The project was developed and submitted to provide a platform to encourage social inclusion. Being employed is not only a source of income but also an important tool to be part of the community for any group. This is clearer in groups at risk of 'dropping out' such as disabled individuals. Traditionally, these groups have had on-going equality problems in integrating into working life. Moreover, managers and workers have admitted that generally they do not know how to act/what procedure to follow with employees/colleagues with disabilities. For this reason, people with disabilities, sometimes lose out on job opportunities.At least 16% of the EU27 working age population has a disability, many with the ability and the desire to work. In the light of the current EU demographic situation, the occurrence of disability is expected to increase, especially as some disabilities degenerate with age. It is therefore crucial to address the needs of people with disabilities in order to facilitate a better integration into the labour market and into society itself. One of the disabled collectives which has more trouble than many in securing employment are people with Down Syndrome (trisomy 21) and this is the single most common cause of a learning disability. Consequently, the main focus of output one and the pilot test of this project was based on this collective and for that the project was entitled “Working Tri21”. The ultimate objective was to promote, with training, the equality and the inclusion of collectives with some disability (especially trisomy 21), to prevent those groups from 'dropping out' of working life; social inclusion through job inclusion.As a result of preparation, research and implementation, Working Tri21 has developed bespoke training courses designed specifically for acquiring skills, knowledge and competences by different collectives with some disability, to increase the possibility of them being recruited into the furniture industry and become active members of the workforce. In order to achieve this overall outcome, Working Tri21 analysed the skills, capacity and knowledge needs in each identified job position in the furniture field. In addition the project analysed twenty different collectives with some disability in regard to skills, the competences and potential skill mismatches. The huge research effort on matching skills and job positions was crucial to the success of the project, as was the partnership developed between the furniture sector and the disability associations, particularly in Spain.The additional disabilities targeted, were for example deafness, blindness, ataxia and diabetes (Ref: Pages 27/28 of the Application Form). The information gleaned from the research (IO’s 1, 2 and 3) informed both the development of the courses and also the two pilot training courses which were done to check the methodology. The impact on the ten trainees has been hugely positive and it is hoped two of the trainees at least, will secure on-going employmentTo deliver the outcomes summarised above, Working Tri21 brought together a strong multi-disciplinary and transnational partnership formed by four entities (Ref: Pages 3 to 16 of the Application Form):•Associazione Italiana Persone Down onlus (AIPD): an association supporting people with Down Syndrome disabilities from Italy. •BFM Ltd (British Furniture Manufacturers Limited): a trade association from the UK representing the furniture industry to give advice on integration into factories.•Asociacion empresarial de investigacion centro tecnologico del mueble y la madera de la region de Murcia (CETEM): a Technical and Training Centre specialising in the Furniture and Woodworking sector in Spain•Centro Studi Città di Foligno (CSF): a VET Centre for the development of courses from Italy.The target groups that will benefit from the project are:•People with some disability trying to obtain or maintain contact with the labour market.•Service providers for disabled people and vocational education and training (VET) institutions working with this target groups e.g. therapists, social workers, teachers, trainers and related institutions and organisations.•Professionals from the furniture and woodworking sector e.g. employers, employees, entrepreneurs, VET trainers, human resource staff etc. who are interested in the inclusion of disabled workers in traditional industrial sectors.•Policy makers in the field of vocational education and training, work and social inclusion at regional, national and EU level.•Volunteers and related institutions providing services to people with some disability.Through on-going dissemination, use of the website (workingtri21.eu/) and follow up activities the intention is for the outcomes (available in three languages) to be used by the consortium members and/or other associated organisations for implementation post project, in the three countries represented and other EU countries.

