A Final Seminar, a part of the Series of Conferences, Conducted on October 9th, 2009

On October 9th in the town of Smolyan was conducted the last from the series of seminars entitled "Creativity and Innovations in Training of People with Disabilities and Disadvantaged People".
Events with the same subject were conducted respectively on May 22nd in Plovdiv, on September 11th in Sofia, on September 25th in Brussels and the last regional seminar was held on the territory of Smolyan.
Presented during the event were the results and outcomes of seven international projects funded by the "Lifelong Learning Programme" (LLP). The following projects were amongst them:
- "Quality and Accessible Training 2" (Q2)
- The "ETTAD" project
- "Training Games for People with Disabilities" – "GOALNET"
- "Key Competences and Lifelong Learning" – "KEYCOMKIT"
- "An Educational Platform for Physically Disabled People" – "EPDP"
- "Training in the Social Work Sphere" – "ESTEEM"

The final presentation was dedicated to the European portal "ENEVA" which links the projects encouraging vocational training and social adaptation of people with disabilities.
About forty representatives of various organisations and institutions on the territory of Smolyan and its region attended the seminar. They had the opportunity to obtain promotional materials describing the above mentioned projects as well as to view a demonstration of the different products available in Bulgarian and in English.
The participants showed a great interest in the work of Marie Curie Association and manifested willingness for establishing future contacts in order to seek opportunities for implementing the products developed by us in the practice of the professionals working with disadvantaged people.
To feel the atmosphere of the seminar, see the pictures in this article.

Mainstreaming of Mentoring Programmes and VM2 Products

On October 2nd in the town of Panagyurishte "Marie Curie Association" conducted training entitled "Application of Mentoring Programmes in Supporting Young People at Risk". The purpose was to present the mentoring programmes as an innovative tool which encourages social inclusion and professional development of the disadvantaged. In this training psychologists and social workers from the local Social Support Center (SSC) as well as the Manager of the “House for Accommodating Children and Young People Deprived of Parents’ Care” took part. SSC has started work on the territory of Panagyurishte since May 2009. From that time, more than a hundred young people have asked the team working in the center for support. The work with young people is aimed at their socialisation and at acquiring skills for an independent and active living. The young and ambitious team seeks various opportunities for the young people’s development. Therefore the representatives of Marie Curie Association were asked to provide training to the psychologists and to the social workers in organising and applying mentoring programmes.
Within 6 hours the professionals were familiarised with all the steps going along with planning and implementation of the mentoring process. The trainers Petya Grudeva from Marie Curie Association and Svetla Dimitrova from the Sheltered House in the town of Sliven familiarised the participants with the theoretical information about the Mentoring support method, presented real cases and conducted several role play games reproducing possible situations in the mentoring process. The participants also received the training materials necessary for the organisation of such kind of programme. Currently SSC and The House for Accommodating Children and Young People Deprived of Parents’ Cares” have the following materials available: "A Guide for Mentoring Promoters", Training Packs for Mentors and for Mentees and The Code of Practice for Mentoring. All of these materials have been developed by the Team of experts in the "Validating Mentoring 2" project.
At the end of the training session the participants stated that they were strongly impressed by the effectiveness of the mentoring and will seek opportunities for applying this method in their work with young people in a disadvantaged position. Here you can view some photographs from the training process. The team of Marie Curie Association maintains contacts with the professionals from SSC in Panagyurishte and will be supporting them further in the implementation of the mentoring approach.

Enhanced Code of Practice available in PDF format

You can now download the enhanced Code of Practice (CoP) in English, Bulgarian, Dutch and Turkish. This CoP is mainly addressed to managers and developers of mentoring programmes. It will help them to critically review their systems and how they work, while also helping them to improve their quality and/or gain external recognition. It will equally be very useful to those planning new mentoring programmes, through the advice about good practice that it provides and by the links it offers to other resources. But such first-time developers are not its main target audience. The CoP is also designed for use by the staff of organisations that provide mentoring programmes. Indeed, an important principle of our approach is that as many of the staff team as possible will participate in the self-assessment process. By contributing to the process staff will bring their own knowledge and expertise and learn from their colleagues while helping to improve their own practice and the performance of the programme overall. This CoP does not address all types of programmes that sometimes are called ‘mentoring’ (see Section 4 for guidance about the nature of ‘mentoring’). It has been developed initially to meet the needs of NGO’s, small training organisations, and others sharing their approach. The term mentoring is often used, for example, to cover aspects of professional training and coaching, where formal reporting requirements may constrain freedom of choice and confidentiality. Though the CoP may have limited applicability to mentoring programmes of this kind, it should still provide some useful guidance and valuable stimulus for self-reflection. The crucial first step, as for all mentoring programmes, is to carefully consider and define the particular goals of the programme and to understand the particular requirements that such goals impose. We welcome feedback on the CoP. Please send any comments to projects AT marie-curie-bg.org.

