EU-Rudisnet reaches its final stage, leaving behind quite revealing and interesting results that we proceed to share with the rest of the international educational community. The project[1], which started back in November 2020, was motivated to primarily address a series of issues that occur in rural areas, such as lack of resources and opportunities (among others). As we know, these factors maintain a close causal interrelationship and have a significant impact on vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, as it is necessary to take into account not only the complexity of these factors but also the intrinsic diversity of disabilities.
For this reason, in order to reverse these causes, EU-Rudisnet has been working on creating a network among participating partners to connect professionals from different fields and third-sector associations in the goal of achieving greater social inclusion of people with disabilities in rural areas. The chosen means has been through empowering people with disabilities, providing them and the professionals working closely with them the necessary tools to achieve the stated purpose.
These tools developed by the consortium consist, on one hand, of an innovative and comprehensive educational curriculum in terms of content and methods. On the other hand, an open-access online course[2] has been developed to empower users to enhance their leadership skills through a simple, accessible, and motivating dynamic. Both productions involved an international multidisciplinary team with notable experience in training and disability care over a two-year period, which managed to bring together a series of best practices and essential knowledge/competences that have proven to be very useful in tutoring and nurturing tomorrow’s leaders.
Examples of this success and the effort that the entire process entailed can be read not only in the different news articles that the partners have published on the project’s official page and their own websites but also in the new and final document that has been released: the ‘Recommendations for Implementation and mainstreaming of the Curriculum into European Adult Education Systems[3].’
The results provide very positive data that demonstrates the great utility and potential that the materials can achieve, assisting in the training process for educators, professionals, and others (both with and without disabilities). Perhaps, this is the most remarkable point, as the curriculum demonstrates intrinsic value thanks to its immense versatility and practicality, conceived under the umbrella of the holistic perspective that the partners of this project have provided. Therefore, despite its initial focus on resolving the main problems that people with disabilities (and the professionals who assist them) encounter within their rural context, it has proven to exceed the limits of its scope and applicability, as much of its knowledge can easily be extrapolated to other contexts due to its suitability in content and methodological approaches.
Therefore, these empowerment tools with proven effectiveness enable participants to unlock and achieve new competency levels that make them reference figures, those much-needed leaders to enhance associations and intervention in areas and issues where public (and private) elements face greater barriers or hesitations to act. In conclusion, the new leaders trained by this project will help by creating and strengthening networks that ultimately contribute to the integration and development of people with disabilities by strongly supporting the real granting of their own rights.
[1] See the following links to know more: https://cocemfesevilla.es/que-hacemos/programas-europeos/eu-rudisnet and https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/projects/search/details/2020-1-ES01-KA204-082423.
[2] Access to the MOOC: https://www.eurudisnet.eu/
[3] Link to the document: Link to the original document: (English) https://www.eurudisnet.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Rcommendations.pdf and (SPANISH) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UeEK6s4PAAO20KS2XRTiRlUwdCZt8J12 /view?usp=drive_link
