Second Stage of Art ConnectiON Project Has Been Completed!

Training meeting of Art ConnectiON project aiming to develop artistic and digital skills has been held in Sicily region of Italy with the participation of Beşiktaş Municipality.

The training meeting of “Art ConnectiON” project for the youth with disadvantages and disabilities funded as part of European Union’s Erasmus+ Projects has been held in Sicily, Italy between the 10th and 17th of May. Project coordinators from Spain, Italy, Poland and Turkey has participated in the training meeting of the project in which Beşiktaş Municipality takes part as a strategic partner.

Within the frame of the trainings taken place under the leadership of Strauss APS, beneficial workshops aiming to improve digital skills of young people with disabilities and disadvantages has been conducted. The participants were introduced hands-on methods and they have experienced different fields of application during the workshops in which the practices of all project partners have been evaluated. After the trainings, where project partners have the chance to develop their current applications, are completed, the project partners will be organizing a series of local activities in which youth workers, young people with disabilities and disadvantages, and nongovernmental organizations will participate.

About Art ConnectiON Project

Art ConnectiON project has started in September, 2021 and its first meeting has been held in November, 2021. The project’s main aim is to support young people with disabilities and disadvantages who have been isolated from social life during the COVID-19 pandemic; this goal enables young people to protect their physical and mental wellbeing by participating in cultural and artistic activities. Highlighting the new world order after the pandemic, the project also targets to support mental creativity by engaging in cultural activities, as well as to encourage the development of digital tools, by drawing attention to people with disabilities and their special needs. Developing social, digital and artistic skills, creating more inclusive opportunities for youth with disabilities and increasing visibility of youth with disabilities in social media by encouraging alternative models are among the primary targets of the project. The project is planned to take 20 months in total, and it aims to empower young people by bringing them together with the aid of innovative applications and products of the digital age we live in.

The kick-off meeting and the training part of the project have already been completed, and during the next stages, all the project partners will be providing trainings on a local level for 30 people consisting of youth with disadvantages and disabilities. Upon the completion of the project, a handbook guiding young people with disabilities to shoot a Youtube video will be prepared and this handbook will be published in the language of every partner participated in the project. A Youtube channel specific to the project of Art ConnectiON will be created and all digital content will be shared on this channel. The final meeting of the project is expected to be held in Istanbul in March 2023, and the event will be hosted by Beşiktaş Municipality.