POINT 1: FORMAL ADJUSTMENTS
THE FOLLOWING CHANGES ARE HIGHLIGHTED AS A PRIORITY WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN PROJECT ELEMENTS. A specific communication has been sent.
Changes in the profiles and/or human resources involved in the project, name of entities, timing.
1.A HUMAN RESOURCES
Dobrich Regional Historical Museum.
During the approval period, the project manager identified at the presentation stage – Nadezda Ivanova – was transferred to another position and was replaced by Desislava Hristova. The PM, due to pre-emptive commitments in other activities, could not attend the KICKOFF MEETING, and therefore the MUSEUM DIRECTOR sent her MRS delegate. Ivelina Romanova. The CV of Hristova, is suitable for the function of project manager. Sent to national agency on 29 November 2019 and found on 9 December.
Las Ninas del Tul Association
The PM was not identified at the time the project was presented, subsequently Daniel Gismera Casasola was assigned the task during the start-up phase. The inclusion of the resource did not lead to changes in the distribution of the budget. Communication sent on 29 November 2019 and found by the agency on 9 December.
Centro Italiano Tiflotecnico.
Project manager Davide Dongiovanni has been replaced by Patrizia Palumbo, who is also the legal representative of the agency. Palumbo’s CV is adequate for the function of project manager (if necessary we can send a document). Communication sent on 29 November and verified by the agency on 9 December 2019.
1.B NAME of partner
The cultural association Nostos Pissouriou has changed its name to A.C.P.E.L.I.A., the PIC is still the same PIC: 937217396 – OID: E10038322. Sent notice to this AGENCY on 7 June 2020, received validation on 9 June.
1.C TEMPISTICS
The project time table presented provided for the second TM to take place in the 3rd month of the project, the same took place between the end of the 3rd month and the beginning of the 4th, i.e. 30 November and 1 December 2019. This did not affect the schedule for carrying out the activities of the first output, which were regularly started and managed until lockdown in accordance with the original time table.
The transnational learning, envisaged by the time table presented, should have taken place in Italy at the 9th month of the project. The lock down and the relative prohibitions on travel between states imposed the postponement of the activities referred to in point C1 of the approved form to the month of October. They will take place in Italy in the 14th month of the project, if authorized by the national agency (communication sent on 2 June).
The TM 3, i.e. middle term meeting, scheduled in Granada in August, to the 12th month, are postponed in the first ten days of September for logistical reasons. This request was made on 29 November 2019 and was authorized on 9 December.
POINT 2 ACTIVITY REPORT
2 A Implementation and kickoff transnational meeting: preparation and running of the meeting and preparatory activities for the output
The project activities started on 1 September 2019 in accordance with the agreement and the submitted project schedule.
In the first 2 months the following documents were sent to the partners: agreement signed with the National Agency, attached to the agreement n. I, II – budget, III, IV, partnership agreement proposal containing details of activities, roles and responsibilities, modification of the budget concerning the management of funds dedicated to transnational meetings and transnational learning. In this regard, it was agreed to manage the funds dedicated to the management of expenses on site because it is more consistent with the needs related to the organization of these activities.
In the period before the first meeting, a constant exchange of information was established, also by e-mail, in order to deepen the contents of the intellectual output and the timing of the preparatory activities for the start of the first output.
During the preparatory activities, a detailed information sheet has been drawn up on both the project objectives and the outputs. For this purpose, a project infosheet was sent. This document began the preparatory work for the first transnational meeting.
KICKOFF MEETING AGENDA
26 October day travel + arrival and welcome + presentation of participants
October 27th. 9 am – 1 pm: presentation of the Anotherway method by COACH; 13 coffee breaks; 14.30-18.00 pm: definition of the partnership agreement, reshaping of the budget and definition of the timetable.
