EMVISION: First Erasmus+ KA-3 project in Cluj

“Empowering young visually impaired to stand up for inclusive policy reforms” (EMVISION) is an Erasmus+, KA-3, structural dialogue project, developed by Asociatia Babilon Travel (ABT).

EMVISION is raising the voices of young people concerned about the situation of young blind or visually impaired (YBVI) and empowers them to strive to improve inclusive youth policy, dedicated YBVI through a structured dialogue between young people and decision makers/experts in this field. EMVISION is encouraging the involvement of civil society in creating and implementing policies, promoting transnational co-operation, better knowledge of European policies, equipping participants with soft skills such as working in an international environment, designing of actions with impact on decision-making agents power and increasing acceptability of participants to other cultures.

EMVISION is a follow-up of an Erasmus+, KA-1 project, “Value the Difference” coordinated by ABT during 2015-2016, in which young people with and without visual impairments have met and discussed current problems and difficulties that they YBVI face daily. Among the difficulties identified, a particularly important, both for insertion of YBVI on the labor market, and to boost their entrepreneurial initiative, is the lack of mobility of these young people. Therefore, the young people involved in the “Value the Difference” project, have decided together to make a difference and launch another project, a trans-national structural dialogue meeting,  to support reforms of inclusive policies that boosts mobility of YBVI, responding this way the “Youth on the Move” component of the “Europe 2020” strategy.

Participants in the new project will be actively involved in the implementation of inclusive policy reforms and will represent youth opinion regarding the subject of inclusion YBVI. The strength of the project is inclusion of YBVI and the synergies created with their peers without such impairments. EMVISION results are tackling the topics of inclusion, equity, youth participation and disability

Partner organizations to the project, from FYROM, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Romania, have already worked with public authorities responsible for creating and implementing policies addressing youth, inclusion and disabilities. In this regard, a number of institutions have been involved in the project, namely: Municipality of Cluj-Napoca, Department of Public Social Services and Medical Care Cluj-Napoca, Association of the Blind Poland.

Through the project, young people will have the opportunity to interact with policy makers and experts. This involves some prior training of the participants in order to initiate and establish a quality structural dialogue. During the main activity, there will be an exchange of best practices and mutual learning opportunities. The essential aspect is that participants will interact with the authorities.

To achieve these objectives, the project involves a trans-national structural dialogue meeting that will take place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, during October 29, 2017 (arrival date) and November 5, 2017 (departure date) and will involve 10 YBVI, 22 young people without disabilities and 5 decision makers/experts, from 5 European countries. This activity will create/develop, in a non-formal learning context, among the participants, diplomatic and negotiation skills and it will equip them with knowledge necessary for proper participation in the democratic life of the community both locally and in Europe. In this respect, participants will research in regard of European youth policies and priorities, will practice leadership, communication, teamwork, effective learning methods, decision making and problem solving. Participants will work together during workshops, and will meet other decision makers/experts in youth policies, disabilities, and inclusion. The 5 decision makers/experts, directly involved in the project, will develop competences related to interaction with young people in general and especially YBVI, better understanding of their needs and aspirations, which will facilitate the development of quality inclusive policies dedicated to them.

The trans-national meeting will end with a project proposal amending a decision/regulation of the local council, creating the necessary framework for increasing mobility of YBVI from Cluj-Napoca, the premise of better social inclusion, labor market insertion and entrepreneurship initiatives stimulation. This proposal will be submitted to the City Council of Cluj-Napoca for approval.

Another result of the trans-national structural dialogue meeting will be a code of good practice regarding this kind of meetings.

All the project results will be disseminated with the help of all the project partners, locally and internationally, targeting in particular institutions involved directly or indirectly in the project.

Participant’s profile:

The trans-national meeting in Cluj-Napoca will be attended by 32 young people (10 YBVI and 22 without disabilities) and 5 decision makers, 1 from each project country. All participants are committed to attend all the activities of the transnational meeting. Due to Erasmus+ programme regulations, all participants need to be citizens or legal residents one of the project countries: FYROM, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal or Romania.

• Young people, age 18-30, who:
  • Are committed to change something in their community/society;
  • Want to participate to public debates;
  • Have empathy and understanding for their disabled peers;
  • Are interested in how the democratic and legislative mechanisms are working and how these can be used to produce a better world;
  • Are ready to get in touch with people representing other cultures, to learn and to share;
  • Can communicate and intend to further develop their language skills in a foreign language, i.e. English, which is the official language of the project.
• Decision makers/experts, age 21+, should be:
  • Directly involved in the youth field, youth policies or inclusion (local councilors, experts or decision makers in city halls, local or regional public bodies, youth councils, etc.);
  • Open to the needs and desires of YBVI and ready to implement future projects and programmes, regarding them;
  • Ready to share their professional experience;
  • Able to present at least one policy proposal, or amendment, that could lead to beneficial local, national or European policy reforms, regarding YBVI.

For more details about the project please don’t hesitate to contact us at office@babilontravel.net.

You can also download the Info Pack of the project:

[sdm_download id=”3468″ fancy=”0″ new_window=”1″ color=”green”]

More accessible information about the city of Cluj-Napoca, can be found in a tourist guide of the historical center of Cluj-Napoca, both in large fonts and audio guide formats (suitable for visually impaired) and created in 2014 within the project Terra Mirabilis coordinated by Babilon Travel NGO:

Partners:

• Center for Youth Activism CYA KRIK, FYROM;
• Unique Projects, Lithuania;
• Polski Zwiazek Niewidomych, Poland;
• Youth of Europe, Poland;
• Autonomia e Descoberta CRL, Portugal;
• Direcția de Asistență Socială și Medicală Cluj, Romania;
• Liga Apărării Drepturilor Omului Filiala Cluj, Romania;
• Municipiul Cluj-Napoca, Romania;
• Liceul pentru Deficienți de Vedere Cluj-Napoca.

UPDATE:

Press Release

The trans-national meeting in Cluj-Napoca took place, as planned, between October 29 – November 5, 2017 and was a great success, providing two main outputs:

1. A Set of Proposals for the City Hall and Local Council of Cluj-Napoca, regarding improvement of accessibility of the local infrastructure, in respect with people with various disabilities;
2. A Code of Good Practices, in fact a guide for all the actors involved in implementing Erasmus+ structural dialogue projects and activities with/for/including VIPs, promoting equal opportunities, fair treatment, and key aspects to take into consideration for future similar actions.

Due to the excellent outputs obtained, the EMVISION project was nominated and awarded with the Special Award for Youth of the Public Participation Awards Gala CeRe 2018. More information about the Gala CeRe 2018 can be found here.