Objectives of the European Lifelong Learning programs, the “UN-Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities” and the “EU disability strategy 2020 for Inclusion in Europe” are the better and equal participation of people with special needs at adult training activities but also as adult trainer themselves. These International and European documents are also legal basis and politics of the of the Social Tourism Strategy of the European Commission, which is claiming the accessibility of touristic offers and destinations, accessible travelling as well as the accessibility of e.g. public spaces. The EU Strategy on Disabilities 2010 – 2020 shows the importance of ensuring the access for people with disabilities, not just with regard to transport but also with regard to accommodation, catering, information accessible to everyone and tourist services in general, leisure activities. Unfortunately only few facilities in most of the touristic destinations are accessible or have entire service chains, a small number of staff in tourism has the awareness and skills. In existing training programs not many people with special needs are involved. Summarizing we have progress in some European countries and destinations but this is not enough to fulfil the requirements of the UN convention and the accessible tourism strategies in Europe. Key aspects for the implementation of the strategies are better and sufficient trainings of decision maker and staff in relevant private and public institutions, organisations and enterprises. Main principle in the inclusion process of people with special needs is their involvement in all relevant topics, activities and processes as experts in own interests. That is why the project has two core target groups for training activities: Firstly the experts in own interests, people with special needs as peer counsellors and together with other experts in tourism as mixed expert and mentoring and secondly the key decisionmaker and staff in private and public institutions and enterprises involved in tourism and leisure activities as trainees. Six partner from Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and Croatia representing public and private entities like to develop and implement an innovative methodology to training needs of people with disabilities as adult trainers in accessible tourism in regional but also in an European context. The European approach is resulting on international tourism, exchange of good practices, cooperation and mobility of experts. The core activities and expected results are: 1. Developing and implementing a Methodology how to organise peer-counseling and mentoring in accessible tourism 2. Developing and implementing a peer-counselling/training methodology and curriculum for new accessibility (peer-) experts and trainers as blended and E-Learning tool. 3. Developing and implementing 5 regional training and peer counselling centres and one Online Training Platform 4. developing and implementing 5 Peer/Mentoring-Training-Curricula and Trainings for accessible Tourism 5. developing and implementing 7 E-Learning courses with tutorials and webinars 6. developing a Handbook with marketing/exploitation strategy how to implement local training centres for accessible tourism and trainings in accessible tourism Finally 60 people with disabilities shall be trained face to face or with webinars tp peer counsellor and mentors in accessible tourism, 25 other tourism experts will train with 35 peer counsellor 500 stakeholder in tourism business in 5 different trainings also face to face and in webinars. The results of the project will be disseminated through the partnership internally to members of their networks and externally to a broad range of audience from local stakeholder and civil society organisations up to regional and national authorities, European agencies and Networks by a Website, Newsletter, press articles and, social media like Facebook. The project partners will provide 2 public stakeholder seminars/workshops in nearly each country, a common transnational peer counselling training and 2 conferences to inform the relevant stakeholder and the interested public about activities and intellectual outputs of the project. The main longterm impact of the project shall be the empowerment and equal participation of people with special needs as experts and adult trainer in own interests, a better awareness and higher level of knowledge and skills by key decision makers and staff in tourism and leisure activities on European level as well as an European cooperation and exchange/mobility of peer-experts. Indirectly the impact should be a better accessibility of the involved touristic destinations, a change of mind and awareness among the group of professional staff working in tourism related jobs and the start of the creation of so called service chains to guarantee more accessibility in the future.
The goals of the European programs for lifelong learning, the “UN Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of People with Disabilities” and the “EU Disability Strategy 2020 for Inclusion in Europe” are better and equal participation of people with special needs in adult education activities, but also as an adult educator himself. The EU Disability Strategy 2010-2020 calls for the accessibility of tourist offers and travel destinations, as well as barrier-free travel in general. Unfortunately, in most tourist destinations only a few facilities are accessible or have entire service chains, and few employees in tourism have the appropriate awareness and skills for inclusive tourism. Not many people with disabilities are themselves involved in existing training programs. In summary, we have made progress in some European countries and destinations, but this is not enough to meet the requirements of the UN Disability Rights Convention and accessible tourism strategies in Europe. A key to implementing the above strategies is better and adequate training for decision-makers and employees. The overriding principle in the inclusion process of people with special needs is their involvement in all relevant topics, activities and processes as experts in their own interest. Therefore, the project had two core target groups for training activities: On the one hand people with disabilities as peer counselors and on the other hand the central decision-makers and employees in private and public institutions and companies in the tourism and leisure industry. Six partners from Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and Croatia developed and implemented an innovative methodology for training people with disabilities to become adult trainers in accessible tourism in a regional, but also in a European context. The European approach resulted from international tourism, best practice sharing, collaboration and expert mobility. The main activities and results were: 1. Development and implementation of a Peer-AcT methodology for the organization and implementation of peer advice in barrier-free tourism 2. Development and implementation of a peer counseling / training methodology and a curriculum for training Peer-AcT trainers as peer counselors in the field of inclusive and barrier-free tourism. 3. Development and implementation of 5 regional Peer-AcT training centers 4. Development and implementation of a Peer-AcT training course for inclusive and barrier-free tourism 5. Development and implementation of 2 e-learning courses with tutorials and videos 6. Development of a manual with a marketing / exploitation strategy for the implementation of local training centers for Peer-AcT trainings and courses in inclusive and barrier-free tourism. A total of 63 people with disabilities were trained as Peer-AcT trainers. 46 Per-AcT trainers and tourism experts were given inclusive training in the training centers for the implementation of courses on inclusive and barrier-free tourism and 41 actors from tourism took part in the Peer-AcT courses for inclusive and barrier-free tourism. The results of the project were shared through the partnership internally to members of their networks and externally to a wide audience from local stakeholders and civil society organizations to regional and national authorities, European agencies and networks through a website, social media such as Facebook, newsletters and press relations spread. The project partners held public seminars / workshops for stakeholders and two conferences at their project locations in order to inform the relevant stakeholders and the interested public about the activities and intellectual results of the project. The main long-term effects of the project are the strengthening of the equal participation of people with disabilities as peer experts and adult educators, a greater awareness and a higher level of knowledge and skills of key decision-makers and employees in tourism and leisure activities, European cooperation and exchange / mobility of peer experts. Indirectly, better accessibility and barrier-free accessibility of the tourist destinations involved, a rethinking and change in awareness in the group of professional employees who work in tourism-related professions, and the beginning of the creation of so-called service chains were achieved. All information and results of the project can be downloaded from the project website www.peeract.eu.