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Expanding Horizons for people with Disabilities

2025-1-CY01-KA155-YOU-0003051502025Discover EU inclusion actionfinalized
Countries: CY · Grant: €9,900

Objectives

The main objective of "Expanding Horizons for People with Disabilities" was to provide five young people with disabilities with an accessible international mobility experience that would increase their independence, confidence and participation in European society. Three participants were young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), one participant used a hearing aid, and one participant had low vision. The project was specifically designed to demonstrate that disability should never be a barrier to discovering Europe, learning from other cultures and participating in international youth mobility. During the five-day mobility in Croatia and Slovenia, we aimed to help participants become more independent by experiencing different forms of transport, including air travel, trains, local buses and guided walking tours. For several participants, this was their first experience travelling abroad in a structured international group, making the mobility an important step towards developing confidence in unfamiliar environments while supported by experienced accompanying persons. A second objective was to strengthen participants' social, communication and intercultural competences. Through visits to museums, UNESCO cultural heritage sites, botanical gardens and youth centres in Zagreb and Ljubljana, participants explored European history, culture and values while interacting with local communities. These activities encouraged teamwork, communication, mutual respect and appreciation of cultural diversity. The project also aimed to promote equal opportunities and inclusion by ensuring that every activity was fully accessible and adapted to the individual needs of the participants. The support provided by Dr. Carl Clinton, Mr. Yiannis Kanaris and Mrs. Despina Iosifidou enabled each young person to participate actively and confidently in every activity regardless of their disability. Another important objective was to encourage participants to recognise and reflect on their own learning. To achieve this, we developed a personalised learning booklet that described each activity, highlighted the expected learning outcomes and included a daily self-reflection section. Every participant completed the booklet throughout the mobility, helping them identify the competences they developed in areas such as independence, communication, teamwork, problem-solving, intercultural understanding and active European citizenship. The booklet also supported the Youthpass process and provided tangible evidence of their learning journey. Overall, the project successfully achieved its objectives by expanding the participants' horizons, increasing their self-confidence and independence, promoting inclusion and accessibility, and demonstrating that young people with disabilities can actively participate in meaningful European mobility experiences when appropriate support and equal opportunities are provided.

Project partners (1)