"The aim of this project is to improve the inclusion of vision impaired people and their quality of life. Even 14 years after the ratification of WHO's ""International Classification of Functioning, Disability and health"" (ICF), vision impaired people make the experience, that the assessment of their performance is still reduced to their impairment. Concerns about their physical autonomy and mobility dominates the valuation of qualities and skills, which they achieved in education, studies or vocational training.The strategy of the project is to improve the image of of the target group concerning autonomy and mobility, by introducing an innovative training concept for sports. This strategy was successfully realised and evaluated during a national funded project in Germany. In the national study, the implementation of this theoretical model along with the implementation into sport-live proved to be successful and applicable. In the planned transnational setting, adaptations will be done to address the special needs of the VIP and the trainers/instructors in the participating countriesThe idea behind this strategy is to motivate the visually impaired students to be physical active. Besides the health aspect, the vision impaired people enhance their social contacts and their image to be mobile and independent. A potential employer who is reading in a CV, that a visually impaired job applicant is active in swimming, climbing, archery or long distance running, is not in doubt anymore, if this person may come to work every day or is able to join the washing rooms for his own. In contrary this person becomes interesting.The training concept, which should be transferred to the partner organisations, was developed and successfully accomplished during a four year lasting project in Germany. The training concept can be realized in an every-day environment with a minimum of administrative or infrastructural effort. The concept can be transferred to the requirements of several organisations, sport clubs, interest groups and similar bodies.In this project the training concept will be adapted to the requirements and preferences to the project partners and transferred to a curriculum.An initial train-the-trainer course will be carried out in English for the trainers and teachers of the project partners. During the next step, the available curricula an teaching materials will be translated to the languages of the partner countries (BG, D, EN, IT, RO). The partner organisations from Bulgaria, Italy and Romania will then carry out a course for their trainees and students, according to the developed curriculum.The participating trainers are supposed to act also as multipliers for their colleagues and external trainer/teachers. Those courses will be executed with the translated teaching materials. The efficiency and the success of the project will be evaluated during the whole project period. The evaluation report should provide sufficient information to interested organisations and stakeholders about the efficiency and acceptance of the course.All project results, like the curriculum, teaching materials and the comprehensive evaluation, will be published in all partner languages on a CD-ROM. All files are also available for download from the project homepage. The products are licensed under Creative Commons Licence and can be used and adapted by interested organisations and individuals."

Due to the visual handicap and the requirements for assistive devices, blind and visually impaired people are usually at a disadvantage when it comes to modern digital education. However, digital competence will continue to be a key factor in the probability of placement on the labour market in the future.Another aspect is that tactile teaching and learning materials are still essential tools in the education of blind and visually impaired students. Such tactile materials are used in lessons of natural sciences, mobility training and all-day living skills. In vocational training tactile models are used in medical and technical subjects.Until now the production of tactile materials has been expensive and time-consuming. The more simple solution to work with swell paper, however, offers strong limitations in the three-dimensional representation and sufficient reproduction of details. The development of ever cheaper and more powerful 3D printers offers new opportunities for the individual production of versatile and affordable teaching materials. In addition, 3D printing technology is an emerging innovation in the context of digitalization, which in particular educational organizations need to address in order to be able to transfer the knowledge in a second step to their students. However, in order to meet this requirement, trainers must be able to recognise and operate the technology in question and its potential. However, it is necessary that this topic is not limited to the STEM subjects, as is usually the case.This project is an initiative to improve the digital education of visually impaired students and their digital competence by implementing 3D technology. These two objectives will be achieved by a two-step strategy. 1. In the first step, teachers and trainers for visually impaired persons will be introduced in the utilization of 3D printers themselves. This step should enable the trainers to create tactile teaching materials and tools for their participants and gain practical experience by using this technology regularly.2. The next step is to enable the trainers to use their acquired experience to instruct their students in 3D printing according to the methodological requirements of visually impaired students.As an additional result, the products that have been developed during the project will be published on an already existing 3D printing portal (Thingiverse) and on a new and open portal for products for the visually impaired, which will be developed and continuously hosted by the Austrian partner.The starting point for this project are the experiences of the applicant, who has already successfully realized this procedure in his own company. In the results of this project, the special experiences and requirements of the project partners will be considered and transferred.During the project a curriculum for the trainers and a curriculum for the students will be developed. The development of the corresponding teaching materials in the languages of the partner countries is also part of the tasks. The education of trainers into 3D printing will take place within two one-week lasting training events.The products developed here can be used by other educational institutions and teachers for people with sensory disabilities.

