Differences Create No Distances (DiCreNDi) project financed by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union
The consortium of 6 partners is starting the international project Differences Create No Distances, an Erasmus+ Youth multi-activity project, financed by the European Union and developed by Asociatia Babilon Travel in partnership with the Highschool for Visual Impaired Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Projekte Vullnetare Nderkombetare (Albania), Ikkaido Inclusive Martial Arts (Ireland), Mreza za Dozivotno Ucenje (The Republic of North Macedonia) and Polski Zwiazek Niewidomych (Poland).
The project addresses the lack of social and professional inclusion of the VIPs on one hand, and the lack of engagement of youth workers in the work with VIPs on the other hand. Therefore, the project aims to bring together visually impaired people and youth workers in order to enhance the social inclusion efforts of the young visually impaired and raise awareness about the needs and skills of the VIPs. It is wanted to develop communication techniques in order to promote inclusion, to improve confidence and self-empowerment, and to learn methods of working together in various situations. Non-formal tools and activities will be used, as well as sports and outdoor activities.
To achieve its objectives, a Training Course is held in Cluj-Napoca and Baisoara, Romania, between 24.08.2021-28.08.2021
The participant group to the training course is made out of 25 youth workers (VIP and non-VIP).
All the activities are held in the Erasmus+ spirit and are based on non-formal education methods and tools in an inclusive and adapted way, considering the presence of visually impaired/blind participants (study visits, working groups, debriefings, free discussions, workshops, teambuilding exercises, energizers, reflections, presentations etc.).
During the training course, the participants will improve their abilities to work with VIP and to engage them in the activities within their organizations and develop creative techniques for youth workers to improve VIP's self-empowerment and confidence in their social and professional inclusion processes.