<< Background >>For many PwLD, most leisure activities take place in a segregated form. Various examples like this accumulate into the social marginalisation of many PwLD & eliminating all of these are crucial to supporting social inclusion & diversity. Moreover, pandemic-induced restrictions have severely limited the few previously existing leisure opportunities, which exacerbates such social marginalisation. So, rebuilding community-based, participatory activities becomes an even more important social necessity. The need for reducing marginalisation of PwLD related to their leisure time will be met by developing the ACCESS to Leisure training manuals and courses. The key to better participation rates is improving access, involving both human & technical innovation. There is a need for professionals & informal helpers to be better equipped to help PwLD access services (e.g. using supported decision-making, online & offline tools) & improve their community participation. The need to increase the community participation of PwLD will be met by working together with the three target groups and strengthening their cooperation regarding the leisure time of PwLD. Also, digital devices offer many opportunities that could help PwLD spend their free time in a more inclusive, freely chosen way. During the ACCESS to Leisure training, we help to consciously expand the possibilities and forms of leisure by exploring new opportunities. The methods and good practices developed reinforce active, inclusive leisure of PwLD. Participation in leisure time is a healthy alternative for positive behaviour that leads to learning & living a balanced & socially inclusive life (Nkwanyana, 2020). The new European Disability Strategy 2021-2030 emphasises that PwD should have equal opportunities, equal access to participation in society & the economy. We believe that supporting leisure activities in this way contributes to increase the social inclusion and participation of PwLD.<< Objectives >>We believe that PwLD have the same preferences for leisure time activities as their non-disabled peers. Empowering PwLD, enabling them to organise their leisure independently & making it possible for them to enforce their rights described by the UNCRPD are very important issues for all partners. Based on Article 30 of UNCRPD, we want to empower PwLD to participate to the fullest extent possible in cultural life, recreation, leisure & sport. We attribute a crucial role to ICT tools in this process. Due to the prolonged presence of the coronavirus pandemic, a variety of social deficits have emerged that substantially affect the lives of PwLD. In order to remedy these, it is crucial to promote innovative ways of encouraging PwLD to spend their leisure time within local communities. The partnership with our wider stakeholders will develop the ACCESS to Leisure methodology & training package that helps to strengthen the supportive network PwLD need for spending their free time as inclusive as possible, taking advantage of online opportunities. During the training & methodology, we are committed to developing the social & digital competencies of PwLD, related professionals & informal local supporters, as well as expanding/teaching knowledge transfer methods. Our aim is to develop new opportunities for PwLD to become 'leisure facilitators', helping both their learning disabled peers access leisure facilities as well as also the wider community. This will involve new training & qualifications, curricula, training for professional assistants & training for local informal supporters. In doing so, PwLD become leisure facilitators in the local community, while related professionals & local informal supporters will be co-facilitators. It is crucial to work together with a supportive natural environment to effectively support social inclusion & diversity, so we involve the local community members & professionals in this adult learning process.This project aims to develop the competencies of PwLD, as well as of the informal supporters & professionals working with them. Teaching & learning materials will be made available for everyone (in an easily accessible form & as an e-learning curriculum). Following the principle of lifelong learning, this project enables them to participate in flexible, inclusive & collaborative training courses. Leisure is a significant part of the lives of PwLD, & its development by experiential experts in an informal way can contribute greatly to the improvement of their quality of life. Regarding adult learning opportunities, we undertake to develop the digital & social competencies of the three target groups, who will be provided with an innovative, collaborative teaching environment based on the leisure activity needs of PwLD. The adult learning process based on joint learning & research at an international level provides an opportunity to create a shared knowledge base from a European perspective. An international co-operation can be realised, in which national best practices will be shared & used in order to develop a global version of the ACCESS to Leisure training program. Global versions would be localised by each partner organisation, based on local needs & individual factors. The partners have solid knowledge in working with PwLD within community settings & they are also experienced in providing & developing adult learning courses. Sharing the country specific views brings an added value to the project. Moreover, by involving PwLD in the phases of the development we create social opportunity for them to find friends from other countries.<< Implementation >>Based on the three chosen objectives, we would like to implement the following activities during the ACCESS to Leisure project:1 - SOCIAL INCLUSION & DIVERSITY: to improve social inclusion of PwLD & diversity in society by: 1a) setting up an inclusive project team in each partner country, through which the target groups of the project develop the training materials together; 1b) based on the developed ACCESS to Leisure methodology and training materials, 15 leisure facilitators, as well as 15-15 professionals and local informal supporters as co-facilitators will be trained during the international training; 1c) during the pilot cycle, 75 people will be involved in the inclusive leisure cooperation1d) during the first multiplication event, the already trained leisure facilitators and co-facilitators will impart their knowledge to 100 people during the local training, who will also become leisure facilitators and co-facilitators in their communities1e) during the second multiplication event, 200 people will learn about the developed materials and experiences of the ACCESS to Leisure project.2 – DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION: to contribute to