The project "Employability of young people with disabilities in local communities" is prepared by Ahtme School (Estonia), FUNDACIÓN ASPANIAS BURGOS (Spain), LEARNING CENTER FOR YOUTH (Cyprus), Narva-Jõesuu Linnavalitsus (Estonia) and OBCINA SEZANA (Slovenia). The project partners come from different backgrounds ( a school, a parents' association, local municipalities and youth organisation). The main project aim is to create an effective network of local cooperation and its detailed processes and procedures based on person-centred approach for ensuring employability of young people with mental disabilities. The direct objectives are: 1. Development of basic methodology for effective systems of local cooperation for increasing employability of young people's with mental disabilities. The methodology includes description of person-centred approach implementation outside educational establishments, supportive documents and step-by-step recommendations for local networks (action maps, risk analysis, worksheets for person-centred planning, assessment tools, examples of best practices (at least two per country during the project time). 2. Organisation of four joined-staff training sessions for the project partners' team members. 3. Translation of the project materials (basic methodology for effective systems of local cooperation for increasing employability of young people's with mental disabilities) into national languages of the partnership for provision of their wider dissemination and usage. 4. Carrying out at least four pilot trainings in each partner country for representatives of local stakeholders (members of cooperation networks). The partnership sees the person-centred approach as one crucial moment within the progress of social inclusion. In order to implement it in our local networks we need international support, best practices to learn from and the common experience specialists from different local institutions will have thanks to the project. All the project partners have some achievements to share and develop in the partnership. The project is based on the results of two previous Erasmus+ strategic partnerships: 1. “Transition from school into the after-school life through methods of person-centred planning”. We will use our findings, competence of person-centred approach and materials to provide person-centred planning. 2. "COESI – Change Organisations to Enable Social Inclusion", which was realised by international partnership leaded by Lebenshilfen Soziale Dienste GmbH (Austria). The project unites best practices of the partner institutions, findings of their previous projects, results of researches and other initiatives in the EU. It will bring the partners' network to a new level making cooperation of various stakeholders safer, clearer and more transparent. The project consists of the following workpackages: analysis of current state in the partner institutions, analysis of current state in the local stakeholder institutions (at least 4 in each partner country and 6 in Estonia), the first joint-staff training event in Estonia in January 2021, preparation of the basic methodology for effective systems of local cooperation for increasing employability of young people's with mental disabilities, the second joint-staff training event in Slovenia in May 2021, development of the basic methodology, the third joint-staff training event in Spain in November 2021, translation of the materials into local languages, the fourth joint-staff training event in Cyprus in April 2022, training on person-centred planning and the methodology developed in the project for local stakeholders, analysis of the trainings, making necessary corrections in the materials, translation work, finalising the project results, evaluation and dissemination activities. The project participants are employees of the partner institutions, who are directly connected with the areas of social inclusion and young people's employability. There will be three participants from the partner institutions in every international meeting of the project. They will be the persons working on the network development and its procedures. There are 25 specialists totally taking part in the project mobilities and preparing the project output. The project allows us to establish trans-sector cooperation (between schools and other organisations that support people with disabilities). This is very valuable and opens new perspectives and opportunities for institutions, specialists and students. Creating networks of various stakeholders locally and internationally will bring new initiatives, links and cooperation procedures. Following the person-centered planning we will be able to support various people with disabilities with the help of different stakeholders according to a person's abilities, interests, learning needs, talents.
The direct objectives were: 1. Development of basic methodology for effective systems of local cooperation for increasing employability of young people's with mental disabilities. The methodology includes description of person-centred approach implementation outside educational establishments, supportive documents and step-by-step recommendations. 2. Organisation of four joined-staff training sessions for the project partners' team members. 3. Translation of the project materials (basic methodology for effective systems of local cooperation for increasing employability of young people's with mental disabilities) into national languages of the partnership for provision of their wider dissemination and usage. 4. Carrying out at least four pilot trainings in each partner country for representatives of local stakeholders (members of cooperation networks). As a big goal we wanted to find new solutions for our communities, improve the level of cooperation and achieve the vision that young people with mental disabilities are integrated in the labour market, they develop their careers, realise their potential, get support from the stakeholders in the society and contribute to prosperity and sustainability of the EU.
Planning the project we were eager to find the ways to improve employability of young people with mental disabilities and to involve local communities in this process. The partnership was initiated by Ahtme School (Estonia). Narva-Jõesuu local municipality (Estonia) was invited to join the project in order to learn and implement the best practices from the experienced partners from Slovenia (OBCINA SEZANA), Cyprus (LEARNING CENTER FOR YOUTH) and Spain (FUNDACIÓN ASPANIAS BURGOS). From the very beginning we believed that the effective network of cooperation should be very beneficial for the young people. The collaboration must be organised in a way that the individual is in the centre and the institutions make their best to support a young person with an opportunity to find their path in life and contribute to the local community at the same time. The partnership saw the person-centred approach as one crucial moment within the progress of social inclusion. In order to implement it in our local networks we needed international support, best practices to learn from and the common experience the specialists from different local institutions would have thanks to the project.