Project partners

The Equal Opportunities of Persons with Disabilities Non-profit Ltd. (FSZK) – Hungary

The Equal Opportunities of Persons with Disabilities Non-profit Ltd. was established by the
Hungarian State in order to ensure that the process of providing fully equal opportunities to persons with disabilities is supported by trained, devoted and competent professionals. In the implementation of our professional programs, we closely cooperate with disability related advocacy and professional organisations as well as the domestic and international professional community working in the field with a view to gaining the widest possible public acceptance for disability affairs and by following the principle “nothing about us without us”.

Persons with disabilities are entitled to the same political, civil, economic and social rights as their counterparts with no disabilities. We see it as our mission to further the realization of these rights.

We implement professional developments that make the life of persons with disabilities easier in kindergartens, schools, workplaces, sport facilities and in other spheres of everyday life:

• Pedagogical development of children and young persons with disabilities
• Promoting the accessibility of public buildings, playgrounds and parks
• Supporting the communication of persons with disabilities
• Fostering programs for the employment of persons with disabilities
• Financing services assisting the parents of children with disabilities
• Training of professionals.

The general development framework behind the mission of our Company comprises the UN Convention, the New Széchenyi Plan and its related documents, and the chapters of the EU2020 Strategy concerning the equal opportunities of persons with disabilities. In the interest of this, our Company implements professional programs of major importance mainly in the fields of improving employability, promoting labour market entry, ensuring quality education and access for all, and strengthening social inclusion and participation. The responsibility for ensuring and helping the achievement of the above objectives lies with the six professional teams working within our Company.

FSZK is participating in the professional work aimed at reforming the public social institutions with high number of tenants, on the course of which the process of deinstitutionalisation (DI) and the establishment of a system that is facilitating the possibility to conduct an independent life is being realized. Following the regulations set by the Government Decision 1257/2011 (VII.21.) our organisation started to build up a network of experts working on the DI: it is the mentor-network working on this project: it is the mentor-network supporting the DI-project.  For the members of this network a training program was prepared and realized, then we started to provide the service for the institutions concerned. The service was backed-up by various forms of support: working groups, conferences, experimental learning sessions, supervision for the mentors.
http://fszk.hu/english/

Copenhagen City Youth School – Denmark

The Youth School is operating in the field of non-formal education. It is locally financed and rooted in the local community. Our field of work is to support and involve young people in educational activities and to assist young people at risk in transition from basic school to further education or job.

Copenhagen Youth School’s activities comprise both general education and full-time education. The target group is all young people in Copenhagen, but the Youth School has a special commitment to young people who find it difficult to choose an education and gain a foothold in society.

The target group in Copenhagen numbers 21,630 young people aged 13 to18 (21). Out of these are 7,400 pupils included in leisure time education and approx. 900 pupils included in full-time education.

Copenhagen Youth School has g different Second Chance schools. The students are between 14 and 21 years. Many of these are early school leavers with low self-esteem and a lack of social and academic skills. They are all in need of a second chance in order to continue into further education or a job.

Copenhagen Youth School has a wide experience in working in a European context and working with young people at risk. Copenhagen Youth School has organized and participated in a number of EU and international projects and youth events and is an active member of the E2C. Copenhagen Youth School is a long time member of the board of the E2C. Copenhagen Youth School was the leading partner in the running Erasmus+ project SMART, which developed a quality framework for use by providers of second chance education with the purpose of enhancing the quality and relevance of learning in education, training and youth work. As an organisation the youth school has long time experience in working with youth at risk in second chance programmes, e.g. young immigrants, vulnerable students with diagnosis like anxiety and students whose challenges are primarily rooted in difficult social conditions, which have led to a general lack of well-being, including difficulties in attending school and a following low academic level.  The youth school also has long time experiences with organizing leisure time activities for young people across the city and organizes around 4-500 different kinds of classes pr. year in which the students participates on a voluntary basis.
https://ungdomsskolen.kk.dk/

AE2O – Associação para a Educação de Segunda Oportunidade (Escola de Segunda Oportunidade de Matosinhos) – Portugal

AE2O is a non profit, non governmental organization, whose aim is to promote second chance

education, working especially with vulnerable young people with low qualifications, unemployed and at risk of social exclusion. Its main activity is to run Escola de Segunda Oportunidade de Matosinhos, a pilot project that started in 2008, the only second chance school in the country, member of the European network of second chance schools (E2C-Europe).

Matosinhos Second Chance School targets 15 to 25 year olds who have left school without finishing their basic education due to social and emotional difficulties that impeded their continuing engagement in formal learning. For 10 years now, works in a very alternative way, offering young dropouts a new experience of training, following an holistic pedagogical approach.

The students develop their own Individual Training Plans, combining vocational, artistic, school and personal and social skills. The school offers a positive environment and an arts based curriculum which attracts the attendance and encourages the learning of these young people.