PARTICIPANTS
Partners’ PMs participated: Las Ninas del Tul – Daniel Gismera Casasola; Cultural Association -Nostos Pissouriou (ACPELIA CYPRUS) – Nikolas Nikolau; Centro Italiano Tiflotecnico – Patrizia Palumbo; Museo storico regionale di Dobrich – Ivelina Romanova (DELEGATED BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE MUSEUM). As foreseen by the project, during the first meeting the content of the partner agreement was approved, the details of the “Anotherway” method were shared with the technical support of the coach present at the meeting, the detailed contents of the intellectual output and the administrative and monitoring tools necessary to carry out the output activities regularly were described.
The partnership agreement, submitted for discussion and approval during the TM, was signed in the following month and includes the following elements: definition of the timing, indication of tasks, responsibilities, budget and reallocation of funds allocated to the expenses of the TM and the TL, contact details, competences of the staff of the individual entities involved in the project, details of the guidelines and objectives of the 3 outputs.
The Agenda was shared with the partners before arrival and at the end of the meeting detailed minutes were written and sent to each partner and shared on google drive.
During the first 3 months of the project the following preparatory activities were carried out:
Meeting with COACH aimed at sharing the timing of the didactic activities, the contents of the didactic activities, i.e. definition of the programme, objectives and timing of the on-site activities. In this phase the coach drew up the didactic plan/guidelines to be shared with the PMs and TRAINERS during the first two meetings. These documents were reviewed, approved and translated into English for the necessary sharing with the partners. The documents thus prepared were sent to the PMs in time for their preliminary reading, before the TM, in order to facilitate the understanding of the contents during the meeting.
In the same way, the didactic material for the training event held during the second MEETING was also sent to the trainers well in advance to anticipate the contents and make it easy to understand them.
In Italy we met the CIT partner to share and specify in the best way the profile of the 10 young people to be involved in the training course (output 1); considering the fact that a professional appointed by the CIT is responsible for the selection process it was deemed necessary to talk with the partner to share modalities, requirements (already partially foreseen by the approved project see page 91). Collaborations have been established with public and private bodies aimed at activating the processes of territorial involvement, and the promotion of the project and the research of the participants to be carried out in the next phase of OUTPUT 1 (local social areas, third sector bodies operating in the tourism and social field).
We shared with all partners the need for the immediate identification of human resources to be included as trainers and output coordinators; we also urged the partners to start the first contacts with external bodies useful and necessary for the promotion of educational and experiential activities related to outputs 1 and 2 (first of all with the counterparts of the ITC or the blind union also present in other countries).
We have identified our additional human resources with respect to the management and other figures in the outputs (2 trainers, 1 output supervisor).
The following have been prepared: the project communication plan and related publicity and promotion tools (press releases, facebook page, dedicated section of the project on the website of all the bodies involved), contract formats, administrative documentation (reports, report format, evaluation and monitoring grids). All tools were shared with the partners, including the poster format, press release format, reports and register format for the collection of attendance to the planned activities. Attendances and email and phone numbers of the participants at the launch event were collected in order to acquire useful information both for the future realization of further public meetings and for their possible involvement in subsequent educational activities.
In the same way an archive of the applications received was created: 1) application form 2) cv 3) identity documents. On the day of the selection, the participants were registered in order to certify their presence and to regularize the operations.
Both administrative and promotional formats were shared with all partners in order to give uniformity of image and make the project immediately identifiable.
All the resources involved in the project were contracted.
It was identified the technological support – e-learning platform to be used for the start of distance learning (the subscription to the e-learning platform was foreseen as an exceptional cost).
It was identified the professional subject able to realize the promotional video of the project to be disseminated online and presented in all countries during the press conference for the presentation of the project and the research of the participants.
The cost of the video has been quantified as an exceptional cost.
At the drafting stage it was thought to make a specific video in all states.
However, when the promotion was being carried out, it was decided to use the same video in all countries, and therefore the 800 Euros provided for the other partners were allocated to implement the print budget or to meet unforeseen needs related to the travel expenses of the blind person accompanying the Bulgarians (see communication to the agency dated February 3, 2020, found and authorized on February 4).
