All countries in Europe under-perform with regard to the percentage of persons with disabilities participating in employment. Information and communication technologies (ICT) can be supportive in VET and in getting and maintaining employment. But if professionals in vocational education, training and support are not sufficiently equipped with ICT skills and competences, or even deny the relevance of digital tools for both their own professional work as well as for the development of the competences and skills of their learners, they may obstruct the future of those for whom they are responsible. BELVEDERE will address professionals who support young and adult people with disabilities on their way towards employment. The organisations in which these professionals work are facing the challenge to provide meaningful in-service training, to exemplify with real world examples how digital tools can enhance their work and to deal with the large diversity in the clients’ population, to render the processes towards employment more inclusive and to encourage all staff to move forward in this direction all at once.The OBJECTIVE of the project is to equip professionals who assist and support disadvantaged young people and adults at different stages in a qualification and placement process with the ICT skills needed both to increase the quality of their work as well as to empower their learners so that they are better prepared for working life. To achieve this, BELVEDERE aims at strengthening their digital literacy and provide them with relevant pedagogical, methodological and organisational strategies. Professionals will explore available tools and appropriate them to their specific requirements, will describe the use cases and develop teaching and training materials and courses for other professionals from a practitioner's point of view.The PROJECT CONSORTIUM consists of seven partners from Germany, Austria, UK and Spain. Five of them are employers to approx. 250 members of the target group of professionals responsible for implementing guidance, training and placement for disadvantaged clients and hence can ensure their involvement in the project. The consortium’s expertise is complemented by a university as an expert in the development of online media and by a research institute as an expert in digital transformation processes. With regard to ACTIVITIES and the applied METHODOLOGY, the projects will develop a shared understanding of a high-quality professional support process, followed by a detailed requirements analysis in the four participating countries within the first six months. On the basis of the analysis results, the project will then test ICT tools in real-life scenarios by the project’s target group and develop practice-oriented descriptions, transferable use scenarios, and supportive learning resources in four loops each lasting for six months. In the final phase of the project, results will be consolidated and disseminated in multiplier events in all four countries.KEY RESULTS are:* A set of approx. 40 tested ICT tools and respective descriptions of the use cases* A BELVEDERE Course Curriculum for awareness-raising and qualification for a modern, inclusive vocational training and placement * Flexible digital teaching and learning materials for courses for selected tools and topics (approx. 20 in total) * Micro learning units or bits (approx. 40) like quizzes, videos or online exercises * One BELVEDERE-MOOC* Digital readiness self-assessment tool* Recommendations for organisations to shape their digital transformation The IMPACT ENVISAGED is that the level of digital literacy of professionals in vocational education and training will increase, and that they experience an increased access and confidence to use digital tools in vocational settings. Technical and organisational barriers will have been identified and can therefore be removed, so that professionals have access to effective tools to support their clients. Finally, clients with disabilities will use digital tools to gain professional qualifications in the general labour market. On an organisational level it is expected that organisation active in VET feel confident to introduce digital tools to improve their performance and level of quality. The POTENTIAL LONGER TERM BENEFITS are seen in frontline professionals in vocational education and training who continue to use the tools identified, described and trained in the project, and that they will be able to work with digital media and increase their own digital skills and competences. Ultimately, it is also expected to open new opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged groups of job seeking clients, e.g. through new ways organisations use technology in the Supported Employment Sector.

The IncluEdu project was launched against the background that smartphones and tablet computers are widespread representatives for mobile information and communication technology (ICT). ICT is expected to innovate learning and teaching in numerous ways, including individualised, anytime and mobile access to learning opportunities for all. Research suggests a profound effect of mobile ICT on pedagogy and on learners. For learners with special educational needs (SEN) mobile ICT allows for an even wider individualisation of learning materials and adaptation to personal learning styles. Inclusion for people with SEN in education is a primary goal in Europe. Analyses conclude that what is good practice and provision for learners with SEN is good for all learners.Yet, educational organizations were not ready to adopt mobile ICT and to realise the potentials of this technologies for broadening inclusion. To become more inclusive and to adapt teaching and learning structures and approaches correspondingly, deciders, managers and teachers of educational institutions needed new competences.Hence, IncluEdu aimed to create an innovative, European-wide, modularised further education programme for, and network of, education providers by exploiting the huge potentials of tablet computers for wider inclusion of learners with SEN. The aim was that these organisations gain the necessary competences to successfully introduce mobile ICT such as tablets to support inclusion within their offers.The Strategic Partnership developed, tested and implemented outcomes relevant to stimulate a wider uptake of ICT in teaching and learning to increase the level of inclusion of a wide array of educational organisations, with a particular focus on compulsory education. A set of activities and outputs formed the “heart” of this partnership: a Quality Guideline for customised courses; a competence model and set of key modules for individualized courses; a module on personalized learning with tablets; a collection of practical inclusive learning and teaching scenarios; a unique online community and resource platform for educational professionals; and a benchmarking approach that fosters a high level of quality to make this project a strategic partnership of excellence.IncluEdu followed a rigorous structure of developing, implementing, evaluating