Notes of the 1st Project Meeting

 Gent, 11-13 May 1998

see appendix 1 - Participants List

• Formal welcome

by Br. Maurice Buyens, deputy director of INDOGO

• Introduction

by Harlinde Exelmans (INDOGO)

• Welcome
• Objectives of the meeting
• To meet and to get to know each other, each other’s organisation and project
• To work out a more detailed plan for co-operation:

• Arrangements for common work (use of language, structure of reports etc.)
• Presentation of partners’ organisation and projects
• CAVA & IRIS
• CAVA is an organisation which exists since 1987. Before 1987 in the northern part of France there still existed some structures like the CAT (Centre for Therapeutic Adaptation). There were Day Centres as well as Sheltered Homes. But disabled persons had to wait a long time before finding a place in one of these structures. In order to give these persons also some opportunities, CAVA and IRIS came into being.

Basic principles:

• The target group are all disabled persons: physical, mental, psychological, and even "social". It was an explicit option to start working for this heterogeneous group of disabled persons.
• To approach disabled persons as competent persons and not in the first place as persons with a handicap
• To approach disabled persons in their totality
• Integration and socialisation of disabled persons by means of an exchange with the local population
• Promotion of independence and autonomy
• Use of individual plans

Management structure

CAVA (Centre for the Adaptation to an Active Life)

• Main Objective: Social, cultural and professional insertion
• Target Group: Disabled persons (e.g. mental handicap), Unemployed persons
• Activities: Workshop, Garden, Speech groups, Social and cultural activities in social centres and sports centres
• Partnerships with: Families, Students, General practitioners and psychiatrists, Tutelary organisms, Special schools and Special firms

IRIS (sheltered employment)

• Main objective: Professional insertion of disabled persons in the ordinary labour market
• Target group: Disabled persons (physical or mental)
• Activities: Labour activities like special treatment of products in thermo-reaction

Project description

The aim of the project is to start working with speech groups for the parents of the disabled persons visiting CAVA or IRIS. In this speech group parents can exchange their experiences, their feelings about the handicap, their feeling of guilt, their fears. These groups will be co-ordinated by a family therapist. The overall aim is to reduce the parents’ feelings of guilt and their overprotecting behaviour in order to enhance the disabled person’s autonomy. The way in which the project and the speech groups develop is not fixed. Changes can be made according to the needs and desires of the parents. If needed, individual therapeutic sessions can be organised as well.

After a four months of work, 15 families have been engaged in two different speech groups. A need for the disabled persons themselves (the children) to participate in a speech group has emerged and will be answered to by the start of a speech group for the "children".

• INDOGO

Presentation of the Deaf Centre Emmaüs and its services: INDOGO (research and training centre), COI ( Centre for Training to Integration), Nazorgdienst (After-Care service), Home Emmaüs (Home for deaf persons).

Visit to the Deaf Centre Emmaüs and demonstration of the system for distance learning and visual communication.

PRODEM: project description

TELECOM-DO: project description

ALBATROS: Project description

Main objective: employment of sensorial disabled persons

General aim: valuation of the labour skills of disabled persons

Specific aims: self management of the personal learning process and employment adjusted to the individual’s preferences and skills

Results: effective employment, mainstreaming and use of aids, protocols, establishment of a Territorial Informative System for disabled persons in Europe

Products: training protocols, use of new technological instruments, protocols for labour insertion

Activities: teaching-training in different phases and modules, experiments with distance training procedures

A two and a half year course in informatics with different options will be organised for deaf persons. The course will have three phases of 140 days (700 hours) each. A specific didactic methodology will be used which includes insight in educational needs of deaf persons, monitoring skills, Mastery Learning Strategies for distance learning, connection with internet and video equipment.

• UNIMATICA CONFAPI – CONSORZIO AURORA

UNIMATICA

UNIMATICA (°1990) is a body, representing enterprises of the building and the media sector. It is connected to CONFAPI, the national association of small and medium enterprises. UNIMATICA ‘s activities are based upon co-operation with foreign organisations (networking) in consulting, projecting, realisation, merchandising and training. UNIMATICA’s objectives are to defend the rights and the interest of the enterprise members, to promote progress & development by exchanges and co-operation, to promote quality. UNIMATICA also aims at the promotion, co-ordination and creation of projects for the valorisation of innovative systems, models, processes, for training of trainers by means of automatic technologies, training of professionals, the realisation of social innovations and the creation of new opportunities for enterprises and employment.

AURORA

Consortium AURORA (°1993) is a consortium of technology companies active in microelectronics, informatics and telecommunications, experienced in devices for disabled persons. The objective of AURORA is to improve the lives and the work of disabled persons. AURORA carries out activities in the field of research, development, design and manufacturing of equipment for housing, transport and social space. (e.g. project of the smart home)

Project description

The general objective of the project is to awake the operators of SME’s. Therefore the project aims at the identification of the conditions for communications in SME’s by means of field research, at the communication by means of CBT to underline the company advantages of the integration, at the participation of disabled persons as workshops’ moderators, at the dissemination of the animate CBT. The different phases of the project (research, guidance, training, workshops, dissemination) were explained in detail.

