Open Minds - synchronising creative minds for social cohesion and radical inclusion

Radical Inclusion transcends traditional accessibility compliance. It advocates for integrating a wide array of perspectives and experiences at the initial stages of design, fostering a mindset wh...

To empower all young individuals to become architects of their own futures, cultivating resilience and life skills needed to navigate a rapidly changing world. We aspired for them to emerge as active citizens, agents of solidarity, and catalysts for positive transformation within communities throughout Europe while also striving to mitigate the social exclusion of any young person. Open Minds leveraged technology and the arts as mediums to inspire and introduce young people to the concept of radical inclusion through social innovations. Participants were taught to co-create solutions for societal issues, drawing upon interdisciplinary knowledge alongside cutting-edge technologies. They engaged in collaborative innovation and co-design at the confluence of science, humanities, and arts, laying the groundwork for the development of inclusive and accessible communities. The project successfully established a network comprising 253 young individuals, 30 youth workers, and 31 organisations from civil society organisations, formal and higher education, research, the business sector, and policy-making spheres, all committed to the mission of fostering a truly inclusive Europe.

Open Minds shifted the narrative from viewing individuals with disabilities as problems needing solutions to address the structural barriers of a disabling society as the primary concern. This initiative championed equal participation in a range of events, initiatives, and both formal and non-formal education settings, enabling young people with disabilities to engage alongside their peers. This exposure to diversity is crucial for normalising such interactions and fostering a natural acceptance of differences. Open Minds not only focused on individuals but also targeted local ecosystems—the interplay of communities, infrastructures, and resources that collectively define a locale's unique socio-political and economic landscape. Engaging with these ecosystems rather than merely with individuals facilitated a ripple effect of positive change, enhancing community-wide benefits and promoting local social and educational advancement. To disseminate radical inclusion principles within local communities where partner organisations operate and to young people, we developed an encompassing Open Minds approach. This comprised a Curriculum featuring an Open Minds card game, a Facilitator’s Guide complete with a physical computing Toolkit, and a Handbook. The design of the curriculum involved a series of activities to elucidate radical inclusion and explore the various disabling environments encountered by people with diverse conditions. This process challenged the notion that an environment that is enabling for one individual might be disabling for another, leading to a paradigm shift among young participants. To aid this attitudinal change, we introduced Open Minds cards to deepen the understanding of radical inclusion and the array of conditions and disabling environments people face. Following this, a facilitator's guide was developed to enhance young people's knowledge and experience in creating inclusive designs that transform disabling environments into enabling ones. This included generating a series of activities for young participants and creating introductory videos to expound on key concepts of the methodology, including radical inclusion, research fundamentals, practice-based research methodologies, hypothesis generation, digital assets management, and design principles. These videos served as a foundation for further discussion and learning. Additionally, a physical toolkit was devised to facilitate Creative Innovation Labs (CILs), offering a tangible platform for idea generation and hands-on prototyping, thereby empowering youth workers with varying technological proficiency to guide young individuals in devising technological solutions to counter disabling environments. After developing these documents, tools and methodologies, we trialled the Open Minds approach with 253 young individuals, 30 youth workers, and 31 local organisations through sessions and CILs. Each partner conducted two sessions (face-to-face or blended) with 50 young participants, including at least 10% young disabled artists, and participated in a blended Learning, Teaching, and Training Activities (LTTA) for young people. Local CILs were organised in Albania, Croatia, Finland, and Portugal, alongside an international CIL in Sweden, all operating concurrently to facilitate shared presentations and international cooperation. These CILs resulted in the development of eight international and 28 local projects, each addressing disabling environments and crafting solutions to overcome related challenges. The culmination of this process was the creation of a Handbook, enabling other youth workers and educators to foster and support local ecosystems using the Open Minds methodologies. Designed for adaptable application across various contexts—from educational settings to workplaces—the Handbook allows for flexible adoption of the methodology to suit specific needs, ranging from brief sessions to comprehensive programmes within organisations. Additional efforts were made to elucidate the methodology's transferability across different educational environments, ensuring broad applicability and impact.

Our project's approach, centred on Radical Inclusion, produced tangible outputs and impactful results, reshaping perspectives on disability and inclusion. The curriculum we developed outlines the Open Minds methodology's objectives, learning goals, prerequisites, and corequisites for implementation, detailing the process from registration and selection of young participants to course delivery, evaluation, and teaching resources, alongside highlighting valuable Open Access Educational Resources (OERs) on the topic. A significant innovation was the Open Minds card game, designed to shift young people's attitudes towards disability—from seeing disability as a problem to be tackled to addressing the structural, psychological, and physical barriers of a disabling society. The game facilitates the exploration of diverse disabilities and conditions, prompting participants to consider how design impacts lives. It comprises three types of cards: Person cards, introducing specific characters rather than stereotypical 'types'; Condition cards, emphasising disability as a result of person-environment interaction rather than an inherent attribute; and Disabling Environment cards, highlighting the role of physical and virtual spaces in creating exclusion. The Facilitator's Guide and a physical computing Toolkit were also developed to support the learning objectives and promote radically inclusive local ecosystems. The Guide outlines how to conduct activities, from face-to-face or blended sessions to Creative Innovation Labs, focusing on building inclusive designs and reconfiguring disabling environments. The Toolkit, centred around the Raspberry Pi Pico board, enables the creation of prototypes addressing these environments, designed for ease of use even without a technical background. These resources were piloted by 30 youth workers with 253 young participants, including 28 with disabilities and 44 facing other challenges, enhancing their skills in innovating for radical inclusion within their ecosystems. Through five simultaneous Creative Innovation Labs in Umeå, Tampere, Porto, Zagreb, and Tirana, young people developed innovative solutions, demonstrating the methodology's effectiveness. The culmination of our efforts was the Handbook, a practical guide for CSOs, educational institutions, and businesses to implement the Open Minds approach. It provides a comprehensive toolkit and methodologies for adopting Radical Inclusion principles, with flexible content to suit diverse educational settings. Featuring detailed steps, case studies, and strategies, the Handbook aims to make Radical Inclusion an actionable concept, equipping educators to foster environments where every perspective is integrated and valued.