Youth with mental disabilities represents a vulnerable category that is facing many difficulties in integrating in society, especially in Eastern Europe where their integration is more difficult due to the lack of infrastructure, learning methodology and sometimes due to stereotypes that still persist in society. For improving their situation and their access to education, there is a need for accessible ways for developing the skills of youth workers in working with people with disability, the skills of parents and support staff in order to work on the development of children with different stages of mental disabilities appart from their therapy or counseling hours and for methodologies that can be used in reducing the prejudice of people towards those facing disability. For this, our project aimed at developing methodologies, tools, human resources, capacities and recommendations, that will help youngsters with mental disabilities to improve their personal growth appart form their counseling or therapy hours and to be better integrated in the main stream schooling system. It was done in cooperation with organisations from Bugaria and Romania, each of them bringing a different experience in this initiative. In order to achieve these objectives, different outputs was created, including a T-kit on PECS, a T-kit containing methods for creating a space that will foster the integration of youngsters with disability in the mainstream school system. All these was tested in 3 training courses, in order to see to what extent they can be later implemented and what changes are needed. Through the project we intended to achieve some measurable outputs related to increasing the capacity of youth workers, teachers and untrained people to better integrate mentally disabled youth and help their educational development outside the counseling and therapy hours and in the mainstream school system. Moreover, youth organisations and other institutions targeted by the project are expected to cooperate more in similar initiatives.

Development of Innovation was the project general objective, based on the priorities:•Further development of the VET quality assurance mechanisms; and•Contribution to the improvement of the Inclusive youth education and training.The project aims at elaboration of a VET quality offer for SEN learners, with a specific focus on learners with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), through the implementation of Quality Assurance (QA) principles in VET in line with the EQAVET recommendation. The team developed a QA Framework (QAF) and Tools for an effective support to VET providers to plan, implement, monitor & evaluate their training strategies related to participation in iVET and cVET; and to the continuous feedback loops between the two systems.Innovativeness:•Implements holistic approach to apply QA in VET for ADHD learners. Aims at defining a QAF (including principles, indicators, tools and guidelines) for iVET and cVET;•Applies a lifelong learning strategy in order to support education and training of ADHD learners at all ages;•Brings together relevant organisations with broad experience in QA - iVET and cVET, teacher training institutions, education and training of ADHD learners, business, HEIs and ICT;•Includes iVET & VET providers who to facilitate dissemination and test the QAF by majority of providers in the participant countries and across Europe;•Includes also business representatives, teacher education institutions, organisations training ADHD learners which guarantee the stakeholders' validation and recognition of the project key outputs and thus, to facilitate the mainstreaming and thereby sustainability. Target audience:iVET & cVET Providers, training teachers and ADHD learners; Teacher’s, School ADHD associations; ADHD learners; Project Partners; National and European organisations active in the VET field and inclusive education and training; National authorities (relevant Ministries, Agencies, regional Offices, etc.)Project outputs: •Compendium of good practices in the field of EQAVET implementation in VET for learners with ADHD. ISBN: 978-954-07-4510-7. The objective is to highlight examples of good practice in the field of EQAVET implementation in VET programmes addressed to ADHD learners, incl. details regarding the methodologies applied and results achieved. •Quality Assurance Framework for VET for learners with ADHD. ISBN: 978-954-07-4511-4. This is the key output of the project and the objective is to provide a user friendly tool as a benchmark for QA systems for the VET providers acting in the field. Based on the evidence summarised in the “Best Practices” compendium and the defined Indicators, “Guidelines Assisting VET School Boards in Delivering Special Education Services for Students with ADHD” were developed. They are structured around the three main dimensions “Improving my organisation”; “Improving my training delivery”; and “Improving my teaching methods”. http://tools4adhd.eu/guidelines/. The Introductory text is translated to all national languages of the consortium partners. •Toolkit for VET providers training ADHD learners. ISBN: 978-954-07-4512-1:In order to concretely support VET providers in understanding, implementing and measuring QA management systems, partners have also provided a QA Toolkit including tools for the three QA phases and related to the quality principles and indicators designed within the project. All these documents are published in the web-site designed to serve the specialised audience.Attained impact:The produced outputs:ocontribute to the support of VET-programs to align their quality initiatives with European and national policies in the field of inclusive VET;ohelp providers and local/regional/national authorities understand the level of change required of providers and VET-provision to align their QA approach with the inclusive ET policies;opromote awareness of the quality exercise among stakeholders and obtain the commitment of key stakeholders;ofacilitate the assessment and document stakeholder interests, influence and importance concerning QA in VET for ADHD learners;ogenerate a desire to change and improve VET-programs addressed to ADHD learners, e.g. indicate planned and ongoing initiatives that may be supportive of the alignment exercise, either national or regional/local level.Consortium:Eight institutions from BG, IT, GR, ES and SE were members of the consortium. The contribution of each of them is particularly important for the project success. Coordinator was Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski” (BG). Methodological coordinator was the team of Effebi (IT). Swedish partner led the development of the Toolkit. SciFy partner developed the web site for the users http://tools4adhd.eu. UNINETTUNO led the development of the Compendium with best practices. The Spanish partner developed the Glossary of the most used ADHD terminology then translated into all national languages.

