LMI.04Dis_Abled Project Highlights of the year!

LMI.04Dis_Abled Project Highlights of the year!

The LMI.04Dis_Abled Project is a collaborative project led by University of Valladolid (Spain), and implemented with Progressus Research & Counselling (Greece), S.C.P. SERV LIMITED (Cyprus), Centro Studi Pluriversum S.r.l. (Italy), União das frequesias de Gondomar (S. Cosme), Valbom e Jovim (Portugal) and EPR. It seeks to address the factors contributing to the exclusion of persons with disabilities from labour market participation and career opportunities.

Career guidance counsellors are the main target group of guidebooks, competence frameworks, training curricula, training courses, and digital information system developed in this project. Particular attention is paid to the education and training, job profile and work environment in each of the participating countries. For Belgium, GTB offered to provide insights and orientation into the Flemish setting of job coaching and career counselling for people with disabilities.

A Kick-Off Meeting took place in February, followed by research and drafting country reports containing information on the employment situation for persons with disabilities, on barriers for labour market inclusion, legislation or regulations to support the removal of barriers, reasonable accommodations and non-discrimination of persons with disabilities. The LMI Guide (“Adapted LMI and Career Information Guide for PWD”) offers information for 20 selected job profiles including education and training pathways, employment prospects in the open labour market, working conditions and possible adaptations. In parallel, the project consortium launched work on a competence framework for career guidance counsellors, training curriculum and a digital information system.

The project partners had their first transnational project meeting in October in Florence, which allowed for an in-depth review of the draft guide document, an information session with the INAPP National Institute for Public Policy Analysis on Disability and Work, and a Peer Learning Visit to a Florence based enterprise owned and managed by people with learning disabilities. Meanwhile, the project deliverables are being further developed, including feedback sessions and surveys with career guidance counsellors and people with disabilities. Desk research for the Competence Framework for career guidance counselling revealed, among others, the considerable differences between countries in terms of pathways, employment opportunities, organizations that hire career counsellors and possibilities for further learning and training in the sector.