Birds And Nature Open for Full Fruition, Empowering Everyone Erasmus Project

Project Title

Birds And Nature Open for Full Fruition, Empowering Everyone

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 : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Access for disadvantaged; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; Disabilities – special needs

Project Summary

The project “Birds And Nature Open for Full Fruition, Empowering Everyone” (BANOFFEE) has as its main objectives to improve the training of professionals in nature tourism and ornithology and create the necessary tools to enable the complete fruition of environment and facilitating the access to nature and birds for the hearing impaired (of all ages) in Europe.

To achieve these goals the project proposes in an innovative way to contribute to the development of sign languages (with the taxonomy of O1) and for this purpose it will assign a sign to around 50 species of common birds in Europe (at the moment doesn’t exist a sign for each species of bird, in sign language). This progress is very important for the recognition of sign languages but also to make visible the need to support deaf people throughout Europe. Therefore, the project will not only benefit the professionals in improving their knowledge, but will also directly benefit the hearing impaired both because of the intellectual products generated, as well as because of the improvement in the fruition of nature and visitor centers.

The strategic partnership will produce manual of good practice for nature reserves and info center manager, for the design of those spaces in order to allow the inclusion of deaf people and a comprehensive fruition of the nature environment.
A video (O4) will be produce in collaboration with LPO and Maltese partners for the description of the most common birds of these two country in order to have the material to convert two nature reseves (one in France and Ghadira in malta) using the expertise acquired by LPO and during the project with the other partner

The experience of O4 together with the two manuals (O2-O3) will result in a self assessment tool (O5) produced for all the info center and parks, in order to identify the gap to deaf people accessibility to the educational material.

The O6 his the innovative and interactive tool that will make available for the use of interpreters of sign language, guides, ornithologists and potentially all the community of deaf, the taxonomy created in the output O1.
The consortium has all the necessary experience in providing training in ornithological education, as well as entities with experience with the deaf people and sign language..

In the world some 70 million citizens are deaf, but their access to the nature and environment is far from being universal. There are no specific signs in the sign language to identify all bird species. One of the way to address this problem is create well trained tourism professionals and provide information materials accessible to everyone. Language is the most important instrument for communicating and transmitting ideas and feelings. For this reason, since Sign Languages are the mother tongues of many deaf people, it is important to promote their use in all contexts to facilitate accessibility for deaf people. Thanks to the resolution of the European Parliament (06/17/1988), and with the support of the European Commission, Sign Languages have been recognized as languages used by deaf people and, therefore, their right to use it. This resolution encourages European countries to promote the use of Sign Languages and to carry out projects to promote sign languages. The right of communication was enshrined in 2006 by the UN and, in 2007, was also recognized for deaf people. These barriers can be overcome in various ways, but mostly through the use of sign language.
Deafness, because it is an invisible disability, receives very little attention from society and governments. The hearing impaired have a great limitation due to the lack of adapted resources to bring the group closer to the natural environment. Unlike other groups of disabled people with greater organization and resources, very few are devoted to work for full accessibility of deaf people. Thus, by way of example, at world level there is no sign language in the names of the different species of birds (only a few generic signs) which increases the barriers to access to knowledge of the natural environment and its characteristics.
On the other hand, in recent years, awareness of our relationship with nature and impact on the environment has increased, as well as interest in its knowledge and the improvement of the welfare of people who spend more time in contact with it. The project will therefore facilitate the overcoming of barriers so that deaf people also benefit from contact with nature, through the training of tourism professionals.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 449101 Eur

Project Coordinator

Għaqda Persuni Neqsin mis-Smigħ & Country: MT

Project Partners

• LPO
• SOCIEDAD ESPANOLA DE ORNITOLOGIA SEO
• BirdLife Malta
• Hellenic Ornithological Society
• Abile Mente onlus
• Associació Volem Signar i Escoltar