Inspire Foundation has partnered with five similar entities on an Erasmus+ Key Action 2 “Strategic Partnership Projects for the Exchange of Good Practice” project titled “Knowledge, Ideas and Links for the Inclusion in the Community” also known as ‘CIVIC’. The project was approved in 2020 and kicked off in March 2022. The project, coordinated by the Spanish organization ASSOCIACIO ALBA, brought an opportunity for Inspire Foundation to collaborate with the Latvian Central Kurzeme Primary School – Development Center, the Italian Consorzio Solidarietà Sociale Forlì-Cesena Società, the Romanian Universitatea Nationala de Educatie Fizica Si Sport Din Bucaresti and the Dutch all ROC Noorderpoort. All entities work with disabled people both as educational institution and as providers of social support services.
The concept of the project is to promote co-operation between organisations that promote the involvement of people with disabilities in community life by supporting their participation and initiatives to improve their quality of life while explore potential cooperation opportunities and create synergies among partner organisations.
The Kick-off Meeting
On 2 March 2022, all project partners attended the kick-off meeting via an online videocall, Mariella Haber HR (Human Resources) Consultant represented the Inspire Foundation. This meeting provided the project participants with the opportunity to present their Organisation and service towards people with a disability and their activities in the field of social inclusion for young people with disabilities. The consortium agreed on a joint training program for their employees to further networking and cooperation activities between themselves to be held in Tarrega, Spain between 6 – 10 June.
Inspire employees Anyela Gomez and Kristina Briffa, both Team Leaders, were selected to take part in the good practice exchange event in Tarrega to will present Inspire’s working methods in creating an inclusive learning environment and explore potential cooperation opportunities.
Kick-off meeting via an online videocall
Good Practice Exchange Event in Tarrega
Two participants from each partner organisation attending the event which included several training sessions on tools and good practices related to the promotion of social inclusion and social development (community-based cooperation initiatives). During Inspire’s presentation the SPELL and TEACCH approach were introduced to the partner organisations, drawing on the experiences from LinC and the STEP Forward programmes.
Networking activities were also a key part of the event which allowed the organisations to get to know other better by discussing fields of expertise, services offered, organisational needs, experience in EU projects, interests in terms of transnational cooperation amongst other topics. This enabled the partner organisations to agree on projects and initiatives they can work on together to address their current needs. Anyela Gomez and Kristina Briffa, Team Leaders representing Inspire returned from the event with several identified projects which can support Inspire to continue widening its knowledge of best practises in its field of operation, enabling the Organisation to excel in its service provision.
Networking event: Getting to know Noorderpoort
Networking event: Exploring transnational cooperation alternatives
Connecting the dots between Inspire’s ability and needs and those of other partner organisations
Training from Asociación Alba – One of the working opportunities for promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities. El Rosal (Artisan cookies company)
The Closing Meeting
During this meeting held on 23 June, members from all partner organisations took part to supply feedback and suggestions about the activities carried out. Project outcomes and final project actions were also discussed and agreed upon as the project ends on 30 June 2022. Anyela Gomez and Kristina Briffa, Team Leaders represented Inspire.
Closing meeting via an online videocall
Inspire is currently assessing the project initiatives and ideas that were generated during this project to decide how many future collaborations are sustainable, and which would be best to pursue first. We look forward to continuing working with all the project partners on other proposals which shall enrich our knowledge and expertise.
