Erasmus+ KA220-YOU Cooperation partnerships in youth
Funded by the: Agenzia italiana per la gioventù (AIG), the Italian National Agency for the Erasmus+ Youth programme
Identifier: 2023-2-IT03-KA220-YOU-000180562
Results Platform Project Card:
https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/projects/search/details/2023-2-IT03-KA220-YOU-000180562
Project duration: 01/03/2024 – 30/09/2025
Summary:
Our project is dedicated to discovering innovative approaches to engage youth with disabilities in physical, leisure, dance, outdoor, and extracurricular activities. Engaging in these activities not only plays a pivotal role in the holistic integration of young individuals with disabilities but is also enshrined in legislation as a fundamental right. Such participation is crucial for enhancing their overall quality of life
The focal point of our project is a crucial need observed across Italy, Serbia, Slovenia, and Greece: the integration and accessibility of youth with disabilities into a spectrum of enriching activities. By banding together, the four participating organisations aim to fill a gap in the current framework of inclusive education and societal integration and that’s the main motivation for this project.
Research consistently indicates that youth with disabilities are behind their peers in activity engagement, which, in turn, impacts their self-esteem, independence, and overall life satisfaction. By emphasising heterogeneous groups in our work, we’re not merely merging demographics; we’re crafting an environment where differences become strengths, and barriers transform into stepping stones. This project, therefore, isn’t just an educational endeavour but a societal imperative.
While studies, such as those by Badia et al. 2013 and Wendelborg and Paulsen 2014, highlight the fondness of young individuals with disabilities towards leisure activities, our mission transcends beyond mere preference. Our focus on dance, leisure, and outdoor activities is a strategic choice: it simultaneously aligns with the youth’s comfort zone and challenges them to breach their confines.
Moreover, our effort seeks to educate and transform the broader community. By facilitating interactions between youth with and without disabilities, we’re nurturing a future generation that is more empathetic, understanding and inclusive. Such engagements, while fostering personal growth for participants, also create wave effects, promoting broader societal understanding/acceptance.
The objectives we aim to achieve are:
- Empower youth workers in education for social inclusion of young people with disabilities through outdoor and leisure activities, by developing innovative curriculum in 5 languages and organising local training courses;
- Empower young people with fewer opportunities and youth workers in expert knowledge and techniques on using leisure, dance, and outdoor activities to break stereotypes, through the development of E-Learning platform.
- Exchange good practices and further develop quality strategic partnership among 4 partners from European countries with different realities regarding social inclusion and participation of young people with disabilities in leisure and outdoor activities.
Bearing in mind that communication and social skills are fundamental in learning, acceptance by peers and meaningful participation in the home and community – the proposed project intends to explore the context of social integration of youth with mental disability in the community in general and in physical/leisure/dance, outdoor activities and cultural events.
Project outputs:
Project partners:
- Fondazione Don Giovanni Zanandrea Onlus (IT)
- SONCEK Zveza drustev za cerebralno paralizo Slovenije so.p. (SI)
- Changing myself… I change the world! (GR)
- Aktivni mladi u srećnoj Evropi (AMUSE) (RS)
*Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.