• Design of and decisions about the transnational workplan
• Project Objectives

Partners agree with the project objectives and the project innovation as described in the transnational work plan.

To be changed: The project EDIT aims at the development of adequate, innovative and quality training possibilities for disabled persons, with special attention to deaf and hard of hearing persons.

To be added: the innovative nature of the project is situated in the creation of new training opportunities for qualification and re-qualification …

Partners ask to add an introduction in which the central role of beneficiaries and the development of their personal skills and personality is stressed. The core orientation of the EDIT-activities is the valorisation of differences. The EDIT-project is to give importance to variety. The different approaches used by each of the partners (employers, environment & family, individual) can only contribute to this.

• Transnational co-operation

INDOGO proposed a levelled transnational co-operation. Partners agreed with this proposition.

EDIT-partners will co-operate on two levels: the inter project level and the transnational project level.

On an inter project level, co-operation takes place between the partners in specific fields of interest for their national projects. On a transnational project level, the co-operation between the partners will lead to additional transnational project results.

The following activities (general description) can be done on the different levels.

1. Seminars for exchange of information / materials
2. Seminars for exchange of knowledge : expertise / experience (work shop)
3. Development of training plans, instruments, methods, materials
4. Exchange of staff (study visits / practicals)
5. Open colloquia with external experts

1. Exchange of information
2. Exchange of staff (study visits)
3. Joint courses
4. Survey

Partners indicated the bilateral links between their projects before making decisions about the inter project co-operation.

Decisions about the inter project co-operation were made by pointing out the activities partners were willing to undertake. The table below shows the different activities that could be carried out by the partners in co-operation.

In addition to the co-operation on an inter project level, partners agreed to take responsibilities on a transnational project level. The table below points out the transnational task for which partners take responsibility, the partner organisation responsible for the task, activities to carry out for the task and the results of these activities.

Monitoring of the project will be done by the following instruments

1. database

INDOGO proposed to draft a paper form which should be filled in by each partner for every meeting or study visit in which they have participated. INDOGO has the responsibility for this database.

2. Progress reports

At the beginning of each EDIT-meeting partners will present their progress and hand out a progress report to the other partners. The progress report will describe all activities carried out in the period between the EDIT-meetings.

Study visits will also be reported to the partners.

3. Transnational Reports

• Website

• Logo for the EDIT-project

• TRANSNATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS
• LANGUAGE

The official working language, this is the language in which partners’ representatives communicate and the language of reports/products, will be English.

• COMMUNICATION
• Partners correct their co-ordinates as in the list in appendix 2.
• Partners will use e-mail to communicate. E-mail addresses will be in the list of co-ordinates as well.
• Contact persons for every organisation are indicated in the list of co-ordinates.
• Partners are asked to answer any messages they receive from partners as soon as possible.
• OFFICIAL SUMMARY OF EDIT-PROJECT

An official summary of the EDIT-project will be made by INDOGO. INDOGO is to send a proposal to all partners.

• LOGO
• It was decided that INDOGO would work on the logo as well as the format for letters and faxes.
• The logo will be used on all publicity material, letters, documents, reports, …
• REPORTS

There will be

• progress reports every plenary meeting
• transnational reports (see transnational tasks)
• meeting reports (emphasis on conclusions: all agreements should be reported, reports must be submitted to partners for approval)
• a final project report
• COSTS TRANSNATIONAL ACTIVITIES (meetings, study visits)
• Staying costs are at the partners’ own account
• Costs of reception and organisation (meals included) are at the receiving partner’s account
• In case any partner has financial problems because of a delay in the paying by the authorities, a common initiative can be undertaken towards Europe on the condition that the partner agrees.
• REPRESENTATION ON MEETINGS
• At the meetings the partners should be represented by persons who are empowered to commit their organisation to agreements.
• Partners are asked to pay attention to the continuity of the partnership personnel: partners should be represented to the meetings by the same persons as much as possible.
• Hosting partners are free to invite political persons (e.g. of the national support structures) to attend the EDIT-meeting.
• CONCLUSIONS
• Co-operation to take place on two levels

• study visits of INDOGO to CSSC and CAVA et IRIS
• INDOGO = transnational project leader

Responsible for

• Co-ordination of transnational project
• follow-up and evaluation of the transnational project
• preparation of plenary meetings (content, notes)
• president of plenary meetings
• reports of meetings (to submit to the partners for approval)
• monitoring of the project (database)
• two plenary project meetings each year
• 23-25 November 1998 – CSSC Messina
• 26 –28 April 1999 – CAVA et IRIS Faches-Thumesnil
• November 1999 – (UNIMATICA)
• structure for plenary project meetings:
• progress reports
• reports of study visits to be presented to all partners
• time and space for activities organised by the receiving partner (e.g. visit to the organisation)
• monitoring of the project by database

• publication of EDIT-project and partner projects involved on web-site of CSSC
• every partner should send information to CSSC by e-mail
• transnational arrangements made about the official working language, communication, official summary of EDIT-project, logo, reports, costs of transnational activities, representation on meetings.
• End of meeting