Empowerment College Erasmus Project

Project Title

Empowerment College

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 2016

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Disabilities – special needs; Inclusion – equity; Access for disadvantaged

Project Summary

Art. 27 of the United nation disabled convention demands the right to work and demands also arrangements to ensure that people with disabilities have equal opportunities of employment. EU strategy 2010-20 determines strategies and interventions to ensure approaches to work for these people. Art. 24 guarantees the right of inclusive education in all ranks, including University and live-long-learning, explicitly for people with mental health problems. A German research says „approximately half of the people suffering from chronicle mental health problems in the working age are out of work and out of employ.“ (2004 Aktion psychisch Kranke: 20). The number of people, which receive pensions due to mental health problems doubled between 2000 and 2010 (compare BMAS 2013: 382). People suffering from mental health problems in Europe are often social isolated, unemployed, have less opportunities of rehabilitation and stucking in the role of patients and help recipients.The aim of the Empowerment College (EC) is to bring together different experiences with learning opportunities for people with mental health problems in Europe (like EX-IN in Germany, Toed in NL, recovery centers in England…)Concluding all these activities we will develop a concept which offers new opportunities for different groups of disadvantaged people. In the EC people may share their experiences, their strategies for coping with illness, social exclusion, disability. They will develop strategies to use these experiences as a resource. In the EC the experience of illness will no longer be regarded as a deficit, but as a resource. By accepting and valuing the life experience of the participants, they will get a new base for starting or continuing education. It will be a new step towards inclusion and integration in the labour market. Our aim is to achieve equality of opportunity for different groups of disadvantaged people. Members of the project are seven international partners. The coordinator of the project is the german organisation Initiative of social rehabilitation, a non profit organisation. The initiative offers home treatment for different groups of disadvantaged people. Besides the Initiative prosecutes FOKUS which offers advanced trainings for psychiatric professionals. Since many years FOKUS is experienced with national and international project management, advantaged training , inclusion and involvement of psychiatric experienced people. Further partners are: ImROC – England; GIP – Bulgaria; APSSN 1 Triestina – Italy; IGpB – Nehterlands; PIOD – poland. Further stakeholders will be: health insurances, the government, the health ministry, the social ministry… of each partners region and country. These are multipliers for the strategy of financing and disseminating the project ideas after end of the EU project. Every partner has to initiate and develop own strategies and partnerships to implement the project in his governmental system.People with disabilities, health problems, social exclusion, economical and social problems, with low educational background are involved in every stage of the project. This will help to develop the right measures of training and to increase the effectivity of support provided by college. During the project there will be: 8 transnational meetings of the (7) project partners, every partner has to organise conferences of multipliers in his own region or country. The intellectual outputs of the project will be:The masterplan for the empowerment collegeDeveloping and testing curricula of different lecture methods and issues: a.) 15 hours of educationb.) 20 – 50 hours of education, c.) developing and piloting a train the trainers course with 50 – 150 hours of educationOther outcome will be – assessment tools to define special education needs due to special living invironmental conditions of each target group- cooperative meetings with regional partners, stakeholders and multipliers in each partners country- evaluation instruments to measure the individual effect of the project and its products- web based blended learning tools – individual crisis prevention plans and emergency plansThe different Empowerment College activities shall reach about 250 students. The students of the College will be people normally excluded from education and employment over the last years due to their illness, disabilities or social background.The approach is a change of perspective with a strong innovating power:The characteristics which have been a lack, an obstacle so far, will be a chance, expertise and resource.The students will develop competences in self managing, in dealing and coping with their special problems. They will be supported in developing a realistic and resource orientated future and live plan.This change of perspective contributes to inclusion, participation in education and in labour market, equal rights and chances for people with mental health problems.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 253968,09 Eur

Project Coordinator

INITIATIVE ZUR SOZIALEN REHABILITATION EV & Country: DE

Project Partners

• Instituut voor Gebruikersparticipatie en Beleid B.V.
• Global Initiative on Psychiatry-Sofia
• Polski Instytut Otwartego Dialogu
• AZIENDA SANITARIA UNIVERSITARIA INTEGRATA DI TRIESTE
• NOTTINGHAMSHIRE HEALTHCARE NHS FOUNDATION TRUST