Ambassadors of Diversity and non-Discrimination @ new Methods in non-formal Education

Background The 3rd EU Youth Goal (2018) states that 1/3 of young people in Europe are at risk of social exclusion. People with disabilities are included in this category and are often victim of indirect discrimination. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes that disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others, furthermore it says that persons with disabilities continue to face barriers in their participation as equal members of the society. The Eu resolution on the EU youth strategy 2019-2027 add that “disadvantaged youth are usually less active citizens” and that EU can’t waste these talents and can’t afford disengagement among its youth. In accordance with this background and needs, ADD@ME aimed at empowering young people with a Visual impairment (youngsters with Vi) to become KEY PLAYERS IN PROCESSES concerning THEIR OWN SOCIAL INCLUSION at EU level. Objectives ADD@ME aimed at developing an EU MODEL youngsters with a Visual impairment can use to play an active role in the wide EU society acting as key players in the process of their social inclusion. The following project objectives were set to tackle the above mentioned topic: -Foster the social inclusion and the active participation of Vi youngsters through the development of new, innovative youth work practices (the ADD@ME model) to be used by youth with Vi themselves -Empower and enhance self-confidence, spirit of initiative and self-esteem of young people with Vi through the development of a tailormade Blended Training Programme and a set of digital adapted tools -Combat prejudices and misinformation through the design of new and innovative non-formal learning methods to be used by Vi youngsters in awareness-raising events for their local community -Encourage young people with Vi to undertake actions of active citizenship and commitment in the society, through the implementation of Awareness Raising events (the ADD@ME Awareness Raising workshops) in order to make their community aware of diversity and disability issues -Strengthen transnational cooperation among civil society organisations dealing with visual impairment. Implementation To reach these objectives, at first the consortium has elaborated a Blended Training Programme (IO1) to empower youth with Vi and boost their skills to become active citizens, and to participate actively in the society to foster their own social inclusion. Then, through a joint staff training event held in Warsaw/PL, 13 youth workers from partner organisations have been trained to deliver the training at local level. Local trainings were attended by 75 youth with Vi in total. Secondly, on the basis of an interactive process of development and mutual feedback, partners elaborated IO2 Mobile Toolkit for youth with Vi and IO3 Online Trivial Game, 2 web apps to facilitate ADD@ME Awareness Raising workshops on visual impairment in favour of the local communities. The development phase of these resources was followed by a testing phase through a Blended Mobility for Youth with Vi which took place partially in Liege/BE and partially online; 27 youngsters and 10 youth workers participated at the LTTA. Thanks to the skills acquired, the youngsters implemented 10 ADD@ME Workshops reaching 172 persons from the local communities at EU level. ADD@ME model has been widely disseminated through 6 Multiplier Events reaching in EU 287 stakeholders. Achievements CONCRETE OUTPUTS IO1-ADD@ME Blended Training Programme for Visually Impaired Youngsters: a training handbook of 72 p. and 6 e-modules in audio format aimed at empower and boost Vi youngsters’ self-confidence to become active citizens. Available in EN,ES,FR,GR,IT,PL,RO. IO2-ADD@ME Mobile Toolkit for Visually Impaired youngsters: a digital tool which contains 103 non-formal learning methods Vi youngsters can use to implement ADD@ME Awareness Raising Workshops. Available in EN,ES,FR,GR,IT,PL,RO. IO3-ADD@ME Online Trivial Game for Vi Ambassadors: an educational online game aimed at increasing local communities knowledge on disability, that can be used as further tool by youngsters with Vi to lead ADD@ME Awareness Raising Workshops. Available in EN,ES,FR,GR,IT,PL,RO. OTHER RESULTS Dissemination and Communication Strategy, dissemination materials, Quality Management Handbook and reports. ADD@ME had ALSO an EXTENDED IMPACT on DIRECT AND INDIRECT participants in the project: -Empowerment of youth with Vi, to participate actively in the society -Youth workers acquired new methods to empower and support social inclusion of Vi youngsters -Partners integrated the ADD@ME model in their daily work -EU communities’ increased awareness of disability.