IMPROVING MUNICIPAL SERVICES IN THE FIELD OF CULTURE, ART, SPORTS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

"<< Background >>The globalization process in the world has become impossible to meet the social needs of societies only by the central government therefore the ""social municipalism"" mission undertaken by the municipalities today becomes more and more important. The development and dissemination of social service (disabled) policies to be established by local governments will allow disabled people to live in a safe and happy environment. With our project activities, we needed to increase the ratio of the disabled-aware staff of our municipalities, to reduce the rate of personnel in need of vocational training for the disabled, to increase the capacity of the social, cultural and sports services we provide to the disabled. Also we wanted increase the access of disabled people to sports, cultural, artistic etc. organizations and services, and to contribute to the applicability of the disabled strategies of the EU by transforming the practices into the establishment policy of European Municipalities and making them systematic. We aimed to provide social inclusion for disabled people, produce establishment policies that will increase their access to arts, culture and sports services, and to support disabled people gaining national and EU affiliation<< Objectives >>Although the problems of the disabled differ according to the geography and culture they live in, 2 factors are considered important in solving them: 1) that the society in which disabled people live has a high level of disability awareness, and 2) that disabled people feel that they have access to equal opportunities to participate in social life. Our project contributes to the social integration of the disabled. The partners strengthen the cooperation between countries and share successful practices regarding the disabled. Disability awareness training will be given to municipal staff who will carry out activities to increase the disability awareness of the people in the future. ""Sports Services Module"" and ""Culture and Art Services Module"" containing disability policies for municipalities will eliminate the differences and provide balance between European municipalities in implementations of the disabled. We aim to increase the disability awareness rate of all employees in municipalities, the ratio of the municipalities with vocational training for the disabled and finally the proportion of disabled people participating in sports, culture and arts activities.<< Implementation >>We implemented training to the staff of the municipalities and the other partners: in C1 for disability awareness in order to increase the ratio of educated personnel about the disabled , in C2 about the sports environment and services of the disabled and about improving the culture and arts services of the disabled in C3. We created 3 project results: The Sports Service Module, The Culture and Art Module and the European Municipal Cooperation Portal. We implemented multiplier events, activities of dissemination and TPMsWith the Sports Services Module and Culture and Arts Module we created in C4 and C5, the institutional policies of the project partner municipalities regarding the disabled services determined and implemented in the municipalities. In accordance with the policies, special teams established in the municipalities to determine the number, condition, type of disability, material deprivation of the disabled in the region, to meet with the disabled and to promote the sports, culture and arts activities of the municipalities The goal of the project was to increase the number of people with disabilities who benefit from sports, culture and arts services by at least 40%, with the provision of sports, culture and arts services at home to the disabled people who cannot leave their homes, and the provision of service environments according to the disability status of the disabled. With the European Municipal Cooperation Portal it will ensure communication and cooperation between many municipalities and institutions / organizations from Europe regarding the integration of disabled people into social life. The portal, allows the promotion of good practices, studies and projects and will serve as an example to other institutions, will enable us to reach our goal of contributing to the applicability of the EU's strategy to increase the cooperation of countries with the disabled. While expanding the European-wide cooperation network in the institutions / organizations in our portal project, all our activities in our project will transform our project partners into institutions and organizations that offer services at EU standards.<< Results >>** The municipality staff received disability awareness training in C1 and gave disability awareness training to individuals in their institutions after the training. Thus, the ratio of disabled employees in municipalities increased.** With the vocational trainings to the personnel of the municipalities in C2 and C3, increase the ratio of the personnel in the municipalities in need of vocational training related to the disabled.** The English language skills of the institution personnel who attended C1, C2, C3 has improve. Their communication and interaction with colleagues from Europe increased.** The employees of the sports department of the municipalities formed a ""Sports Services Module"" under the mentorship of our Romanian partner, after the professional development training they received at C2. Being the determinant of the sports services policies of their own institutions, improved their affiliation to their institutions and increased their motivation towards the work they produce. Collaborating with their European colleagues improved their language and communication skills and expanded their cooperation capacity.** The employees of the Culture and Arts department of the municipalities prepared a ""Culture and Art Services Module"" under the mentorship of our Turkish partner after the training they received in C3. Being a policy maker of the institutions related to their departments improved their institutional affiliation and increased their motivation. Collaboration with their European colleagues improved their language and communication skills, while the module includes Europe's common culture and art.** The ""European Municipal Cooperation Portal"" prepared with the support of the information and technology department employees of the municipalities under the mentorship of the coordinator institution and the contribution of the partners who are universities and associations.** With the implementation of the sports, culture and arts policies of the municipalities with European quality standards, the rate of people with disabilities in the municipality area to benefit from sports, arts and culture services will increase by 30- 40%.** The fact that Europe's common culture and art will be included in the cultural and artistic activities of the municipalities will contribute to the awareness of Europeanness for the disabled individuals.** The capacity of municipalities to cooperate across Europe expanded and their institutions are more motivated to upgrade all departmental activities to EU standards.** The working area and capacity of our partners, who are universities and associations, who have trained municipal staff, expanded. ** With the ""European Municipal Cooperation"" portal, a communication and cooperation network will be established between many municipalities from Europe. As in the project partner municipalities, European Municipalities will contribute to the transformation of personnel training, sports, arts, cultural activities and the awareness of the individuals with disability into an institutional policy."