the digital transformation by developing the digital skills and competencies of the participants by:2a) collecting good practices where digital tools help PwLD to spend their free time2b) mapping and expanding the methodology of digital devices in the field of leisure of PwLD2c) developing an e-learning course based on the ACCESS to Leisure methodology.3 – NEW, INNOVATIVE CURRICULA: Improving the availability of high-quality learning opportunities for adults by:3a) creating the ACCESS to Leisure training method: developing 3 training manuals for the 3 target groups3b) organising 3 types of international training for the 3 target groups3c) preparing a local adaptation of the training3d) organising local workshops based on the developed curricula3e) transforming the training into an e-learning format.During the ACCESS to Leisure project, we help to consciously expand the possibilities and forms of leisure by exploring new opportunities in a specific community. The methods and good practices developed reinforce active, inclusive leisure of PwLD.<< Results >>The main result of the project will be the establishment of the conditions required for the preparation of the production. The first exploratory phase (PO1) will be divided into three parts: (1) we will analyse the specificities of leisure time for PwLD, (2) we will collect & analyse good practices in the partner countries involved, (3) we will implement a photovoice project to collect & analyse visual material on the specificities of leisure time in the partner countries. These will be the starting points & parts of the content of the training manuals, which we will prepare in the next phase. These are training manuals (facilitators’ guides) for (1) PwLD (facilitators), for (2) professionals (co-facilitators) & (3) informal local supporters (co-facilitators) containing the methodology of teaching the three different stakeholders. Besides these, the collection of practical methods & tools (PO5, PO6) will help support the leisure time activities of PwLD with practical tools & easy-to-read guides. We will also produce an e-learning version of the training materials (PO7), making the developments more widely available (in English). All training manuals will have English, German, Slovenian, Hungarian, Dutch & Finnish versions & each will contain country-specific information besides general information (PO8-13).We train 9 leisure facilitators, 9 professional assistants as co-facilitators and 9 local community co-facilitators during the international training sessions. The people who participated in the international trainings will pass on their knowledge to further 15 local people (5 per target group) in each partner country within the frames of local workshops (pilot cycle). After the workshops, as a first multiplier event (ME1), a local training will be organised by members of the three target groups (20 new people involved per country). So we will train 9 Leisure facilitators and 18 co-facilitators in the international training, and then 100 more leisure facilitators and co-facilitators in the local training (ME1). The final products developed will be presented to a wider audience at a conference (ME2). Other benefits of the project include: a proven change of attitude to better involve PwLD in leisure activities and changes in the quality of life of those involved. Finally, every partner organisation will investigate if the training can be accredited or officially approved by their national body as an extra curriculum, & if so, start the accreditation process. The successful accreditation could guarantee the open accessibility of the teaching & learning materials & the training itself.

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Since every EU member state is committed to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, it follows that every country will be looking to close down the old-fashioned institutions and move people (and staff) out in community based services. It is crucial to empower the PwD in order to reach their full potential and achieve full participation in the society. Also a demanding challenge alongside is to form the attitude of the supporters around them. STEPS project was set up to deliver a training method what effectively able to influence both.STEPS project main objectives were helping the transition and everybody who might get involved the process: people preparing to move out, those who have moved out, staff supporting them, the families and friends. The partnership built up from five partners in different stage of the deinstitutionalisation for Sharing the European Pathways with each other. The coordinator was the Hungarian Hand in Hand Foundation specialised in educational social care and training projects and supports the Hungarian efforts to de–institutionalise its national care services. Fundatia Alpha Transilvana (FAT) is the Romanian partner what is a major service provider in Transylvania. Kehitysvammaisten Palvelusaatio from Finland has a long-term history of innovation in service delivery and experience of training staff whilst closing down large institutionalised services. Social Care Training is the UK partner in the project. It specialises in learning disability services and staff training. inproof is our Belgian partner. It covers monitoring and quality control and valuates the project.The project had created 13 Intellectual Outputs which contain 5 universal materials, 5 localised materials with country specific contents and 3 evaluation reports on each year and manager’ feedbacks. The training materials are not just the usual training materials. An important new element (among many) is the role of the ‘co-trainer’. This is someone with a learning disability who has been trained to act as a co-trainer alongside another trainer in delivering the STEPS training materials. Not all the modules need a co-trainer, but where this is appropriate we use the skills and insights of co-trainers. The training is designed for use in the actual workplace. The materials are all broken up into roughly 3 hour training sessions in small modules clustered around a specific topic which they will need to cope with when living in the community (e.g. managing money). This means that all the materials can be accessed within a single shift by staff or residents with relative ease. The training materials had been tried and tested on two short term joint staff teaching/training activities and on two training cycles in partner countries and they really work. De-institutionalisation is a long process involving many challenges for people with disabilities, staff and families. Changing attitudes and opening up minds to different ways of supporting people to move out of institutions and live in the community is a long-term task.

