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Each One Teach One

2020-3-IT03-KA105-0203112020Youth mobilityfinalized
Countries: IT|PT|EL|PL|DE · Grant: €24,432
Inclusion - equityDisabilities - special needsAccess for disadvantaged

Objectives

The complete inclusion of people with disabilities in the contemporary society is an ongoing process, which still has a great deal to achieve and which affects the lives of an important part of the population. Despite institutional initiatives and recommendations in favour of respecting the rights of all, there are currently many challenges to be faced by people with disabilities. Access to the labour market by people with diverse abilities remains very limited. The economic crisis of the past few years, and not least the pandemic emergency, have complicated the improvement of the employment situation. Access to inclusive and quality education remains elusive. 22.5% of disabled young people drop out of education and training, as opposed to 11% of non-disabled young people, and only 29.5% complete tertiary or equivalent studies. According to the European Disability Forum (http://edf-feph.org/), an umbrella organisation for the defence and promotion of the rights of disabled people, looking at Erasmus+ in particular, the percentage of participants with disabilities is around 2.8%. It is not surprising, therefore, to learn that 30% of people with disabilities in the EU are at risk of poverty and social exclusion, a risk that increases as the degree of disability worsens. In formalising the European Disability Strategy 2017-2023, the Council of Europe, the leading continental organisation for the defence of human rights, democracy and the rule of law, defined as a priority goal the achievement of equality, dignity and equal opportunities for people with disabilities. A goal that implies both independence, freedom of choice, full and active participation in every social and life aspect, as well as a transversal and active involvement from all political, associative and civic realities. META has therefore embarked on a path of reflection and reformulation of the educational approach offered. Taking inspiration from the motto of the European Disability Forum "Nothing about us without us", META developed a project idea with multiple objectives. On the one hand, an educational and professional pathway for educators of centres dedicated to disability and aimed at the realisation of inclusive proposals designed for and together with disabled users. On the other hand, a path of autonomy and empowerment for the users themselves; a path that would create the right conditions to promote these participants to become active and self-promote themselves as multipliers, peer educators and youth leaders by supporting other users in the various moments within the services, from the moment of welcoming to the realisation and implementation of various workshops and international activities. The project structure envisaged the active participation of each partner who, through their educators and users, shared, and consequently reciprocally widened, their experiences and professionalism with other European colleagues and peers, including disabled users, in a process of innovation of their own organisations and in which they were co-creators. The educators reflected on the proposed activities with a view to improving the quality of their work in terms of inclusion. In summary, the objectives of EOTO are: - to understand the importance of inclusion, to prevent and address discrimination; - to improve participants' skills to recognise, identify and address the needs of groups with different abilities; - to design and implement inclusive workshops and educational activities; - to share and learn tools and methods to promote the inclusion of others; - to improve self-esteem and the ability to support others to do the same; - to be able to apply knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviours on the theme of inclusion to be multipliers.

Project partners (5)