The project aimed to contribute to a more inclusive society by giving young people with disabilities real opportunities to influence, lead and shape activities that affect them. A key objective was to develop accessible digital tools that allow organisations to gather input directly from the target group, including an interactive questionnaire designed to collect 300 responses about their interest in leadership and whether they had been given such opportunities before. Another major objective was to strengthen leadership skills among young people with disabilities by creating a fully accessible leadership training programme based on six workshop themes: Communication, Initiative, Understanding Disability, Organisation and Planning, Public Speaking, and Facilitation and Structure. By making leadership concrete, attainable and adaptable to different abilities, the project sought to show that leadership can take many forms and that every participant can meaningfully contribute and develop confidence as a leader.
The partnership applied for this project to address a shared need observed across all participating organisations: young people with disabilities rarely have the opportunity to influence, lead or shape the activities designed for them. Although each partner has long experience working with people with disabilities, they all identified the same gap—participants were involved only at the end of a process, not in its creation. Leadership is often difficult to access, both conceptually and practically, for people with disabilities, and current methods for gathering their input are frequently inaccessible or limiting. The project was therefore created to open new spaces for participation, strengthen accessibility in youth work, and ensure that young people with disabilities can voice their needs directly. By developing inclusive tools and co-created workshops, the project aimed to provide a model that supports meaningful leadership, visibility and active citizenship for young people with disabilities across Europe.