AE2O is actively working to establish in Portugal a national policy to reduce early leaving. At the same time, is encouraging all over the country local initiatives and dynamizing a national network of institutions and initiatives of second chance education, E2O Portugal.

AE2O is an accredited training provider, certified by national agency DGERT. For many years AE2O has been organizing and participating in many international projects (youth exchanges and events, seminars, training courses, networking activities) offering young people, staff and other adults opportunities for personal, professional and social development.
http://www.segundaoportunidade.com/

Second Chance School (E2C73) – Savoie, France

E2C73 in Savoie, which is in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region of France, was set up in 2011 by the local authority with support from the E2C Network. The programme welcomes young people aged between 16-26 who are NEET and regarded as socially excluded.

The E2C73 programme seeks to boost progression opportunities for young people by supporting them to gain the essential skills needed for an apprenticeship including maths, literacy and digital skill, employability, rediscovering their self-confidence; and a series of work placements to discover their personal career aspirations.  

E2C73 staff work with each young person to develop a personalised programme according to their goals and aspirations. This is designed to be an empowering process for young people, enabling them to develop a strong sense of commitment to the programme and the confidence to succeed. The programme is completed over a period of 8 months and consists of a series of workshops such as essential skills, citizenship, sports, social projects, and a series of work placements.  At E2C73, work placements take place across the whole eight-month duration of the programme, with each young person spending around 40% of their time in work placements with different employers.  

Young people alternate between work placements and in-house training for the full duration of the programme. This is a continuous and developmental process which is ongoing until a young person secures an apprenticeship place, or another progression outcome.

E2C73 staff work keeps in touch with young people after they have completed the programme helps to ensure appropriate support is in place to sustain their apprenticeship or job where necessary.
http://www.e2c73.com/

Babeş- Bolyai University, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, Center for Research and Family and Society Violence Prevention – Romania

Babeş- Bolyai University is an academic educational public institution, the oldest and one of the 4 largest University in Romania. It is a multicultural university that resulted from the fusion of a Romanian and a Hungarian university in 1959. In 2015, 17 out of the 21 faculties of the Babeş-Bolyai University included activities in Hungarian, and 9 faculties had also German line of studies. For the 41,690 students enrolled in our institution there are 337 bachelor and master degree programs in Romanian, 119 in Hungarian and 18 in German languages. 

Babeş- Bolyai University was recently classified by the line Ministry as a “university of advanced research and education”. The institution is situated on prestigious positions internationally; specialized rankings place Babeş- Bolyai University among the world’s academic elite in the field. On a domestic level the University has been ranked in the past years on leading place among the approximately one hundred universities according to the majority of such rankings.

The Faculty of Sociology and Social Work is an almost 30 year’s old unit, with one of the first Social Work programs in Romania, which was founded in 1990, after the change in the communist regime. Our Faculty has contributed to the acknowledgement of child abuse and neglect in Romania. The Social Work department has 650 students. There is free admittance for people with disabilities and ethnic Roma students. For our staff it is quite a challenge to face all cultural attitudes and religious values when teaching about professional helping relationships. The faculty has organized master programmes in Evidence based Social Work, Social work and Social Economy; Children rights, Mental Health and Counselling is Social Services. The staff is composed from 22 members in the Romanian and 8 members in the Hungarian line of studies.

The Center for Research and Prevention of Family and Society Violence (CCPVFS) is a research centre of the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work in Cluj established in 2012 in order to study the phenomena of violence and its impact. The research team involved aims to contribute to the expansion of the knowledge base and exchange, identification and dissemination of information and good practice in the field of violence against women, children and generally in society and is actively involved in working groups which has as objective the improvement of policies and methodologies related to prevention and intervention in cases of violence. The members of the research team are lecturers and researchers of the Sociology and Social Work department of Babeş-Bolyai.
https://www.ubbcluj.ro/en/

Association of Hungarian Head Teachers (OFOE)

OFOE is a professional public benefit civil organization, registered in 2001. It has 55 registered members and deals with theoretical and practical questions regarding education work in schools but also provides professional interest protection. OFOE cooperates with numerous organizations of educators and parents and has been an active member of the Civil Platform for Public Education (CKP) since its foundation.

Its main body is the general meeting where its functionaries are elected by secret voting. The Association is represented by its 5-member Body of Chairmen.

The chairman is Júlia Szekszárdi (university teacher, educator), members of the Body are: Petra Földes (mental health professional, educator), Katalin Debreczeniné Nagypál (high school teacher), Károly Leiner (special education teacher) and Krisztina Peer (child pscychologist).

Its website (https://osztalyfonok.hu) is considered as one of the highest quality professional portals in Hungary. It publishes education-related articles, serves as a means of communication and has an interactive advisory section. The Facebook page of OFOE (https://www.facebook.com/OFOE2001/) is liked by 3459 people and the open Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/401413479879145/?ref=ts&fref=ts), operated by the Association, has 4400 members.