Context:The Education and Training 2020 Strategy sets as objective regarding the need to improve the quality and efficiency of education and training, in particular for achieving the benchmark: fewer than 15% of 15-year-olds should be under-skilled in reading, mathematics and science.Moreover, the project will also address the need to enhance knowledge of and about science as a precondition to prepare Europe’s population to be actively engaged and responsible citizens, creative and innovative, able to work collaboratively and fully aware of and conversant with the complex challenges facing society (Science Education for Responsible Citizenship, EC, 2015).On the other hand, the Agenda for improving and modernising education (2016) underlines the fact that ‘the quality of teaching and school leadership is crucial’ and that enabling teachers to cope with these challenging tasks, requires strategic investment in effective school leadership and a teaching profession that is based on excellent initial education, teamwork, and career-long professional development.Problems addressed:Based on PISA 2015 findings, the level of performance in STEAM subjects is rather heterogeneous in the Partner countries (in Bulgaria, Italy, Greece, Malta and Lithuania, the performance is below the average, while in Portugal is generally similar with the average). However, among the Partner countries, only PT registers good performance in science respect to the average level (OECD Education GPS, 2015). Moreover, most students who sat the PISA 2015 test expressed a broad interest in science topics and recognised the important role that science plays in their world; but only a few of them reported that they participate in science activities. In addition, one of the EC findings presented in the Report Strengthening teaching in Europe (2015) is that although Members States are taking measures to raise the quality of teaching by enhancing Initial Teacher Education programmes, teachers still declare they need more professional development linked to tailoring, diversifying, and innovating teaching practices.The consequences of delaying enhancements in the key areas above mentioned could lead to the incapacity of Member States and Europe as a whole to reach the 2020 targets related to education and training, digital skills, democracy and social inclusion. In addition, not addressing these challenges can conduct to two different negative results: a. failing to enhance Europe’s competitiveness at international level and b. failing to build a more sustainable and socially committed business environment.Project aim and objectives:The project aims at enhancing schools’ capacity to provide inclusive and efficient STEAM education to students with special educational needs in order to enrich their learning experience and employability opportunities in the Industry 5.0 world.In this regard, the project envisaged the following expected results:IO1 – Educational kit: this Kit will include practical learning tools (to be used online and/or in classroom) that teachers can use for teaching STEAM subjects to students with SEN in a more attractive manner. C1 – Learning Activity: the Educational Toolkit will be presented and teachers will be trained on practical utilization of the different tools. IO2 - STEAM for Robotics Laboratory: teachers who took part in the learning activity will organize local laboratories (in IT, MT, LT, PT) involving students with and without SEN for applying STEAM to robotics, using the educational kit. IO3 - Guidelines and recommendations: guidance and recommendations for ensuring inclusive learning environments in schools that facilitate STEAM education of students with SEN will be addressed to school managers.

"Young people in all European countries (2015 EU Youth Report) face growing challenges in the hard Covid 19 pandemic times, related to their active and full involvement in the labour and civic life of their communities.Most severely this is observed among youth with intellectual dissabilities.Youth work becomes an important instrument for reaching out and supporting these young people.The Inclusive Bubbles project will focus on the social inclusion, integration and empowerment of young people with intellectual disabilities. The Inclusive Bubbles project aims to promote social entrepreneurship among young people and to equip youth workers with news skills and experience related to solidarity economy, social entrepreneurship and innovative tools for working with disadvantaged youth on the topic.The project's overal aim is to improve employment prospects of young people with intellectual disabilities through exchange of good practices between five partner organisations from five countries.The concrete objectives of the project are:- to improve social entrepreneurial knowledge, skills and motivation to participate on the labour market of 25 young people with intellectual disabilities- to raise capacity of 10 professionals in delivering social entrepreneurship training and training for basic personal skills for independent life to young people with intellectual disabilities and youth workers;- to support establishment of 5 training social enterprises of young people with intellectual disabilities.The 2 target groups and their needs have been identified, as follows:1. Youth workers, providing entrepreneurship and personal development trainings, need new learning content and innovative delivery methods to ensure quality and sustainability of the learning provided;2. Young people with intellectual disabilities, who need a set of self-awareness and assertive skills, entrepreneurial mindset and increased motivation to cope with the complexity of today's social and economic life.Inclusive Bubbles project will last 15 months and the main activities to be carried out are: youth social entrepreneurship training implementation, soap making social enterprises; youth workers international joint staff trainings; local trainings for youth workers and young people with intellectual disabilities, project website and e-shop for handmade soaps. There will be two transnational project meetings- in the beginning and in the end of the project. Between them