Leisure and leisure activities are an important aspect of quality of life for all young people, including the disadvantaged and disabled people. The leisure activities are the engine through which young people have fun, make new friendships, and develop skills and competencies. Until now, leisure activities have not been considered as areas of support and assistance. For disadvantaged young people, integrated leisure and social activities can be the key to social inclusion. Many recreational activities provide opportunities for dating, engaging in social interactions and developing friendships. Often, it is these relationships that make leisure activities the most meaningful. Much of the youth still has a limited range of entertainment and activities. Opportunities for entertainment often consist in leading disadvantaged youth groups among the general public. However, very little support is given for the individual participation of young people in these public settings, although it is the media themselves that may provide greater opportunities for social networking. All societies recognize the importance of leisure activities in the psychological, cognitive, civic, professional and physical development of young people. Therefore, in many places around the world, young people take a certain amount of time during which they are not at work and school and can participate in various activities according to their personal preference. Productive leisure is fundamental to the personal and social development of young people.Psychological benefits of leisure activities for disadvantaged young people are:- Perceptions of freedom, independence and autonomy- Improved self-improvement through improved sense of self-esteem and self-confidence- Better ability to socialize with others, including greater tolerance and understanding- Better teamwork opportunities- Increased creativity- Improve the expression and reflection of personal spiritual ideals- Greater adaptability and sustainability- Better sense of humor- Perceptions of a better quality of life- More balanced competitiveness and a more positive outlook for lifeThis project has the following objectives:- Creating an inclusive youth community by consolidating their free time as a positive for well-being, reducing education cessation and stable mental health- Creating, approving and disseminating new youth-oriented results: A guide for youth workers and teachers on “How to build an inclusive youth community?” - Methods, case studies, tips; Handbook on inclusive youth entertainment activities for youth workers / leaders and teachers and the mobile application for inclusive recreational and leisure activities- Organizing motivational leisure seminars to stimulate human interaction, verbal interactive collaboration and improving 21st century skills- Creating awareness campaigns that integrate disabled youth in the four countries (Bulgaria, Belgium, Austria and Serbia) into youth organizations, but also the families of disadvantaged young people.- Measuring the impact of the Positive Leisure Time for Youth concept by piloting in Bulgaria, Belgium, Austria and Serbia with local youth organizations, and successfully deriving implementation guidance.The following target groups were included:- Youth workers, youth leaders and members of youth NGOs- Youth with and without disabilities (and their representative youth organizations)

"In recent years martial arts has become more open to the general public. Also disadvantaged people and people with disabilities are now also involved in the martial arts (MA) trainings. This new situation however identified that the teachers and trainers are unprepared to respond to the specific needs of (disadvantaged) students (with disabilities) who want to join MA classes. MAINCLUSION project was designed to equip sport teachers and trainers with the necessary knowledge and skills to teach martial arts within the evolving system of inclusive education and inclusive sports.Sport in general can be a very powerful tool for education and inclusion when working with young people because it can be very motivating and engaging. In Bulgaria as well as in other Balkan countries and Turkey, people with disabilities and those from other disadvantaged groups have limited access to the mainstream education, employment and community life from a young age. This social isolation deprives them of opportunities to develop relationships with others —opportunities essential to their social development and important determinants of health and well-being. The martial arts as concrete sport activity are well suited to helping disadvantaged young people acquire social skills they may be lacking. It teaches them how to communicate effectively as well as the significance of teamwork and cooperation, goal-setting, self-discipline, respect for others, and the importance of rules.The MAINCLUSION project had as main objective to train sports teachers in mainstream schools including those from remote/rural areas to introduce Martial Arts to socially disadvantaged youth, regardless of age, race, gender or ability. The project introduced a range of innovative techniques to stimulate and facilitate the uptake of inclusive martial arts sport trainings, using a mobile and online training platform.The main outputs delivered by MAINCLUSION project are: IO1 Case studies IO2 MAINCLUSION curriculum and ""Train the trainers"" handbook IO3 (Online/Mobile) course/training material IO4 Online peer support and training portal platform IO5 Set of interactive training videos IO6 Mobile training app with individual learning pathThese IOs were developed as a result of a cooperation among project partners and were actively promoted over the project to a large number of stakeholders – more than 50 000 in Bulgaria, Belgium, Greece and Turkey as well as on EU level.Starting December 2018 all outcomes were tested by physical activity teachers and sport trainers in all partners countries and the results from pilot testing explicitly confirmed that the training modules, videos and other interactive materials are useful and support the inclusion of people with disabilities in martial art classes. For more information see the country pilot reports uploaded onto Dropbox Within the project's 3 joint staff training events were organised in Malatya – Turkey, Sofia - Bulgaria, and Athens Greece. The workshops within the visits were led by sports school teachers, martial art trainers including those with disabilities as well as representatives of sport NGOs oriented to young people with disabilities. The project has been realised by 7 organisations from 4 countries (Bulgaria, Belgium, Greece and Turkey) and includes:- P1 Marie Curie Association – MCA as Non-governmental organisation providing trainings to youth - BG- P2 Yamato Sport Club as Martial Art Sport Club - BG- P3 “Paisii Hilendarski” as Secondary public school - BG- P4 European WingTsun Organisation as Martial Art Association - BG- P6 PHOENIXKM BVBA as Inclusion oriented SME - BE- P7 PENTHESILEIA Inclusion oriented NGO - EL- P8 INONU UNIVERSITY Higher education institution on sport teaching - TRTo promote and mainstream the 6 IOs, partners implemented 3 Multiplier Events in Belgium (Ypres), Greece (Athens) and Bulgaria (Sofia). They were attended by more than 220 stakeholders who expressed interest to use the MAINCLUSION results in their daily work. Additionally partners from “Paisii Hilendarski“ school and EWTO implemented more than 30 workshops where inclusive martial arts techniques were demonstrated to students with and without disabilities. Some of these workshops were recorded (video) and were used as internal training materials for physical activity teachers working in the public schools or MA clubs. These workshops were an unanticipated benefit both for students and teachers as they demonstrated the power of martial arts as an effective tool towards inclusion."