Building Skills Through Inclusion: The story continues

Building Skills Through Inclusion is an Erasmus+ youth project financed by the European Union. There are 5 countries participating: Albania, Kosovo, Portugal, Romania and Serbia.

The aim of the project is to promote and foster social inclusion of young people with disabilities and fewer opportunities by being focused on mobility, independent living and employability.

To achieve its aim, the project will have three main activities: a partnership building seminar, a training course and a youth exchange.

The second main activity is a training course (TC) in Durres, Albania, starting on October 28 (arrival day) and ending on November 4, 2018 (departure day).

OBJECTIVES:

• Increase capacities of youth workers with and without disabilities how to contribute on independent living  and inclusion of people with disabilities and fewer opportunities, focus on some soft skills young people with disabilities should practice to improve their independent living, employability, accessibility  and inclusion;
• Make a relevant assessment what are the main needs of people with disabilities and fewer opportunities though a more inclusive environment and independent living – mixing disabled and non-disabled  can bring a more clear picture what we can do more on this category, from where to start and how to keep sustainable action;
• Plan the next activity – the youth exchange;
• Increase the understanding of inclusion, non-formal learning, disability, EU values and principles;
• Continue to develop a manual / a code of good practices, started on the partnership building seminar in August, in Cluj-Napoca.

PARTICIPANTS:

The TC brings together 25 youth workers, age 18+, 5 from each partner, which are actively involved in their organizations, 10 of them with disabilities and 15 without disabilities. Among the disabled participants:

• 5 youth workers fully disabled such as blind or in wheelchairs. Those 5 will need accompanying persons to enable them participate equally in the TC, as well as supporting them during travel and free time and personal care;
• 5 more with lighter disabilities from the same target group but they can participate independently with some additional support by the team, but they do not need a personal assistant;
• There will be also 5 accompanying persons, one from each partner country, to support the disabled youth workers.

The selection of all participants will be based on common application forms, motivation of youth workers and young people. Each partner organization is responsible to identify and select participants by a set of common criteria. Identification will be through local contacts, team members and local partners.

Youth workers selection criteria:

• Citizens or legal residents of Albania, Kosovo, Portugal, Romania or Serbia;
• Age 18+;
• Active in the sending organization;
• Working with youth, preferable 6 months experience with youth with disabilities and with fewer opportunities, some of them with and others without experience in working with disabled youngsters;
• Open to the needs and desires of youth; with and without disabilities;
• Ready to share their personal and professional experience;
• Able to use English as a working language, since this is the official language of the project;
• Ready to attend all the activities of the training course;
• Willing to disseminate the results among their co-workers, on their own/institution’s webpage, on their Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, Instagram, etc.;
• Ready to organize and participate to two local workshops, after the seminar;
• One of the youth workers will be selected to participate also to the third main activity of the project, a youth exchange, as youth leader, and put in practice the knolege and skills developed during the training course.

Participants will have the opportunity to contribute at any session they prefer too. During the intercultural evening, participants will be asked to bring and present pieces of their culture (music, food, dance, data, pictures, collages, etc.) in an inclusive way.

All project activities are based on non-formal education methods and tools (working groups, debriefings, free discussions, role plays, workshops, teambuilding exercises, games, energizers, reflections, study visits, presentations etc.), which encourage active participation of each participant in the sessions. The whole learning methodology will be adapted to the needs of all the participants and will be inclusive with regard of the disabled ones. Facilitators will choose those methods and tools, which involve equally and actively each participant.

THE VENUE:

Accommodation will be in the Harmonia Group (Albanian Star Hotel) in Durres, Albania. (http://www.harmonia-hotels.com/). The Albanian Star Hotel is situated on the seashore, 13 km away from the city center of Durres, with all the advantages of architecture and its positioning. The training, accommodation and meals are all organized to take place in the hotel.

There are regular buses to the city center which cost 40 Leke = 0.3 Euro. The hotel is 5 min. from the bus station (Golem Direction Buss).

According to Erasmus+ rules, you cannot stay or come before for more than 2 days after or before the training, otherwise your travel costs will not be reimbursed.

Food will be both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, depending on your preferences.

The three daily meals will be buffet style. No alcoholic drinks are offered by the training budget but you can order them yourselves after the sessions at the bar. There will be breakfast with simple food such as tea, coffee, milk, eggs etc., hot meals for lunch (13.00) and dinner (19.00), as well as coffee/tea and snacks in between meals. If you have other needs concerning food, please tell us!

TRAVEL   REIMBURSEMENT:

There is no participation fee. According to the rules within the Erasmus+ Programme, financed by the European Union, we will reimburse the travel costs on the basis of the cheapest and most effective possibilities, 2nd class railway tickets, APEX-flights etc., accompanied by the receipt of complete and original tickets, invoices, bills, receipts, boarding cards etc.

All the travel tickets have to be bought after receiving confirmation from the coordinator!!!

Participants are expected to arrive to Durres, Albania on 28^th of October 2018. The departure will be on 4^th of November 2018, after breakfast. In case some participants want to  spend 1-2 extra days in Albania, prior  to  or  after  the   event, we  need  to  consult  it  with our National Agency. For any advice on that, do not hesitate to contact us. We cannot offer accommodation for these extra days.

We will reimburse travel costs, by bank transfer, within 45 days after receiving all the original travel   documents, after dissemination and filling out the Mobility Tool questionnaire. The maximum reimbursements:

• Serbia 180 Euro;
• Albania 0 Euro;
• Kosovo 180 Euro;
• Portugal 360 Euro;
• Romania 275 Euro;

WHAT TO BRING WITH YOU

• You need to bring your personal items;
• Warm clothes, because it may be cold and raining, so you need an umbrella;
• Mosquito repellent is essential for the night-time;
• Swimwear if any day will be warm and sunny, who knows, the temperatures in Albania sometimes are changing fast!
• As during the training intercultural exchange is also important, it would be great if you can bring some information and recreational material from your country, photos of your country, your home, family and friends, music instruments and cassettes, posters etc.;
• Also, please bring some typical food, sweets or whatever you like that is from your country. We are going to organize an intercultural night and it will be nice to try different food from your countries and cultures;
• The most important is to bring your good mood and a big motivation J

PROJECT COORDINATOR:

Asociatia Babilon Travel

PROJECT PARTNERS:

• Autonomia e Descoberta CRL – Portugal;
• AzBuki – Serbia;
• Infinit – Kosovo;
• Projekte Vullnetare Nderkombetare – Albania.

The selection of participants, through an application form, is open until October 7, 2018 and the results will be anounced on October 8, 2018.

The complete info pack for participants can be downloaded from the link below:

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• Building Skills Through Inclusion
• Partnership Building Seminar in Romania
• Comunicat de Presă