The social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities is gaining increased importance in the EU context. Several measures and supports had been given from different types of organizations as well as from local, national and European policies. Despite the European Disability Strategy (2010-2020), there is still lots of work to be done even considering the emergency and mediatism of this subject.In this context, the T21COMmunity Project aimed at promoting and facilitating the social inclusion and the employability of European Down Syndrome (DS) youth citizens through Tourism and e-skills. Initiatives and strategies in this area are still, mainly, being done by non-profit organizations and associations in the civil society with very few financial resources. Therefore, this project aims at making a positive difference in the area of DS youth support.The project has two main primary target groups, namely:1. Young people between 13 (preferably older than 17 years old) and 30 years old with DS that face psychological, social or physical challenges and that need alternative pathways to engage with education and new technological competences for employability.2. Teachers, stakeholders and relevant professionals involved in the delivery and development of creative and innovative educational responses for young people who do not engage in mainstream educational settings.Three specific objectives and related activities were addressed:The first one, translated into sharing good practices at various levels, was focused on the specific target group of disadvantaged and ‘at-risk’ young people, namely DS young citizens.Education systems that maximize social inclusion; developments in the use of technology to create active learning environments that support innovative pedagogies, collaboration and effective practice for disadvantaged learners; and increase the limited research in the area of non-formal learning (especially in e-skills) were impactful results.With the second objective it was meant to identify key components that constitute a successful and engaging educational experience for learners and instructional roles within an online and blended learning environment. The partnership challenge was to identify the unique set of design principles and component parts required to provide an effective solution for education of disadvantaged people. By the third objective, it was intended to explore areas for the application of key components in the development of innovative approaches. It was focused on the learning perspective of “how could we learn more about these thematic”, and as technology continues to evolve, the ability to merge these upcoming technologies with non-formal education also became increasingly relevant to explore viable solutions to address the needs of DS targets.In order to test the new educational materials with gamification tools, methodological and pedagogical guidelines with specific and innovative approaches to the DS target population, and to develop their skills on tourism and e-skills towards their inclusion and employability, learning and teaching activities were undertaken for a group of 6 DS participants per partner country, 18 in total (supported by 2 accompanying persons per partner country), having a huge impact in target population and stakeholders involved.The scientific, societal, technological, policy and economic impacts achieved at the local, regional, national and European scope consisted in the fulfillment of the various workshops and actions that promoted equity and inclusion among these target groups (young adults with DS). Thus, the inclusion of DS citizens in society and in the labor market through the implementation of several actions, initiatives and activities that this project provided were perceived as viable and highly important strategies to the social, digital and professional inclusion of these citizens, having in general a noticeable impact at all levels. In addition, this project provided several outcomes and results that, not only, contributed to the social and digital inclusion of DS citizens as well as allowed the development of specific activities, namely: digital educational contents; methodological and pedagogical guidelines; innovative web platforms and social networks; and also creative short stories eBooks among others. In terms of longer term benefits, this project allowed, due to is relation with stakeholders, volunteers and teachers, the launch of a unique and innovative training course in Higher Education for young people with intellectual disabilities, named Digital Literacy for Labor Market, with the participants of TV COMmunity project, being one of the most important impactful outcome.

Down Syndrome (DS) is a chromosomal disorder, occurring at about 1 in 600/1000 birth, worldwide population is about 6 million (www.globaldownsyndrome.org). They usually experience some degree of cognitive disability depending not only on a person health conditions or impairments but also on the extent to which environmental factors support the person’s full participation and inclusion in society.The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) recognizes the right of persons with disabilities to participate on an equal basis with others in recreational and leisure activities as a crucial factor for inclusion. The time people have outside their productive activities and how they can and choose to spend it, has a significant impact on their subjective notion of well-being, their happiness and their life satisfaction (Quality of life and leisure activities. Social Indicators Research, 102(1), 81-91). The self-determination theory and Person Centered Planning form the basis from which DS LEISURE training is designed. The focus is on inclusive activities for people with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities; trainers and people who have to deal with individuals with intellectual disabilities. DS LEISURE themes are related to the central themes of the UN CRPD: autonomy and full participation. In addition, DS Leisure sees the importance of: Question sent; what are the wishes and requirements of someone with a disabilityCustomization; everyone is different, the strength is to find a creative solution for the individual. Own direction; the experience for growth, self-direction and making contacts are the basis for self-developmentThe network; a good network of family, neighbours, friends around someone creates more inclusion and possibilities. Dialogue; this way of working increases self-awareness and ensures that people learn from each other. DS-LEISURE is launched with the main objective of increasing the competences (attitudes, skills, knowledge) of PDS, professionals working in leisure sector, families of PDS, formal, non-formal caregivers and volunteers, about how to improve Quality of Life of PDS through Inclusive Leisure through an innovative training program.The specific objectives are:To raise awareness and motivate the full collective about the importance of Inclusive Leisure for Quality of Life. To increase the autonomy of PDS for taking decisions about their leisure