All organizations have identified within the 3rd month of the project the resources to be involved in addition to the PM and FM, already identified in the first month of the project.
2 B PROJECT ORGANISATION CHART
MEDITERRANEAN ASSOCIATION FOR LOCAL DEVELOPMENT: 1) Lucia Sardi Trainer 2) Angela Acquaviva trainer 3) Anna Maria Caputo Coordinator of OUTPUT 4) Francesco Piccolo coach 5) Rosa Maria D’Ignazi financial manager 6) Maria Teresa Bellante project manager 7) Sandra Spada project monitor
REGIONAL MUSEUM OF HISTORY – DOBRICH: 1) Ivelina Romanova – trainer 2) Nikoleta Nikolova – trainer 3) Milena Barbova – selection supervisor 4) Nataliya Mitkova – financial manager 5) Desislava Hristova –Project Manager 6) Desislava Dimova – technical assistant
A.C.P.E.LIA Association: 1) Aikatirini Daniil Nicolaou- trainer 2) Stella Komodromou- trainer 3) Nikolas Nikolaou project manager
LAS NINAS DEL TUL Association: 1) Anavel Gijon Prados – trainer 2) Sara Vilchez Molina – Trainer 3) Daniel Gismera Casasola project manager
Centro Italiano Tiflotecnico: 1) Antonio Donno – selection supervisor 2) Patrizia Palumbo Project manager and financial manager
3 A START Output 1 “Anotherway new approach course”: 2 TM
The second TM was held in Italy in the third month. As planned, the 8 trainers involved in the activities participated, 2 for each state, and the coach.
Bulgaria: Ivelina Romanova, Nickoleta Nickolova; Cyprus: Aikitirina Daniil, Stella Komodromou; Spain: Anavel Gijon Prados, Sara Vilchez Molina; Italy: Lucia Sardi, Angela Acquaviva. Coach: Francesco Piccolo. (attendance sheet with data and signatures of the participants)
AGENDA
29 day travel
30 November: 3 – 7 pm: introduction to the method and interaction between participants
December 1: 9-13 a.m.: description of the teaching content and objectives of the method
3 – 6 pm: experimentation of anotherway itinerary in Gallipoli
6 – 7 p.m. – 7 p.m.: closing of work and reflections on critical issues
2 – 3 December: day travel
During the 2 days there were laboratory activities of a theoretical-practical nature for sharing the method and instruments to be used during the first phase of OUTPUT. Theoretical activities were carried out in Alezio within the Urban Laboratory – Lab Area.
In the first part of the meeting we worked on the tools and theoretical contents of the Anotherway method, in the second part we experimented with an itinerary structured according to the “Anotherway” method inside the historical centre of Gallipoli. The itinerary was tested blindfolded by trainers from Bulgaria, Cyprus and Spain, accompanied by Italian trainers already experienced in the method as they were directly involved in its experimentation alongside the coach who created the method itself. At the end of the experimentation we returned to the laboratory to acquire the reflections of the group and discuss the difficulties encountered during the itinerary.
3 B Implementation: the output steps
NOTE – CFR. POINT 1.
The output has been partially realized, as written in point 1, the TL, which must conclude the first output has been postponed because of the COVID. Therefore to date only the activities of the first 2 steps have been carried out.
3 C: the promotion of the project, the call for participants’ research, the preparatory activities of the didactics
In December, the promotion activities of the project and the publicity of the public notice for the research of the participants took place.
In all countries the project launch events took place, specifically in Italy the presentation press conference was held on December 4. The activity was carried out in collaboration with the partner CIT and was attended by representatives of Proloco associations of neighboring municipalities, representatives of cultural and tourist associations, representatives of the association of tourist guides.
In Bulgaria the event took place on 4th of December and involved municipal public authorities, museum staff, representatives of several NGOs working in the field of disability and tourism
In Cyprus the event took place on 28 December and mainly involved youth workers.
