The VIP-Tech-Job: Time 2 Act! project has come to an end
A warm welcome to our final newsletter on the VIP-Tech-Job: Time 2 Act! (VTJ2).
After two years of intense work with an enthusiastic community of young VIPs, educators and trainers, we can finally share complete access to all project results and methods.
These tools can be used by educational institutions and workplaces to employ and include young VIPs in the workforce on equal terms to their sighted counterparts.
During the final months of the project, the partnership carried out local and international events to disseminate and promote the complete and accessible versions of all the results of the VTJ2 project and its predecessor VIP-TECH-JOB. Partners will continue to network with relevant stakeholders to ensure the sustainability and use of all the project results.
VTJ2 at the European Parliament
On March 9th, the VTJ2 partners, young VIPs, MEPs with their staff and international stakeholders met at the European Parliament in Brussels.
At this event, the consortium presented and discussed the achievements of the project. In continuation, project participants shared experiences and highlighted the issues that still pertain on national and European levels.
The event was successful as it acted as a platform for promoting a structured dialogue and good practices among all participants and panel speakers.
The VTJ2 consortium thanks all the guests and audience for honouring us with their presence at the conference.
At the same time, we would kindly express our gratitude to:
MEP Monica Semedo for sponsoring the event
Communications Manager to MEP Semedo Mr Matthieu Meunissier for providing consistent practical support prior to and during the conference
- MEP Stelios Kympouropoulos, Member of EMPL Committee
- Ms Dovile Juodkaite, President of the Lithuanian Disability Forum and Board Member of the European Disability Forum
- Ms Francesca Sebasta, VTJ2 LTTA participant and ESC volunteer at VIEWS International asbl
- Ms Vasiliki Ago, VTJ2 LTTA participant
- Mrs Bárbara Martín Muñoz, Vice-President of the European Blind Union
for their participation and crucial input during the panel discussion
- Dr. Tomás Quirosa-Moreno: PhD in Clinical Psychology specialised in Human Resources
for his moderation of the panel discussion
Final partners’ meeting in Liege
On March 8th, the VTJ2 partners held their last meeting at the premises of La Lumière Association – our associated partner in Liege. Partners found out about the outstanding work and services of La Lumière by participating in a guided tour.
Afterwards, the partners reviewed the final state of the results of the project and decided on the future steps and deadlines.
Key topics of the meeting were:
- Conclusion of all the project activities
- Preparation of the final report
- Monitoring of all the indicators connected to the VTJ2 project.
Finally, project partners discussed the possibilities of carrying out activities to build upon the results of the VTJ2 projects with a particular focus on enhancing universal access of VIPs in different domains and fostering their employment opportunities.
Multiplier Events in Italy, Spain and Greece
Apart from the Multiplier Event in Brussels, Italian, Spanish and Greek organizations also held local events:
The Italian partner organized its Multiplier Event on 23rd February on the premises of AFORISMA in Pisa (Italy). The event gathered various guests coming from local employment services, representatives of local political parties and the regional administration. In addition, organizations related to the youth and disability sectors and individual participants joined with excitement in the dissemination activity. During the presentation, AFORISMA displayed a video collecting experiences from the eyes of the LTTA’s Italian participants in Granada. After the video, the organizers received positive feedback about the VTJ2 initiatives that enabled VI participants to travel and experience valuable training abroad. The audience in total was enthusiastic about the project activities and results achieved in the VTJ2 lifetime. At the end of the event, the public expressed their willingness to suggest the project results to their colleagues and peers.
The Greek partner, DAFNI KEK, held their Multiplier Event on 6th March in Thessaloniki, since it is the most accessible city in Greece and with the majority of young VIPs living and working there. It boasts many inclusive educational initiatives, even if access to employment and traineeship is still scarce. The event was hosted at the School of Blind, which is the Regional Service of the Center for the Rehabilitation of the Blind. The dissemination activity was joined by young blind and VI persons, educators from special education vocational schools and representatives from local, regional and national blind associations. The discussion that emerged from the presentation of the project and its results was very interesting and intense. It brought to the surface many relevant experiences from all the participants and suggestions for future interventions.