time with a global Wellbeing and QoL approach.To transfer knowledge and guidelines about how to implement Inclusive Leisure among PDS.To transfer knowledge and guidelines about to exploit ICT Tools (Apps and/ATs) for supporting inclusive leisure for PDS.Thanks to DS LEISURE training, targets can plan their personal leisure time and can participate in various leisure activities. It consists of 5 lessons provided by trainers or supervisors. The content is designed around: What is leisure time; What possibilities are there; What appeals to me; Create personal leisure plan and action plan; Presenting personal leisure time plan and action plan. The DS LEISURE training materials have been validated in four stages, with direct participation of people with Down syndrome, their network and professional of leisure environments. It started with 108 participants in co-creation working sessions and reached 193 participants in experiential training activities.On the DS LEISURE website: https://www.dsleisure.eu/ visitors can find the training materials organised in 3 categories: Compendious - general information about the project and training; Learners where the Workbook and evaluation form are presented; and Trainers where 5 guides and afferent evaluation forms in supporting this training are presented. All the training materials are downloadable for free. An e-Training Platform was developed for supporting the implementation of Training Materials and Experiential Training Activities by exploiting ICT tools for boosting the autonomy of PDS. It is an integral part of the project website and can be accessed through a direct link from the Home page of the website, or directly accessing the following link: http://learn.dsleisure.eu/The e-Training process is based on 5 lessons, which include Training Material, Games and Virtual Scenarios regarding the leisure activities. All of the above are available in English, Romanian, Greek, Italian, Dutch and Turkish.In DS LEISURE training more than 120 people with intellectual disabilities experinced 15 leisure environments training their competences: Self-awareness; Social skills; Assertiveness; Creativity and resolving power; Presentation skills; Request help and use the network; Ability to make choices; Communication; Orientation.564.449 participants indirectly addressed by the dissemination activities: website, social media, awareness presentations in the associations, conferences, seminars, workshops, on-line and paper publications, advertising products.

CONTEXT: Awareness on social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities has been increasing thanks to measures and actions adopted at both National and European levels. The EU promotes the active inclusion and full participation of disabled people in society. Giving them the opportunity to do an internship abroad can represent an important chance to enrich their cv and to present themselves with greater determination in the face of potential employers. Unfortunately, due to lack of specific information regarding the mobility of people with disabilities, many VET providers are led to imagine that having people with disabilities involved in a mobility project entails a great deal of extra work and possible complications. At the same time there is a poor connection between the world of VET organizations and that of NGOs focused on people with disabilities, therefore the number of people with ID engaging in a mobility is still very low.OBJECTIVES: To promote the social inclusion and to facilitate the transition to the labor market of people with intellectual disabilities thanks to their involvement in transnational mobilities: •define a set of standards and tools for the design of transnational mobility paths for people with intellectual disabilities (ID);•update the skills of VET providers in the design of transnational mobility projects involving people with ID;•promote the involvement of people with ID in international mobility paths;•promote the collaboration between VET providers, hosting SMEs and NGOs for the social inclusion of people with ID.TARGET: VET providers, managers, projects designers; people with mild intellectual disabilities and their families;ACTIVITES:A1 Project managementA2 Monitoring & EvaluationA3 DisseminationA4 Impact assessmentO1: PR.E.S.T.O. Training Course for VET ProvidersO2: PR.E.S.T.O. VideoC1 Joint Staff Training Event C2-7 Blended student mobilities in Italy, France, Spain, Greece INTANGIBLE RESULTS:•definition of tools and of a training course for the design of transnational mobility paths for people with ID;•updated skills of at least 22 people (staff of VET providers) in the design of transnational mobility projects involving people with intellectual disabilities;•greater self-esteem and social competences of at least 12 people with mild intellectual disabilities•increased awareness on the need to involve people with intellectual disabilities;•increased collaboration between VET providers, SMEs and NGOs.MAIN TANGIBLE RESULTS: O1-R1 PR.E.S.T.O. GuidelinesO1-R3 PR.E.S.T.O. Training course design, contents and materialO1-R5 6 Blended mobility projectsO2-R1: PR.E.S.T.O. Video C1-R1: Short Term Joint Staff Training Event C2/7-R1: 23 days of mobility in for 12 traineesC2/7-R2: 12 Learning Agreement and Quality Commitment signedIMPACT ON DIRECT PARTICIPANTS:•22 VET project designers will acknowledge tools and methods useful to design mobility projects involving people with disabilities, giving greater strength to their curriculum vitae and job competences.•12 people with intellectual disabilities and their families will come out of a cycle of exclusion and demotivation, thanks to a highly engaging on-the-job learning experience and to the acquisition of news skills and competences will increase their autonomy and capacity to enter the job marketIMPACT ON PARTNERS AND ASSOCIATES:•Close cooperation between organizations of different nature and business models will open new synergies in different fields, resulting in the development of innovative ideas to be carried out as a growing Consortium after project’s conclusion;•The project’s expected impact is to grow the expertise of all parts involved and put them in the position of national promotors of international learning opportunities involving people with disabilities, having the chance to exploit all tailored training tools tested during the project. •Partner VET Providers: will be able to offer an innovative training path to their audience, widening their educational offering, increasing their penetration to the market and improving their expertise and reputation.IMPACT ON TARGET GROUPS AND RELEVANT STAKEHOLDERS:•Development of a strategic methodological “bridge” between the two separate worlds of VET and on-the-job training (animated mainly by VET providers) and that of social inclusion of people with disabilities (animated by NGOs and social cooperatives);•VET Project designers will be able to design work-based international mobilities involving people with disabilities and will therefore enrich their professional skills and provide greater opportunities for their organizations.