In Spain the event was held on 16 December 2019 and involved more than 50 people and also other private organizations as Asociación Somos La Otra, Asociación Sociocultural Aluzina, Asociación Artilugios, Asociación Your Missing Element, staff and students of the University of Granada, etc.).
Following this, the call aimed at finding the 10 participants for each state, in compliance with the profile defined in the project, was launched, i.e. youth workers – educators working in the social, visual disability, tourism or cultural heritage field, with a maximum reserve quota of 50% for visually impaired people. (see page 91 form)
Mediterranea in collaboration with the ITC, as foreseen by the project, under the supervision of the OUTPUT coordinator and with the collaboration of the expert appointed by the ITC, has drawn up the guidelines of the selection process, the call format that can be used in all states, the registration form format, the test format to be administered to all participants to participate in the selection for admission to the AnotherWay route. The material elaborated has been shared with the other partners; the selection test format has been re-elaborated by the partners with regard to the specific cultural elements of the territory. (see page 91 form)
The promotion phase lasted about a month and was supported by the realization of the promotional VIDEO, foreseen as an exceptional cost and realized in Italy but usable, by common understanding between the partners, also in the other countries, since without linguistic and verbal contamination. The relative exceptional cost, foreseen for each partner, was not used to create personalised videos in Cyprus, Bulgaria and Spain, as it was considered useful and also necessary to use the video produced by the lead partner. In this phase, the organisations involved in the project worked in synergy with the other local authorities operating in the tourism sector, in the disability sector and with universities in order to promote the start of the project and the recruitment of the 10 training participants for each country.
At the same time as promoting the activities, the lead organization started the elaboration of the didactic material to be shared with the other project partners for the start of the training course. This activity was carried out by the coach with the support of the 2 Italian trainers, as they took part in the months preceding the project in the definition of the guidelines of the anotherway method and its experimentation in the territories of Gallipoli and Lecce.
In January: the Wiziq platform used for the online sharing of the method was activated.
The platform made it possible to create digital classes, in which the teacher shared his lesson online. By appointment, the coach was available for clarification both through chat and through a constant mailing with the trainers of the partner institutions. The material produced by the coach was shared both in audio-video and PDF format, and was made available for the entire duration of the “another way training course”. All the training material has been archived on the platform. Currently the material has been shared on google drive and is still publicly available through the Mediterranea youtube channel.
3 D The selection of the 40 participants
In January the selections were carried out in order to identify the 10 participants for each country in the “otherway training course” activities (see pages 85 and 91 of the approved form).
In Italy 22 applications for the course were received and 18 candidates took part in the selection. It was considered appropriate to admit all of them in order to broaden the range of beneficiaries and to spread project activities and knowledge of the Erasmus programme more widely. The selection process was concluded on 17 January 2020. The group of participants consists of: 3 tour guides, 3 language graduates, 2 communication experts, 1 psychologist, 5 cultural-social operators, 2 blind people, 1 student. At the end of the course 3 participants withdrew
In Spain, over 20 applications were received and 21 people were admitted at selection phase. All of them admitted, too. During the first few days some of them withdrew, so only 10 participants finished the activities. The group consists of: 2 tourist guides, 2 restores, 1 social worker, 2 youth leaders, 1 psychologist, 1 public worker and 1 philologist.
In Bulgaria, 21 applications were received and 20 participated in the written selection, only 12 participants were admitted to the oral interview. Of these 10 were approved. The selections were concluded on 18 January 2020. The group of participants consists of: 3 tour guides, 4 cultural operators, 2 social workers, 1 blind person. There was no retreats.
In Cyprus, 16 applications were received and only 10 candidates were selected. The selections closed on 17 January 2020. The group of participants consists of: 1 environmental expert guide, 1 lawyer, 2 students, 6 youth and/or social workers. There was no retreat.