The Association has also launched a series of books the authors of which are special education teachers sharing their experiences. Two books have been published so far, The Country of Lost Children by Károly Leiner (about the lives of children with slight mental illness) and While it Cracks Once More by Anna Szabó (about the serious social problems of today through the eyes of a travelling teacher of visually impaired children). Online publishing was also started in 2018, the digital version of 11 books are available through the website.

In 2012, OFOE started a series of nation-wide professional conferences about the pedagogy of the digital era. The main aim was to draw attention to the changes that the technological development brought about in the socialization of children and consequently changed the world of the school.

The OFOE Film Club has been active since 2013 where films about children, young people and families are shown mostly for teachers and parents. After the screening discussions are held about the main questions arisen by the film involving teachers and movie specialists.
https://osztalyfonok.hu/

Theatre Tsvete – Bulgaria

Theatre Tsvete is established in 1993 by graduates in puppetry from NATFA Sofia (National Academy for Theatre & Film Art)

On the 13 of April 1999 it was registered as NGO. It is managed by 3-members board, leaded by Mrs. Violina Vasileva-Aleksandrova – a chairperson of Board. All decisions are discussed and approved at the meetings of the general assembly of Theatre Tsvete.

Since 1995 the team has focused its attention mainly on applying of drama and theatrical techniques to social and educational activities. For this purpose the team has participated in post-graduate qualification courses and international training programs, seminars and workshops. It permanently makes its methods up to date by joining in European projects for training of trainers and by exchanging of experience in international art-social projects.

The actors work ABOUT and WITH children and young people and their environment  in order to:

–              develop the young people’s potential and build up a society-orientated system of values, independently from their origin and abilities;

–              prevent them from serious problems –  taking part in acts of violation, ethnic intolerance, risky behaviour, human trafficking, drugs

–              incorporate socially deprived growing ups: without parent’s care, homeless ones, with physical and intellectual problems, with deviant behaviour, dropped out of school, victims of violence and war conflicts (art and social activity in the refugee camps in Macedonia, re-socialisation of families – victims of 11 of September);

–              involve them in  youth network for non-formal civic peer education in the children rights convention.

Theatre Tsvete urges the society to look for solutions of youngsters’ problems; contributes to a successful integration of young people of marginal groups in the social life.

The actors lead in the art and alternative art-psycho techniques in the social, educational and health work. Thus they work for breaking up of the society’s stereotypes according to such kind of people.

Further the team conducts national and international training programs and exchanges of experience for drama and theatrical techniques applying to the social work of educators, actors, social workers and young volunteers (on the Balkans, in West Europe, in USA). Theatre “Tsvete” looks for collaboration with parents, governmental and local authorities, NGOs, media

OUR MISSION:

1. Working FOR and WITH adolescents and their social environment, regardless of their background and capabilities, to create conditions for their future positive involvement in social life

2. Activation of society in solving the problems of adolescents

3. Introducing art as a powerful pedagogical tool in the social, educational and health work with young people

ACTIVITIES:

all over Bulgaria & abroad

1. Professional theatre performances for all ages with and without puppets and masks

2. Drama and Theatre in Education programs for prevention youth violence, trafficking, drugs addiction, defence of domestic violence

3. Theatrical work with minority groups for their integration –  pupils with SEN, Roma communities, children without parents care, pupils dropped from school

4. Trainings in using art techniques in pedagogical work for future and practicing pedagogues

5. Training in using art techniques in work with pupils with SEN for students, teachers and volunteers. Training in forum theatre for pupils, volunteers and teachers
http://theatretsvete.eu/?page_id=16

The European Association of Cities, Institutions for Second Chance Schools (E2C-Europe) – Associated partner

The European Association of Cities, Institutions for Second Chance Schools (E2C-Europe) is an international network organisation in the field of teaching for enabling young people with lack of skills or qualifications to successfully gain access to education programmes or to the labour market.

The Association is an independent non-profit organisation and was legally established in Heerlen (The Netherlands) on the 4th of June 1999.

The main aims of the Association are to:

• organise exchange and transfer of experience between the cities and collective territorial bodies who have set up or participated in setting up a Second Chance School within the framework of the programme launched by the European Union
• assist cities and collective bodies who wish to set up a Second Chance School
• promote the European concept of Second Chance Schools in general.

E2C-Europe is the only European network that deals only with Second Chance Education. We are working hard to establish throughout Europe special programs for disadvantaged youngsters who leave the mainstream education without success.

• We are engaged to open new doors for them to find a job and a way to an independent live.
• In many European countries, schools have been set up or established national laws, as in France.
• The European Commission invites our experts in working groups and hearings.
• We make a difference and the European world of Education see that there is a lot to learn from Second Chance Education.
  http://www.e2c-europe.org/