two 5-days international joint staff trainings for youth workers will be organised.The Inclusive Bubbles project will compile a social entrepreneurship training programme for young people with mild, moderate and severe intellectual disabilities on the basis of good practices in the partner organisations and countries. Within the programme young people with the support of youth workers will develop ideas for social enterprises for making handmade soap, engage in real ""training"" enterprises, carry out pilot production, marketing and selling activities within the learning process. All training enterprises will have the opportunity to market their products in a tailor-made international e-shop, integrated within the project website.The project's impact for the the young people with intellectual dissabilities is related to: improved social entrepreneurship mindset; communication competences; improved learning achievements; openness to cooperating with their peers; increased sense of initiative.The long-term impact will be more independent life and reduced unemployment.The youth workers will be able to deliver high quality training about personal skills for independent life and social entrepreneurship for young people with intellectual disabilities by providing them with the necessary information and appropriate methods for understanding the opportunities of independent living, taking the initiative in their own hands and becoming responsible for their future.For all partner organisations the current partnership will provide an opportunity for improving capacities in terms of international project work and collaboration, which is a key step of enriching organizational work practices and create further ideas for expanding the NGOs’ portfolios.For other stakeholders- parents, employers, social partners, policy makers, etc., the project activities and evidence base collected will give further visibility to the issue on introducing effective policy measures for ensuring real employment prospects to young people with intellectual disabilities.The project necessitates a joint international efforts since it addresses a pan-European issue, related to unemployment of young people with intellectual disabilities. Each partnercountry organisation possesses spesific perspective and approach to challenges described, which will enrich the overall understanding of the matter at hand and build solid and sustainable solution."

Context/background of projectOur project combines the efforts of 5 youth NGOs and 1 umbrella organisation from 5 countries (BG, IT, MK, RO and SI) on crosssectoral level (youth and school education) in developing the first online platform (OPEN platform) for validating good practices in youth work that can be applied to 5 groups of youth learners with special needs: Autism, Visual and Hearing Impairments, Dyslexia, Physical Difficulties. These are the most common types of learning difficulties, acknowledged on national and European level. More and more youth work needs to address these challenges young people face. However, youth workers across EU do not have always the necessary instruments and know-how. Our project explored a possible solution to this challenge by linking special needs education specialists and youth workers in our partner countries and across Europe through the innovative OPEN platform.Our cross-country review of current situation in partner countries (BG, RO, SI, MK and IT) confirmed that to a large extent young people in the age group of 13-18, suffering from any of the above forms of learning difficulties study with the support of education professionals (e.g., resource teachers), usually stationed either within mainstream school education institutions and/or separate special needs centres. Along with majority of public supported education services, some youth prefer to use the services of private training providers.Objectives of our projectOur main aim was to increase youth worker’s effectiveness in facilitating training and other activities, involving youth with learning difficulties.The main tasks to reach this goal were:To develop an online platform (OPEN platform) in 6 languages (BG, RO, SI, MK, IT and EN) for exchange of good practices in the field of youth work with young people, facing learning difficulties and conducting 2 thematic webinars; To develop an evaluation methodology for validating the good practices as applicable in one or more of the 5 areas of learning difficulties (Autism, Visual and Hearing Impairments, Dyslexia, Physical Difficulties); To conduct piloting of the platform, involving validation of 10 good practices and implementation of 2 thematic seminars; To provide ongoing dissemination of project’s results among youth workers communities in partner countries and across Europe. Number and profile of participantsOur target group are youth workers, working with young people in the age group 13-18 in school and other settings.We distinguish two subgroups of workers: Facing currently learners with learning difficulties in their daily practice.Facing prospects to work with such learners in light of further intensification of the process of integrating inclusive education concept on all levels of the lifelong learning systems in partner countries and across Europe. We involved 24 youth workers and special needs education professionals in the joint staff trainings in Sofia and Ohrid. We also had 44 registered participants in the 2 thematic webinars. In addition, we will attracted at least 1050 participants in the process of the dissemination, exploitation and lobbying of the project results.Description of activities and resultsThe following main activities were carried out within the project:Development of methodology for validation of practices, validation and completion, development of the OPEN platform, collection and evaluation of 12 best practices translated and uploaded on the platform, two trainings for inclusion of young people with different disabilities in youth activities conducted two themed webinars, with partners filming video clips that have also been uploaded to YOUTUBE and OPEN. 2 trainings of youth workers were also organized and held in Sofia and Ohrid.