Social inclusion

DEAP – Supporting the Personal Development and Empowerment of Young People with Visual Disabilities through Arts Education

Aim:

The DEAP project aims to empower young people with visual impairments across Europe through arts education, personal development, stimulating creativity and increasing their participation in society. The project also focuses on building the professional competences of youth workers and teachers, providing them with innovative tools and working methods.

Target groups

The project activities are aimed at the following stakeholder groups:

  • Visually impaired young people and their families.
  • Youth workers and educators.
  • NGOs, policy makers and local communities.


Project results

  1. International competence building programme in arts education for young people with visual impairments

This element of the project is dedicated to the joint development, implementation and testing of an international competence-building programme in arts education that enables intercultural exchange and offers informal training opportunities for 125 youth workers and 100 young people with visual impairments from Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland, Cyprus and Sweden.

The programme includes:

  • 3 international training courses, which will take place in Italy, the Czech Republic and Poland. They will be attended by 75 youth workers and educators from the partner countries. The aim of the training courses is to equip participants with key competences, teaching methods and tools to support arts education programmes (ceramics, contact dance, theatre). The trainings are designed to enhance personal development, creative expression and active participation of young people with visual impairments.
  • 15 local workshops, which will be held in local communities in Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland, Cyprus and Sweden. They will involve 100 young people with visual impairments.
  • 1 international follow-up seminar, to be held in Italy. It will be attended by 18 youth workers and 10 young people with visual impairments from the partner countries. The seminar will be an opportunity to share experiences, summarise findings and reflect on the possibilities for the continuation and dissemination of the project results at EU level.

2 Developing open educational resources on arts education for visually impaired young people

This component of the project focuses on the development of open educational resources that will be fully digitally accessible for people with visual impairments.

The activities will include the development of:

  • An e-learning platform, providing easy access to educational materials, adapted to the needs of people with visual impairments.
  • 5 e-learning modules aimed at youth workers and educators involved in community work, education and rehabilitation of young people with visual impairments.

The aim of these resources is to support the transfer of project results and learning experiences to other contexts and settings.

3 Social impact evaluation

This element of the project focuses on the development of an evaluation framework system to assess and monitor the social impact and educational achievements of the target groups.

Activity objectives:

  • To evaluate the impact of the project on visually impaired young people, youth workers and local communities.
  • To monitor progress in terms of competences gained and educational outcomes over the course of the project.
  • Provide tools and methodologies for effective analysis of project outcomes, supporting project continuation and scaling.



Added value

The added value of the DEAP project stems from its holistic approach to arts education and social inclusion for young people with visual impairments.

  • The project offers a space for creative expression and personal development, which enhances self-confidence and a sense of empowerment.
  • Increasing access to arts education and opportunities for social participation counteracts the exclusion of this group.
  • Participants will gain innovative tools and methodologies that can be used in their work for other marginalised groups.
  • The project builds networks of international cooperation that strengthen the exchange of experiences and good practices.
  • Workshops in local communities will engage young people and communities in activities that support dialogue and collaboration.
  • Incorporating art as a therapeutic and educational tool allows for the development of psychomotor, cognitive and social skills in an attractive and engaging way.
  • The development of fully accessible Open Educational Resources supports the widespread dissemination of project results and enables them to be used by diverse audiences.

Planned activities

The project plans to:

  • Conducting research on the community-specific challenges faced by visually impaired young people and producing a summary report on the socio-economic difficulties of this group.
  • Organise three international training courses in Italy, the Czech Republic and Poland.
  • Conducting local workshops in five countries, enabling practical application of skills learned and collaboration.
  • Equipping youth workers with the competences to run 15 local arts-based workshops involving 100 participants with visual impairments.
  • Organise a final international seminar to summarise findings and develop policy recommendations.
  • Development of accessible Open Educational Resources (OER), including e-learning modules and platforms.
  • Dissemination of results and resources through newsletters, conferences and digital tools.

Project duration:

November 2024 – October 2026

More information:



Project coordinator

I.E.R.F.O.P. ONLUS

Italy

Project partners

Fundacja Rozwoju Aktywności Międzynarodowej i Edukacyjnej – FRAME

Poland

PRISM Impresa Sociale S.R.L.

Italy

Research and Education of Social Empowerment and Transformation – RESET LTD

Cyprus

Spolek PELICAN, z.s.

The Czech Republic

SENSUS

Sweden


Contact the project supervisor

Marta Kędzia

mkedzia(at)euframe.eu

Katarzyna Kasznicka

kkasznicka(at)euframe.eu


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