BRIDGES –Broadening positive Reflections on the Issue of Disability, Generating Empowerment for Stakeholders- supports in a holistic and integrated approach and through really innovative products the capacity building of factors concerning and dealing with disability in society; disabled members of society should enjoy the right of a full and decent life in proper conditions ensuring dignity, self-reliance promotion and facilitation of their active participation in community and it is up to the family environment, training providers and professionals along with society reflections and stakeholders-in general- to ensure that disability deserves equal chances and potentiality. In EU the estimated numbers of disabled people are around 80,000,000 and these people experience barriers to their integration, specific need for assistance, hard health status, functional and activity limitations, limited access to education and training, limited labor market choices, unsuccessful employment patterns, poverty and income inequalities, difficult financial and housing conditions. Added to all these above is the fact that there is a lack of proper information and awareness raising at the level of society and its reflection towards disability and the integration of these people through targeted actions and initiatives which will bring closer the society and its key-factors in the disabled people integration and life quality. Accordingly, what the researches have shown is that beyond the positive reflections and the ‘elimination’ of exclusive practices or discrimination these people face or experience, what is of high value for them is their access to the right of being employed or being given as much as possible employment opportunities; lack of participation in the workplace can put people with disabilities at high risk of poverty and at low level of life quality while on the contrary, facilitation of relative services or training of specific persons acting as the ‘bridges’ between the disabled and the society & employers or the labor/market sector can lead to positive integration results. In the context above what is central is the implementation of efficient and effective actions towards the disabled people participation in society through the recruitment and reinforcement of specific supporters: these people will undertake the role of bridging disabled with society, support them in the labor activation, of mentoring in their employment and of acting as proper and appropriately channels. Thus, in BRIDGES project, the target groups will be public servants and public services representatives, relative professionals, NGOs & CSOs members, members of family environments, who will be trained to support disable people in the employment process and integration procedures. The project’s objectives are: a) to strengthen and reinforce via training and relative tools those key factors involved directly or indirectly with the disabled people integration and the positive reflections on the issue of disability b) to create content resources towards the proper training of specific persons, who will act as mentors, ‘intermediators’ & ‘intercoachers’ for people with disabilities and their integration; to cultivate to them special knowledge and skills (as also to act as access-point) such as for example the skills of career counseling, performance coaching, emotional intelligence & empathy building, behavior change and work culture, self activation and symbol work, sustainability & disability, knowledge of labor services provisions, expertise on the supported models of employment, etc, in parallel with labor mapping and contextualization skills for people with disabilities c) to take advantage of the opportunities offered by ICT and digitize the quality of learning content d) to create and deliver innovative products and training tools- as tailored needs learning resources – based on differentiation methodologies and adult education approaches e) to promote public campaigns and initiatives on positive and respectful attitudes towards disabled members of community with targeted actions for market and labor key-players The project includes 7 partners (ATLANTICA, XPCSA, CSI, InEuropa, CAMINOS, MEATH, Akademie Klausenhof) from 7 countries (Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Germany) and the activities include respective intellectual outputs and multipliers events (National Seminars/Workshops, Final Conference): the Review Paper on Context (IO1), the BRIDGES Training Curriculum (IO2), the Digital Toolbox & Resources (IO3), the Methodology and Adaptation Guide.
The project BRIDGES - Broadening positive Reflections on the Issue of Disability, Generating Empowerment for Stakeholders aimed to create truly innovative products for the strengthening of capacities and factors related to the integration of people with disabilities in society, in order to potentiate an improvement in the living conditions, training and socio-professional composition of this target audience in the community and an active, more inclusive and equal participation of the opportunities and potentialities assigned to this target audience. This project aims to strengthen the capabilities of mentors of people with disabilities who act as mediators or 'bridges' between persons with a disability and their integration in society, and more specifically for this project, into the workplace. The project was carried out by a consortium of 7 partners (ATLANTIC, XPCSA, CSI, InEuropa, CAMINOS, MEATH, Akademie Klausenhof) from 7 countries (Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Germany) The BRIDGES project aimed to achieve the following specific objectives: - strengthening of training, tools and specific resources for an improved integration of people with disabilities; - development of resources, content and appropriate training for people who will act as mentors, 'intermediaries' & 'inter-coachers' for people with disabilities in order to establish special and contextual knowledge and skills that facilitate the empowerment and preparation of people with disabilities within the communities and global environment - to create and make available innovative training products and tools, based on differentiating learning resources and methodologies based on consolidated approaches in adult education - to enhance the use of ICT in the creation, access and quality of the learning and training content required in this field for public, global and accessible access to the different stakeholders; - to promote positive reflection on the issue of disability and its connection in society. Thus, the project has developed and successfully achieved the real and efficient production of the following intellectual outputs that can be used by the targeted audiences and stakeholders: 1) The Review Paper on Context (IO1), about the analysis on the whole contextualization, reality, and needs of the associated communities and of society in general; 2) The BRIDGES Training Curriculum (IO2), consists of a curriculum framework, a matrix of learning outcomes and a set of templates to be used in developing the content of each module of the online course which can be found on the digital platform developed also in an original way within this project. This curriculum is based on the entire training activity of the project and is based on a distinct and instructional methodology, with a very innovative structure integrating all the survey on the level of needs, profile, specific characteristics, and previous knowledge on the needs in the area of disabled people. 3) The Digital Toolbox & Resources (IO3), accessible through the access: https://bridges.pt/ . 4) The Methodology and Adaptation Guide (IO4). All these intellectual outputs had the integration of several national activities in all countries of the project consortium as well as the realization of a Final Conference open to the general public and affected communities.
The BRIDGES project "Broadening positive Reflections on the Issue of Disability, Generating Empowerment for Stakeholders ", underway since 2019, has created and developed several innovative products within the scope of capacity building and training in the area of disability, aimed mainly at training mentors who accompany people with disabilities and seek their professional insertion and social integration. This project, coordinated by Atlântica - University Institute, was developed through networking with six other institutions from six European Union countries, (ATLÂNTICA - Portugal; XPCSA - Greece; CSI - Cyprus; InEuropa - Italy; CAMINOS - Spain; MEATH - Ireland; and Akademie Klausenhof - Germany). In order to carry out this project, people with disabilities, other stakeholders, training providers, key players in the labor market, professionals in related fields, representatives of public bodies, as well as people from society in general were heard in the seven countries. In addition to in-depth knowledge about disability issues, the project has developed the contents of a course for mentors of people with disabilities, which will be available on line, free of charge, in the various project languages: Portuguese, English, German, Spanish, Italian and Greek. The course is composed of 7 modules, each one presenting up-to-date knowledge on the subject of the module, examples, case studies, exercises and illustrative videos, a glossary of technical terms, and bibliographic guidance. Anyone can access this course in its entirety or only in the modules of personal interest. The project has also developed a digital platform, also free of charge, where the course can be followed in any of the indicated languages. It is an innovative platform that has included several tools that can be used by people with different functional abilities, since it allows them to print pdf texts, listen to the texts or increase the font size. In addition to these functionalities, it is also possible to find a methodological guide about the course, with guidelines on pedagogical aspects and practical use of the course. The course was tested with several audiences and has proven to users not only interesting, but quite useful, in an area where these materials are not abundant. In addition to the above, the project gave rise to a scientific paper that is awaiting publication in English.