3 E The development of the didactics
the educational activities with the support of trainers have been started in all states regularly. The activities have been developed with the support of the distance coach, in chat, forum, video lessons. The didactic program included the development of 4 modules, aimed at defining the theoretical notions of the “Anotherway” method. The coach prepared text material and video lessons on the 4 modules. The 4 modules were carried out in a total of 120 hours, a part developed in presence and a part at a distance also in project work mode. The working groups, with the support of the trainers, realized at the end of the 4 modules n. 4 “tasks”, developed on precise indications of the coach. These “group works” constitute the prerequisite for the realization of the “anotherway” itineraries. The coach supervised all the work, giving indications and suggestions for modification in case of anomalies in the contents. During the elaboration of the assignments, the coach interacted with all the working groups.
Start in Italy: 20th January. Calendar of educational activities and workshops: 20 – 22 – 25 – 29 January + workshop assignment January; 15 – 19 – 22 – 26 February + workshop assignment February; 14 – 18 – 21 – 25 March + workshop assignment March; 16 – 18 – 20 – 21 – 23 April.
Start in Spain: 28 January. Calendar of educational activities and editing assignment: 28 January, 4 – 11 – 18 -20 -22 – 25- 27 – 28 February + laboratory assignment, 3 – 10 – 19 – 26 March + laboratory assignment, 2 – 9 – 19 – 23 + laboratory assignment April.
Start in Bulgaria: January 22. Calendar of educational activities and editing assignment: 22- 25-29 January, 12-15-19 -22-26 February + laboratory assignments, 18-21-25-28 March, 8-15-22-26 April + laboratory assignments.
Start in Cyprus: 20 January. Calendar of meetings: 20 – 25 – 29 January, 1 – 8 – 15 – 22 – 29 February + laboratory assignment; 7 – 14 – 21 – 28 March + laboratory assignment, 4 – 11 – 18 – 25 April + laboratory assignment.
3 F TARGET OUTPUT
The lead partner Mediterranea has assumed the responsibility of the output as foreseen by the project.
The primary target of OUTPUT 1 are youth workers and educators with the precise aim of contributing to the development of competences and their strengthening.
The reserve quota dedicated to blind people has been respected: 1 blind in the Bulgarian group, 2 blind in the Italian group.
3 G QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE OUTPUT INDICATORS
The project produced the following results during this six-month period (see page 80 – 81 approved form).
Compared with the expected quantitative results:
1) Four countries were involved
2) Four integrated training courses on the “Another Way” method have been implemented
3) More than 40 youth workers/educators were involved in the method training (minimum 10 for each national group).
4) No. 2 TM have been made
5) 4 associated partners in Italy (Municipality of Alezio, Pro-loco Alezio, Associazione DNAVVENTURA, Pro-loco Presicce Acquarica) 4 in Cyprus (Community Council of Pissouri, Lyceum og Agios Ioannis Limassol, Blinds School in Nicosia and Youth Board of Cyprus) n. 2 in Bulgaria (Union of the Blind in Bulgaria – territorial organization in Dobrich, HobySClub – Dobrich), n. in Spain have been involved in this first step of the project, compared to the total of 20 that will be involved in the next months and within 24 months. (Asociación Somos La Otra, Asociación Sociocultural Aluzina, Asociación Artilugios, Asociación Your Missing Element, staff and students of the University of Granada, etc.)
6) No. 1 newsletter issued (1 every 6 months)
In terms of expected qualitative results:
1) The foundations have been laid to improve the conditions of access to cultural, landscape and tourist facilities for young blind or visually impaired people with disabilities.
2) The foundations have been laid for strengthening their self-esteem and personality with a view to social inclusion.
3) The process of implementing the competences of youth workers and educators on the method has started.
4) The competences of youth workers and educators in the field of social inclusion were strengthened.
5) Transnational cooperation between youth workers on social inclusion and youth has been implemented.
6) Transnational cooperation between public and private organisations in the field of youth and social inclusion has been strengthened.