Description
WorkAbility follows two major axes of work. Axis 1 aspires to provide an in depth view of the existing situation and initiate actions that will lead to change of attitudes and practices followed through (i) review of existing data, (ii) identification of obstacles in employment, (iii) review of international good practices and (iv) assessment of the existing situation as far as both employment of persons with disability (through the conduct of relevant survey) and accessibility of employment infrastructure is concerned. Project Axis 2, aspires to develop entrepreneurship among persons with disability, and promote the concept of “social entrepreneurship”, having a long-term capitalisation perspective. This will be achieved through (i) thematic seminars where experiential activities will be organized in order to provide participants with a “first hand” experience of the obstacles persons with disability face, and (ii) workshops, where “hands on” working sessions with delegates being allocated to groups of no more than 10 to 15 members will be organized with the participation of major stakeholders. The above mentioned, will be synthesised and practically validated in the form of guidelines and principles, comprising a “Toolbox” assisting involved actors in integrating accessible employment and “Universal Design” in general in their management activities, planning and investments. Finally, considering the lack of effective networking as detrimental for the development of employment for persons with disability, WorkAbility will foster networking, discussion and exchange of knowledge by creating an online “Virtual Entrepreneurship Centre”.
Summary of project results
The WorkAbility project’s key motivation was to address from a research / scientific perspective the rising social and income inequalities in Greece as a result of the ongoing economic crisis in general, and the effect of the economic crisis to the vulnerable societal group of persons with disabilities in particular. The following tasks were completed: - Analysis of existing data, legislation, policies on employment of people with disability - Analysis of the obstacles that people with disability face in workplace - Identification of good practices on employment of people with disability - Analysis of existing in Central Macedonia through the conduction of an extensive questionnaire survey. - Development of a “Methodology for the evaluation of infrastructure and services”. The methodology allows employers and all interested parties to self-assess their infrastructure’s accessibility level and make some small scale improvements without the need of external support. - Application of the methodology for assessing accessibility of major employers in Central Macedonia - Implementation of thematic seminars and workshops on employment and entrepreneurship of people with disability - Development of the “WorkAbility Toolbox” a tool for Employment providing recommendations - guidelines on how to foster job seeking and accessible entrepreneurship. The toolbox is available online, as part of the project’s website - Dissemination activities All project activities were successfully completed according to the planned timeline of the project. In total, 30 deliverables were prepared. Seven reports concerning employment of people with disability were prepared in both English and Greek. Three thematic seminars and workshops were implemented, with a total duration of six days and participation of more than 120 people. Three reports on dissemination activities were prepared providing information about all the dissemination activities during the project. More than 20 dissemination activities were successfully implemented. Finally, public authorities and policy makers benefited in particular from project deliverable “Analysis of existing situation concerning employment of persons with disability in Central Macedonia”, since for the first time a survey focusing on the employment status of disabled persons in Central Macedonia was conducted, providing them with data that could assist the future attempts in successful policy making for creating an accessible work environment.
Summary of bilateral results