<< Objectives >>The aim of the project is to investigate areas of application of virtual reality systems (VR) in the context of vocational training for visually impaired people and to implement this technology in the partner organisations. The first step is to introduce the trainers and the technical staff to this technology so that they can identify new areas of application for the target group from a technical point of view. This approach is innovative, as VR has not yet been considered for this target group.<< Implementation >>Four activities will be carried out in this project. In the first phase, fields of VR applications in vocational training and research will be identified. This also includes finding possible applications for the vocational training of visually impaired people. Three hybrid conferences with the participation of external experts, specialists and researchers will be held as further activities. These will address their own experiences and potential uses of VR in vocational training and other fields<< Results >>As a result, the project publishes comprehensive information about existing and potential areas of VR applications in the vocational training for visually impaired people, ophthalmological diagnostics, simulation, and vision training. This publication is available digitally under Creative Commons Licence and includes multimedia examples of VR applications for the target group of visually impaired people. Innovative areas of application for VR systems in this field are also presented.

"This project main goal is to influence and conduct the modernization of the education and training system used in organizations working in the field of visual impairment directly focusing on their professional bodies, bridging a deficiency of available specific training in this area in many of the participating countries, while, at the same time, promoting the exchange of experience and know-how between different types of organizations involved in education, training and youth in common subjects, transversal to all types of interventions with blind and low vision people. The project aims to widen the knowledge of these professionals by using digital technologies in rehabilitation services, educational training programs and vocational education and training (VET) of blind and visually impaired people. This goal is to be achieved through the organization of every aspect implied in the development of two online training courses, about “Coaching Orientation and Mobility” and ""Developing Visually Impaired People Soft Skills"", from the use of the LMS, curricula, content, certification, methods of administration and training support, etc - creating a Virtual Academy. The participant organizations all work in rehabilitation, education and vocational training of visually impaired people of all ages, except the partner providing the Learning Management System. The aim of the partnership is to create a standard resource on the various rehabilitation services for people with vision impairment in Europe and to propose a model of education, training and rehabilitation services for visually impaired people in all EU countries. During the project life, the next activities will be performed:1. Observing existed curricula both on national and EU level; Appointing working groups for developing Raw curricula; Evaluating and improving raw curricula; Conforming to ECVET terminology criteria. 2. Developing two Curricula based on raw curricula.3. Evaluating the Curricula.4. Selection and consolidation of available course modules from partners.5. Methodology guidance for Web-Based Training will be developed and presented focusing also on the needs of visually impaired trainers.6. Setup of the E-Learning courses using Web-Based Training; Develop course modules in EN.7. Executing of pilot course; Evaluating pilot course and introduce improvements to the developed courses accordingly.8. Online publishing course materials in English.9. Translation of the course material into the languages of the partner countries.10. Web-page, leaflet, poster and DVD with all intellectual outputs will be developed.11. 7 international meetings will be held.12. Multiplier events will be held: an International Conference and 7 internal national workshops in partner countries, for professionals and organizations working in this area, and a raising awareness event (""Dinner in the Dark""), for media and other fields professionals, outside of visual impairment area.13. The project envisages a lot of dissemination activities, e.g. press-releases, broadcasts, social media presence (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter).14. Internal evaluation of meetings, events, training materials, the pilot course will be constantly held. The new curricula on the e-learning platform and training courses are expected to have a strong impact both in the short and in the long run: participants will be able to try this new learning tool, all of them being professionals working in rehabilitation and vocational training centres for Visual Impaired People. In the long run, since seven of the partners are members of ENVITER network where 27 service providers for the focus group from 17 countries of the EU are represented, the proposed project will enable organizations to maximize the impact of lifelong learning developments and the use of e-learning methods to provide for the need for special training for their staff. All results are to be shared through a project website and through EUNESIS (EUropean NEtworking for Sensory Impairment Solutions) Knowledge Base. Better Training for professionals allows us to better support people with disabilities: children, adults or elderly people, in taking into account the specificities of the visual impairment and also the impact of the visual impairment on the person depending on his/her age."

Taking into account the objectives of Vision 2020, the WHO's 2006 initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness. When globally people with low vision are increasing as a result of the ageing of the world’s population. Where low vision not only affects the independence but has significant psychosocial and economic impact on the individual, the family and society. Major consequences of vision impairment include a child’s ability to pursue education and an adult’s ability for high quality employment, risk of falls, difficulties with daily living and increased dependence. PRO4VIP project has the objectives of : (1) the creation of an European wide network of procurers (RITT, US, FVG, BFW, AQuAS); (2) the definition of a common innovation procurement roadmap in the short term and in the long term and (3) the definition of the public procurement of innovation procedure(s) that best meet(s) their needs (that could be either a Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) or a Public Procurement of Innovative Solutions (PPI) or both) and that in line with Vision 2020 would either support the early detection and the screening of functional low vision conditions or would support the provision for low vision services. This will be achieved through a staged process whose main steps are: (1) the identification of the shared procurement needs; (2) the analysis of the state of the art, the technologies available in the market and the existing patents; (3) the engagement in open dialogues with other procurers, end-users and suppliers; (4) the analysis of the different public procurement of innovation options; and (5) the definition of the selected procurement procedure(s). The consortium is an interdisciplinary team composed of procurers interested in the topic from different perspectives (Health, social & Assistive Technology), with entities having the expertise to support them in identifying their common needs, validate them with the end users, other procurers and the market.