"TARGET( people with disabilities)•People with disabilities account for 10-12% of the world's population.•0,1% of European citizens (740.000) are now living with Inettllectual disdabilities (ID) •Prevalence of people with Down Syndrome, commonest (15-20%) identifiable cause of ID - is 1/2000: 370.000, in Europe. Their average life expectancy has increased; it is now around 60.•The right to work is getting crucial to ensure their independent living and self-determination. People with ID face a much higher unemployment rate than the rate applied to the general population. •Furthermore, the vast majority have never experienced any form of vocational training and this is a further limit to their access to the labour market.THE VALUEABLE NETWORKThis proposal follows two Erasmus projects which have set up and developed the Valueable network , which is now present in 6 countries and counts on more than 100 member hospitality companies, that host internships and/or hire people with intellectual disabilities. OBJECTIVESGeneral objective•Enhancing the access of European citizens with ID to VET and employment in the hospitality sector, through long- lasting collaborative partnership between VET agencies and employers Purpose•Enhanced access to training and employment opportunities through the European Valueable network in the hospitality sector.•Increased capacity of both VET providers and hospitality companies to operate together Outputs•One protocol for the involvement of large hotel/rest chains in the Valueable network as facilitators of job inclusion.•One protocol to strengthen partnerships between VET providers and hospitality organisations;•Two tools to enhance the access to training (HACCP and EUROPASS adapted) PARTICIPANTSIn addition to the 11 contact persons of the partner organisations, who will be the core of the network and will exchange ideas, methods and practice about job inclusion of people with ID in the hospitality sector, there will be at least 36 participants in training activities. 24 of them will be people with ID and the other 12 will be VET professionals. ACTIVITIES1)Design, development and testing of:a. a protocol for the involvement of large hotel/restaurant chains in the Valueable network.b. an accreditation protocol for would- be Valueable VET providers with learning resources attached.c. HACCP training scheme, adapted to the profile of trainees and workers with id, in agreement with hospitality companies and certification entities. Adoption by network members for any trainee/worker included by them.d.Revised Europass set of documents, in accordance with National Europass centres and adapted to the features of people with ID, in terms of language and ranking.2) E learning of hospitality staff3)Internships of people with ID in hospitality companies4)Blended learning of VET professionalsMETHODOLOGY•Developing the outputs, according to the same process: background analysis, design of the prototype and presentation at the meeting of the partnership, development of a prototype, field pilot testing (limited within the partnership), evaluation of the pilot, extended testing.•Field testing through internships and work experiences of people with ID at “home” and abroad in hospitality companies, with decreasing tutorship.•Evaluation of the impact since the beginning of the project.•Use of easy- to- read resources for people with IDRESULTS AND IMPACTHOSPITALITY COMPANIES Increased awareness of both large chains and individual hospitality companies about providing people with ID with training opportunities.VET PROVIDERS Enlarged scope, ""horizons"" of new accredited VET providers to set up an internship , in collaboration with hospitality companies. VALUEABLE NETWORK. Extended (10 countries, 200 subscribers) 1)Geographical enlargement of the Valueable network, aimed at including people with id in European hotels and restaurants.2)Increased number of Valueable companies. 3)Increased number of accredited VET providers.4)Increased number of people with id trained and hired.STAFF VET professionals : increased pedagogical and organisational skills . Hotel staff: raised awareness of training skills and needs of people with intellectual disabilities .PEOPLE WITH IDa)Enhanced independence and social skillsb)Improved employabilityc)Better professional skills.d)Enhanced curricula vitaeImpacts in the following areas:a)Increased knowledge and awareness about intellectual disability-related issuesb)Long-term positive economic and social impactsc)Long-term improvement of attitudes of different stakeholders (hospitality managers and entrepreneurs, employees and citizens in general) toward people with ID"