YOUropean MEeting café Erasmus Project

Project Title

YOUropean MEeting café

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: EU Citizenship, EU awareness and Democracy; Inclusion – equity; Disabilities – special needs

Project Summary

Background :
The point of departure for the project “YOUropean MEeting-café” is that students with intellectual disabilities (hereinafter “ID”) generally have a narrow social circle and rarely meet new people not part of that circle – especially not students with special needs in other countries. Students with ID mostly have contact with their families and care workers. Bearing in mind the social (and potentially also economic) obstacles that daily face students with ID, they require guidance and support in expanding their social circle, more specifically in connecting with and maintaining new friends.

Objectives:
The aim of this strategic partnership is to bring students with IDs from different European countries and cultures together. Not only would the project enable the students involved to broaden the social circle and increase their self-esteem (by virtue of becoming active participants in the European community), but it would also – on a more broad note – promote solidarity and civic engagement. Altogether, the project is in line with the objective of social inclusion.

Number and profile of participants:
This project shall involve three special schools with a total of approximately 120 students aged 10-18 years. These schools are situated in the EU Member States
Sweden, Estonia and Germany. All three schools involved have students with ID and special needs. However, they have different profiles, teaching styles and strategies for inclusive pedagogies. An example of a clear difference is that while the (public) Swedish school focus on the use of digital tools to ease the daily lives of students with ID, the (private) Estonian school focuses on handicraft as a natural element of their practice therapeutic education. Through the project, the schools would take inspiration from each other’s best practices.

Description of activities:
The activities shall be characterized by blended learning in that both virtual meetings (E-Twinning) and face-to-face meetings shall be conducted. All (approximately 120) students will participate in virtual meetings (taking place between Sept 2020-Sept 2022), while five students from each school will participate in a mobile activity where the students (with their teachers) visit each other’s schools (starting in Germany Nov 2020). Six days (four days of activities and two days of travelling) will be spent at each school. During the visits, the students will attend joint lessons and workshops focused on the specific profile strengths of each host school, and conduct activities which aim at getting to know each other. The final events (during each visits) will be conducted in the forum of international cafes, where friends and family on the one hand, and media and the civil society (including representatives from e.g. the local government, and interest groups [both on national and international levels]) will be invited. Throughout the project, the teachers will together with the students and their parents evaluate whether it functions effectively and whether the aims are achieved.

Methodology:
As stated above, the virtual activities will take place throughout two years, and the face-to-face meetings will take place during the three visits (before these two years have lapsed). The activities will be focused on getting to know each other. Before meeting in practice, the students involved will (through E-Twinning) have seen the students involved in the other countries, and will have become aware of the environment and surroundings in the other schools. This will be of great advantage as preparation. Some teachers will take on the role of leading the educational activities, whereas other teachers will take on the role as supervisors who provide the extra assistance necessary for the students with ID.

Results and impact
This project will result in socially including the often marginalized group of students with ID in the European Community.
From the perspective of the students involved, they will acquire European friends in a similar situation as them. The platform and support that will be given to the students involved lay the ground for such friendship to become strong and life-long. The building of these friendships – conjunctively with the playful workshops, traveling abroad and going (carefully) beyond one’s comfort zone – will result in the students’ increased self-esteem and sense of belonging.

From a wider perspective, the project will set an example that other schools, teachers, and society as a whole can be inspired by. With regard to schools and teachers, the project will showcase ways in which we can collaborate to make the world bigger for young persons with ID. As for society as a whole, the project will bring light to an issue which dated long back in history has been a problem – the marginalization of persons with special needs. The project will make a clear statement that such marginalization is outdated and does not belong in the 21th century.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 63781 Eur

Project Coordinator

Gislaveds grundsärskola & Country: SE

Project Partners

• MTÜ Tallinna Erivajadustega Laste ja Noorte Tugiühing
• IGS Betzdorf-Kirchen