Conference - Creativity and Innovation in Education, Training, and Employment

With over 50 participants, VM2's final dissemination event -the European (Valorisation) Conference entitled "Creativity and Innovation in Education, Training, and Employment"- which took place on 25 September, 2009 at POLIS, Rue du Trône 98, in Brussels, Belgium was a success. Organised with the financial support of the EC Leonardo da Vinci programme, the purpose of this event was to present the results and outcomes of 10 international projects which create opportunities for vocational training and labour market realisation of people with disabilities.
Participants from multiple European countries joined the conference. Each of them received a package with promotional materials as well as a USB stick with all of the presentations made by the speakers.
During the informal part of the conference the guests had the opportunity to communicate, share good ideas as well as make the first steps to creating new partnerships. The representatives of organisations which have not been working on projects funded by the LLP shared their positive impressions by what they saw during the presentations and requested contacts with the coordinators of the presented projects. Thus, the conference not merely became a place for presentation of achievements but it was also a forum for exchange of ideas and future partnerships development.

Below you will find the agenda, together with the presentations.

8:00am– 9:00am Registration
9:00am - 9:10am Welcome by MCA/PhoenixKM
9:10am – 10:20am Workshop session 1 "Accessible e-Learning for People with Disabilities"
- Quality and Accessible Training II Project (9:10am – 9:30am) by Prof. Kostas Kotsis, University of Ioannina, Greece (pdf of presentation)
- E-Access II Project (9:30am – 9:50am) PhoenixKm, Belgium (pdf of presentation)
- ETTAD Project (9:50am – 10:10am) by Dr. Val Chapman, UW – UK (pdf of presentation)
- Educational Platform for Physically Disabled People Project (10:10am – 10:20am) by Vaska Sabeva, MCA, Bulgaria (pdf of presentation)
- Discussion / Questions

10:20am – 10:50am Coffee break

10:50am – 13:00pm Workshop session 2 "New Opportunities for Rising of Job Readiness for People with Disabilities"
- GOAL.NET Project (10:50am–11:10am) by Jacqui Lewis, GhI-UK (pdf of presentation)
- Validating Mentoring 2 Project (11:10am – 11:30am) by Maria Goranova-Valkova, MCA-Bulgaria and David French, PhoenixKM, Belgium (pdf of presentation)
- Social Employers Network: Common European Portal (11:30am – 11:50am) by Petya Grudeva, MCA-Bulgaria (pdf of presentation)
- Ageing workforce project (11:50am -12:10pm) by Mr. Lieven Eeckelaert, Prevent, Belgium (pdf of presentation)
- ESTEEM Project (12:10pm – 12:30pm) by Dr. George Taylor, MU-UK (pdf of presentation)
- KEYCOMKIT Project (12:30pm – 12:40pm) by Andrean Lazarov, MCA, Bulgaria (pdf of presentation)
- ENEVA Project European Portal Linking Projects in the Field of Disabilities (12:40pm – 13:00pm) by Andrean Lazarov, MCA, Bulgaria (pdf of presentation)
- Discussion / Questions

13:00pm – 13:10pm Closing of the event

13:10pm – 14:30pm Lunch and continuation of networking

Another Conference from Creativity and Innovative Solutions Cycle Was Held on 11 September in Sofia