The Spanish partner, DOCETE OMNES, held their Multiplier Event on 13th March in Granada. For the preparation of the event, two experts in the field of labour integration and accessibility for people with visual impairment, Sandra Fernández and Antonio Tejada, were selected to talk about their experiences and share data and real cases to provide a broader perspective of the reality of people with disabilities. The ME was disseminated through several organisations and institutions related to disability and inclusion, as well as job placement companies. The target audience were VET teachers and students of Higher Technician in Sociocultural Animation and Higher Technician in Social Integration. The activity was successfully carried out as the team overcame the main challenge of involving and reaching the most relevant actors for the dissemination of the project. Participants were interested in using the tools of the project in their daily or future work to become ambassadors of diversity. During the event, several topics related to VIPs’ inclusion were discussed, which generated great interest among the participants, who expressed a positive opinion about the project tools.
A review of the project’s results
The VTJ2 project was developed as a response to the official statistics that show that the great majority of young and adult VIPs are left out of the employment sectors, despite their efforts, skills and competencies to find work as most employers are unaware of their abilities and knowledge acquired.
In addition to that, there is an expressed need for young VIPs to find actual and long-term employment, to co-create universally accessible workplaces and actively participate in society.
For this reason, the VTJ2 partnership built further on the results of the first VIP-TECH-JOB project by introducing a series of tools and resources that helped raise awareness by bringing together the voices, experiences and opinions of young VIPs.
Through tips and guidance for workplaces, it was possible to promote reasonable adjustments to support the participation of VI employees, while also providing them with extensive information on helpful legislation and state provisions.
The project results are now fully available and can be directly accessed via the project’s website: www.viptechjob.eu.
Results in a nutshell:
- How-To platform: A series of mini-courses addressed to young VIPs and counsellors to provide them with useful information on addressing potential employers, preparing themselves for a job interview, learning their rights and responsibilities for new opportunities part of the VIP-TECH-JOB’s results
- Web App: An online web application addressed to job seekers and employers. It provides space for announcing open positions, facilitating research, interaction and accessible tools for job seekers to create their CVs and motivation letters. This tool keeps a record of interactions for future reference part of the VIP-TECH-JOB’s results
- Accessibility Toolbox: A complete educational curriculum, accompanied by practical guides addressed to trainers/educators, employers/recruiters and young VI job seekers. It aims to support the efficient use of the VIP-TECH-JOB/VTJ2 results, work on job-seeking practices, and familiarise with national and European legislations that facilitate access to employment. It is also useful to understand basic concepts and practices to make workplaces – and not only – universally accessible and inclusive part of the VTJ2’s results
- Podcast: A series of episodes related to the preparation for job seeking and the job market. Through several interviews with VIPs, listeners can find out about their personal and professional experiences. Moreover, they discuss accessibility and technological development and voice their expectations, wants and wishes for the future part of the VTJ2’s results
- Video Pack: A set of two distinct results: a practical guide and a documentary. The practical guide aims to motivate young VIPs to make their own video presentations and feel more comfortable sharing their image as professionals. On the other hand, the documentary aims to raise the voices of young VIPs. They share the importance of accessible spaces and practices, inclusion and their own opinions and experiences. In addition, young VIPs assess the VTJ2 project and its activities, by offering their insights for future and similar projects part of the VTJ2’s results
The VTJ2 results are available in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Greek whereas the outputs of the previous project are also available in Romanian.
The WebApp is available in Polish too.
Call to action
Although the project is completed, its results are here to stay and you are more than welcome to use them, integrate them into your work and adapt them to your needs.
The VTJ2 partners will do their best to ensure constant and free access to the results.
If you are an employer that is interested in hiring a young VIP, we kindly invite you to post your job offer in our free-of-charge WebApp (https://webapp.viptechjob.eu/) and to consult the Accessibility Toolbox at toolbox.viptechjob.eu.
If you are an educator or an educational institution, feel free to register on the Moodle platforms howto and toolbox.viptechjob.eu to check our results.
If you are a young VI or blind person, we warmly suggest you have a look at all results.
Please, contact us for additional suggestions or future collaborations via our website form (www.viptechjob.eu), facebook.com/viptechjob or via e-mail at office@viewsinternational.eu
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