"The ILLICO project is a direct continuation of the Erasmus + project “Unlocking Freedom through Adult Education: The role of adult education in supporting the de-institutionalization of people with disabilities in the community” (2015 -2018). The project aimed to support the deinstitutionalization of people with disabilities through adult education. The project facilitated the autonomy and social inclusion of people with special needs at different stages of the deinstitutionalization process through the innovative development of new learning and training resources.The ILLICO project was developed as a logical continuation of the Unlocking Freedom project. The partners of the group were all members of the previous consortium. The ILLICO project focuses more precisely on the skills needed to access independent living and explores a set of skills needed for people with disabilities to be independent in their daily lives.As mentioned above, the key objectives of the project are:-To empower people with disabilities to live independently and achieve their full inclusion and participation in the community;-To foster the leadership skills of people with intellectual disabilities living in the community and invest in them as experts-by-experience who would become advocates/representatives of independent living;-To challenge the institutional culture of organizations; to maximise their support to integrate people with intellectual disabilities fully into the community; to involve them in a close relationship with families;-To empower families with the process of de-institutionnalization and the future of their child; to especially help them understand the role in supporting the transition period from institution to independent livingTo achieve these objectives, the consortium has realized 5 Intellectual Outputs:-IO1 by UPEC: Study on developing the conditions and transferable methods for an effective peer-learning program in the field of independent living skills;-IO2 by ICSS: Step-by-step videoclips and training for people with disabilites, staff and parents on ""How to develop independent living skills"";-IO3 by Stewarts Care: Peer-mentoring program and network to raise awareness of the role of mentors in supporting independent living;-IO4 by Centre de la Gabrielle: Study on obstacles, challenges and opportunities faced by family members in the field of intellectual disability in supporting independent living;-IO5 by KVPS: Toolkit on how organizations/service providers can develop family cooperation.Moreover, a training event was organized by KVPS around the topic of family cooperation from 24 till 26 may 2021. The learning, teaching and training event is targeted for the developers/experts/frontline staff in disability services who are committed in developing family cooperation and family leadership in their own organisation.The project mobilized different target groups in Finland, Bulgaria, France and Ireland, namely: people with disabilities, their families and service providers. A total of 397 participants participated to the activities.Although the implementation of the project was heavily impacted by the health crisis, the intellectual outputs were still able to instill reflection on independent living.The consortium organized different multiplier events to disseminate the results, online due to the Covid-19 crisis, namely:-30 october 2021: “Families and staff supporting a good life” workshop by KVPS for the family members to discuss on their wishes and dreams on how the service providers can support a good life together with the family members and what kind of skills and competencies frontline is needed to ensure good family co-operation.-10 june 2021: “Learning together” seminar by ICSS to present and disseminate the video clips and the common step-by-step approach of learning, cooperation and practicing independent living skills of the key stakeholders – people with disabilities, staff and parents.-10 june 2021: “Making mentoring work” workshop by Stewarts Care with presentations and interactive sessions. During this event Service Users and staff will provided training and interactive exchanges about their experience of mentoring and how to make the system work. -21 june 2021: Final conference by Centre de la Gabrielle to disseminate and exploit the results of the project. This was an opportunity for the project partners to showcase the outcomes from the activities. People with disabilities who were trained as trainers also were key note speakers."

This 3 year project with 6 partners aims to combine the need to improve the Digital, Literacy and Numeracy (DLN) skills of adults with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities with an individual’s desire to exercise more choice and control over their lives, by becoming involved in supported decision making (SDM) affecting themselves in 3 key areas – personal finance, healthcare and consumer rights. The project also aims to improve the opportunities for and levels of social inclusion of persons with disabilities (PWDs) as a result of these activities. With the help of a local ‘supporter’ and a dedicated methodology (manuals, training and complementary tools such as an 'SDM Agreement', 'Individualised SDM Plan', and evaluation tools) around each of these three areas, people with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities become encouraged to learn how to improve their personal autonomy and independence in different spheres of life (e.g.eg budgeting, understanding money, and health monitoring, opening a bank account, etc) all of which will require them to work on and improve their DLN skills. This will enable them to have more say in decision which affect their lives on a day to day basis. Training programmes for supporters have been provided, along with capacity building capabilities through a Train the Trainer Course. Guides for users, families, supporters, managers, staff and ‘decision makers’ (trustees, directors etc) explaining the core context of SDM, how the I-DECIDE Methodology works and how to implement it in practice have been produced. Supporting organisations have been invited to sign up to a public SDM Charter to demonstrate their support and commitment. The project explored the possibility of finding local formal methods of assessing DLN skills at low entry levels, so that learning can be recognised. Improvements in DLN skill levels and the capacity to become involved in decision making had been progressively increased for PWDs during the lifecycle of the project. Other developments, such as improved social inclusion and a reduction in conflicts between professionals and persons with disabilities, not knowing how to apply a SDM methodology have been tackled. Local User groups will be set up to assist the project’s growth and development. The potential impact of the project is significant, affecting not only the individual being helped, but also their families and friends, their own ‘supporter’, other staff and services. Adult education services may be affected in that this project aims to demonstrate an effective but alternative way of providing adult education in DLN skills, which may lead to pressure for them to adopt and/or support it elsewhere.