Marie Curie Association held its conference entitled “Creativity and Innovative Solutions in Training of People with Disabilities” on 11 September 2009 in Sofia city. Over 80 participants came in Sofia Press conference hall and the representatives of Marie Curie Association acquainted them with different methods of accessible training. The results of 8 international projects funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme were presented. The conference was opened by Mariya Goranova-Valkova, an executive director of the association organizing the event. She greeted the participants linking the theme of the present conference and the European Year of Creativity and Innovation which 2009 is according to the calendar of the European Commission. Afterwards presentations with focus on the products and the results of the 8 projects were delivered.
Quality Assurance and Accessible Training 2 (QATRAIN2) and Enabling Teachers and Trainers to Improve Accessibility of Adult Education (ETTAD) were the first presented projects. This was followed by the presentation of Supporting Vocational Education and Training of Disadvantaged User Community (E-Access II project). The series of presentations about accessible e-learning was completed by Educational Platform for People with Physical Disabilities (EPDP project).
The participants could also see the serious educational games for adults with disabilities developed within Game on Accessible Learning Programme (GOAL.NET project).
Mentoring schemes as a tool for informal learning and especially Validating Mentoring 2 (VM2) project was also among the presented projects. The results of Key Competencies Kit for Facing Lifelong Learning were also showed in the second part of the conference. The following presentation was about the possibilities and functionalities of the common European portal combining the results of initiatives with focus on people with disabilities. This portal is one of the products of ENEVA project and is respectively named after it.
The last presentation in the Agenda was delivered by M-r Lachezar Afrikanov, a representative of Human Resource Development Center. He explained about the wide range of opportunities of LLP and he also announced the forthcoming open calls for project proposals. The conference was closed with a buffet where the participants could exchange information in informal environment. The participants could get some information about the various European projects through both the oral presentations and the attractive promotional materials exposed on a special stand in the lounge of the conference hall. All presentations from the event on 11 September could be found on the web page of Marie Curie Association: www.marie-curie-bg.org. As it was already mentioned this was the second from a series of conferences organized by Marie Curie Association. The next is international one and will be held on 25 September in Brussels. This cycle will be closed by a regional seminar on 9 October in the town of Smolyan.

European (Valorisation) Conference: Creativity and Innovation in Education, Training, and Employment

We would like to kindly invite you to the European (Valorisation) Conference entitled "Creativity and Innovation in Education, Training, and Employment" on 25 September, 2009. The conference will take place at POLIS, Rue du Trône 98, in Brussels, Belgium and is easily reachable via the metro (station "Troon / Trône"). The conference is organised with the financial support of the EC Leonardo da Vinci programme.

The agenda is as following:

8:00am– 9:00am Registration (Coffee/Tea will be offered during the registration)

9:00am - 9:10am Welcome by Maria Goranova-Valkova, Marie Curie Association, Bulgaria

9:10am – 10:20am Workshop session 1 "Accessible e-Learning for People with Disabilities" (Moderator: Maria Goranova-Valkova)
- Quality and Accessible Training II Project (9:10am – 9:30am) by Prof. Kostas Kotsis, University of Ioannina, Greece
- E-Access II Project (9:30am – 9:50am) PhoenixKm, Belgium
- ETTAD Project (9:50am – 10:10am) by Dr. Val Chapman, UW – UK
- Educational Platform for Physically Disabled People Project (10:10am – 10:20am) by Vaska Sabeva, MCA, Bulgaria
- Discussion / Questions

10:20am – 10:50am Coffee break

10:50am – 13:00pm Workshop session 2 "New Opportunities for Rising of Job Readiness for People with Disabilities" (Moderator: Maria Goranova-Valkova)
- GOAL.NET Project (10:50am–11:10am) by Prof. David Brown, NTU-UK
- Validating Mentoring 2 Project (11:10am – 11:30am) by Maria Goranova-Valkova, MCA-Bulgaria and David French, PhoenixKM, Belgium
- Social Employers Network: Common European Portal (11:30am – 11:50am) by Petya Grudeva, MCA-Bulgaria
- Ageing workforce project (11:50am -12:10pm) by Mr. Lieven Eeckelaert, Prevent, Belgium
- ESTEEM Project (12:10pm – 12:30pm) by Dr. George Taylor, MU-UK
- KEYCOMKIT Project (12:30pm – 12:40pm) by Andrean Lazarov, MCA, Bulgaria
- ENEVA Project European Portal Linking Projects in the Field of Disabilities (12:40pm – 13:00pm) by Andrean Lazarov, MCA, Bulgaria
- Discussion / Questions

13:00pm – 13:10pm Closing of the event

13:10pm – 14:30pm Lunch and continuation of networking.

