - Lernen für den Wandel, which was held under the patronage of the Bremen Senator for Children and Education, Dr. Claudia Bogedan, and the Lower Saxony Minister of Culture, Grant Hendrik Tonne. The prize went to the GastroINKLUSIV project together with the "Anders Wirtschaften - Globales Lernen für die Berufliche Bildung" project. Both projects were honored at the congress as outstanding examples of global learning and education for sustainable development.