and re-working of a course programme with the active involvement of teachers, managers, and learners with SEN. The project duration of three years allowed for an iterative approach to develop high quality courses that fit the course structure and contents to the requirements of educational organisations. The overall structure during the project's lifetime had been aligned along the following clear and easy elements: Year 1: Planning and Development; Year 2: Piloting and Testing; and Year 3: Dissemination of Results. Towards the final project phase, 5 National and 1 European multiplier event have been performed to disseminate results and outputs to education organizations and other stakeholders.Education organisations that participated in IncluEdu courses were able to build up new competences in their staff to provide more inclusive, personalized education for learners with and without special educational needs. Participating teachers and managers were able to link to a community of likeminded organisations that are steering towards the same goals. Becoming a member of this community enabled them to network and exchange ideas on inclusive education and on the use of mobile ICT, and to find help when needed. The long term perspectives, formulated at the beginning of the project, are still valid, that the whole European education sector should benefit from the outcomes of this project in various ways: educational organizations will be enabled to better include all different kinds of learners in their educational offer; educational staff will gain competences necessary to use tablets in inclusive teaching and learning settings; learners with SEN will have better choices and will be more able to take part in mainstream education just like anybody else.The IncluEdu partnership consisted of five partner organisations. atempo (Austria) as the project's leading organisation is specialised in ICT training for educational professionals and people with SEN at the same time. The Rix Research Centre (London) works with people with disabilities alongside their teachers and supporters to explore innovative, inclusive approaches to learning. The Finnish Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (FAIDD) promotes education and participation for people with intellectual disabilities, and organizes training for professionals specialized in inclusive education. UrAbility (Ireland) is specialized in Assistive Technology solutions for schools. ITA (Germany) is a research institute with expertise in benchmarking and organizational development.

Official data shows that people with disabilities continue to be disproportionately excluded from the labour market. Moreover, people with learning or intellectual disabilities are even less likely to be in work than those with physical disabilities. However, the exclusion of people with disabilities from the labour market is a serious concern from the perspective of equal opportunities. Countries should make it a priority to achieve better results for, among others, learners with special needs / disabilities, as well as to promote personalised learning through timely support and well-co-ordinated services, to integrate services within mainstream schooling and to ensure pathways to further education and training (European Agency for Special Needs and Inclusive Education, 2013). Vocational education and training (VET) plays a crucial role, as it acts as the joint between school education and the working world. EICON’s main objective was to support organisations / institutions providing VET to become more inclusive. In particular, the aim was to put the organisations as a whole in the focus, and not just education and training practice. Managers of these organisations / institutions are particularly in need for guidance on how to further develop their organizations, as they often have to work towards multiple aims simultaneously, i.e. inclusion usually is one among other aims. The typical organizational response to address inclusion is to provide teaching personnel with further qualification and training. This is essential, but unfortunately not sufficient to reach the aim. Rather, systemic approaches are required to succeed in the inclusion endeavour. Hence, different organizational areas have been analysed, in particular those that are known - from research - to be essential in establishing and maintaining an organisation’s inclusive capacity. For each of these organizational areas EICON explored, if and how information and communication technology (ICT) can be used within this unit as a lever / amplifier to increase the overall organization’s inclusiveness. Six partners from Germany, Portugal, Greece, Sweden and Finland have joined forces to elaborate practice-oriented recommendations. Partners come from organisations that provide VET (Invalidisäätiö - Keskuspuisto vocational college - College LIVE (FI) and Cooperativa para a Educação e Reabilitação de Cidadãos Inadaptados de Cascais – CERCICA (PT)), that support organisations / institutions that provide VET (Specialpedagogiska skolmyndigheten – SPSM (SE) and the National Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs (EL)), that provide technology for VET organisations and individuals (EPISTIMI GIA SENA ASTIKI MI KERDOSKOPIKI ETAIRIA - SciFY (EL)) and that support organisations in complex change processes (Institut für Technologie und Arbeit – ITA (DE); project coordinator). The main project activities were arranged as a series of seven face-to-face meetings, each focusing on a central thematic area: (1) pedagogy & teaching / learning approaches, (2) technology & infrastructure, (3) establishing & maintaining links to employment / labour market, (4) stakeholder involvement, collaboration & partnerships, (5) leadership, (6) transition & target scenarios for VET organisations, (7) continuous improvement process. Each meeting produced specific draft outcomes. For the thematic issues (1) to (5), these drafts were published for a certain time on a consultation platform to collect further ideas, comments or suggested changes from a wider audience in Europe. Final / consolidated outcomes and recommendations have been published on the project’s dedicated website, see https://www.eicon-project.eu. Project participants gained a wider perspective on inclusion by applying an organisational / holistic view on inclusion. They learned from good examples from other European countries and gained knowledge about effective organisational levers of change. Organisations / institutions active in VET feel better prepared for the required change, and they may initiate change processes and collaborate / network with other organisations in this endeavour. The results of EICON are published as lists of inclusion opportunities for teachers, change agents / facilitators and managers in VET. They provide stimulus and support on how to make use of ICT to help organisations / institutions offering VET to become more and truly inclusive. All results / lists of inclusion opportunities are published under the Creative Commons License CC BY-SA.