The working language of the User Forum will be English.

The venue setting caters for wheelchair users. Whilst some assistance is available the organizers recommend talking to us about your needs and where possible bringing along additional assistance for your own specific needs.

Attendance is free, but because places are limited, please register before 4 September 2009. Registration is therefore necessary. You can do so via http://www.phoenixkm.eu/registration.php.

Looking forward to welcome you!

Remploy DVD addressing VM2

Remploy (UK) has given its permission for this DVD to be posted on the VM2 website. VM2 Project wishes to express its appreciation to the company for this agreement.
The DVD serves as a source of information concerning the work developed by the project team at the University of Worcester. Copyright for this DVD remains with Remploy (UK)

PhoenixKM dedicated workshop at Vitality in Organisations - Fit Until the Finish, ECLO's 16th International Conference

PhoenixKm presented at ECLO's 16th International Conference on 18-19 June 2009 in 's Hertogenbosch. The session entitled "Corporate Social Responsibility Towards the Disadvantaged: Mentoring as a Way to Human Success" tackled the issue of employing people with disabilities, and more specifically the way mentoring can assist in this.

Validating Mentoring Promoted within Seminar called European Projects in support of People with Disabilities and Disadvantaged People

Marie Curie Association held its traditional seminar on 22nd May 2009 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. This time the seminar was devoted to the European Projects in Support of People with Disabilities and Disadvantaged People. It was visited by 70 participants among which there were people with disabilities, professionals working in the field of social services and training, representatives of local authorities and non-governmental organizations. During the event, the results of 5 international projects, partially funded by the Lifelong Learning Program, were presented.

Among them was the project Validating Mentoring 2 and great interest caused the mentoring programme held in Bulgaria and the established European Social Employers Network. During the discussion, participants shared about the challenges that face people with disabilities while looking for a job. Some of the guests told about their experience and success dealing with the prejudices of employers.

Outside the European project as a guest lecturer at the seminar took part Ms. Teodora Sindzhirlieva - Regional Representative of the Agency for Persons with Disabilities. She introduced the audience with the current programmes of the agency established both to assist people with disabilities and to finance the jobs available to them

In the concluding discussion the team of Marie Curie Association stressed the principal difference between the objectives of European and national programmes. If national programmes are designed to solve everyday problems of people with disabilities and give them access to health and social services, the European projects aim to act in the long term. They develop innovative solutions and products, seeking to permanently increase the quality of life of people with disabilities.

Some participants with disabilities also shared their experiences in seeking a job position and so the forum has become a place to exchange ideas and solutions. Plovdiv media actively publicized the seminar and the Eurocom and Channel Plovdiv televisions broadcasted some interviews in their evening informational programmes. Photographs and presentations from the seminar can be found on the website of Marie Curie Association – www.marie-curie-bg.org.

Final Meeting of Mentors and Mentees for Acquiring Certificates of Participation in the Mentoring Programme

The mentoring programme in Bulgaria ended successfully on 31st March 2009. The last and the most pleasant step was giving the Certificates of Participation to mentors and mentees. It happened on 29th May 2009 in hotel “Park Central” in the town of Sliven, Bulgaria. All mentors and mentees were individually given certificates describing their training and acquired skills. Besides, mentees received their certificates for successfully completed course “Basic Computer Skills” also held within the framework of the project Validating Mentoring 2. The mentees and the mentors expressed their fulfillment of their joint work and shared that during the programme they learned many new things both in professional and personal aspect. Some of the mentors told that those were their first meetings with people with disabilities. At the beginning they felt unprepared but afterwards they assured themselves that their mentees with disabilities can be useful and effective employees.
The director of the Labour Office in Sliven also attended the meeting. She told attendees about the programmes through which people with disabilities could be employed. The festive atmosphere of giving the certificates was also maintained by the participants during the cocktail where they exchanged their contacts and promised to continue to meet each other and collaborate even outside of the project. Pictures from the final meeting can be found in Gallery.