INVOLVING PERSONS WITH DOWN SYNDROME IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS THROUGH SERVICE LEARNING

Down Syndrome is a chromosomal disorder, occurring at the rate of 1 in 600/1000 births (www.edsa.eu/down-syndrome/). The world's population of People with Down syndrome (PDS) is over 6 million. The medical condition and cognitive development of the person are affected. For PDS, life-long learning is not only about learning new skills or vocational training, it´s about being included in society, according to Article 3 of “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”According to the report “Realization of the sustainable development goals by, for and with persons with disabilities”(UN, 2018), “persons with disabilities are not yet sufficiently included in the implementation of the SDG where sustainable development for all can only be attained if persons with disabilities are equally included as both agents and beneficiaries”. The success of the 2030 Agenda requires a participatory and inclusive approach in which all stakeholders, including persons with disabilities, are engaged.Service Learning is a teaching method by which the knowledge and skills that students have acquired through studying are applied to a project development that addresses a concrete socially-responsible cause, based on real needs and problems (www.efst.unist.hr/en/cooperation/business/service-learning). “SUSTAINABLE-SERVICE-IN-DS” is launched with the main objective of increasing the competences of PDS and their Supports regarding the implementation of the SDG through Service-Learning, while increasing their social inclusion.Specific objectives:•To make PDS to be active actors in the implementation of SDG and not merely beneficiaries.•To increase the engagement of PDS with their local communities, social inclusion and visibility as useful and capable members of the civil society.•To transfer knowledge and tools to Supports of PDS in how to be involved in the SDG and to cooperate with PDS.•To strengthen the cooperation between Organizations working for PDS and other social stakeholders in order to commonly address problems affecting the local communitiesThrough the execution of this Project the next results will be obtainedSUSTAINABLE-SERVICE-IN-DS” TRAINING SCHEME (I.O.1)A Training Scheme will be developed, with the direct participation of Persons with Down Syndrome and other End Users (Professionals working with PDS, Relatives and other Supports and experts in the fields of Service Learning and Sustainable Development Goals) with the main objective of involving all the stakeholders in the final specification of the Training Program to be developed in the next stages of the projectSUSTAINABLE SERVICE-IN-DS LEARNING ACTIVITIES (I.O.2)A set of training activities based on the Service-Learning methodology will be designed for enhancing the involvement of PDS in the implementation of SDG, where they will increase their competences through “learning by doing”.TRAINING MATERIALS (I.O.3)A set of Training Materials will be developed to be used by TRAINEES along the implementation of the SUSTAINABLE SERVICE-IN-DS LEARNING ACTIVITIES (I.O.2), including Handbooks, Templates, Tools, etc…The Training Materials will be adapted to the roles and the different learning needs and individual profiles of the Target GroupSUSTAINABLE SERVICE-DS e-TRAINING PLATFORM (I.O.4)An e-Training Platform will be developed for enhancing the training process. The e-Training Platform will include tools specifically developed for this project which will support the practical and experiential training activities VALIDATION PILOT ACTIONS will be implemented in all countries involving 100 persons A TRANSNATIONAL LEARNING ACTIVITY (blended mobility of adult learners) will be organized with PDS and Supports from all the participant countries will join in Valencia (Spain) in a common learning activity.6 MULTIPLIER EVENTS will be organized, where all the project results will be introduced to the main national stakeholders.SUSTAINABLE-SERVICE-IN-DS Project will involve the next amount of persons in the aforementioned project activities, during the project lifetime;-100 persons (40 in Romania, Spain, Portugal and Croatia) will be involved in the Validtion Pilot Actions to be implemented for the validation of project results.-14 persons (6 from Spain and 4 from Romania and 2 Portugal and Croatia) will participate in the TRANSNATIONAL TRAINING ACTIVITY.-170 Stakeholders will participate in the Multiplier Events (60 in Romania, 30 in Spain, Portugal and Croatia and 20 in Greece)-2.500 persons (500 from Portugal, Spain, Croatia, Romania and Greece) will be addressed by the dissemination actions to be done by the project