The primary mission of the project is for the partners to make methodologies, activities, and games that promote the goals of education for global sustainability and responsibility more accessible to young people with special educational needs or disabilities. To this end, over the course of three years, the partners will continuously collaborate with teachers, educators, and other professionals who support these young people.
Throughout the project, participating teachers, educators, and other professionals will have the opportunity to:
1) Participation in a 2-day training session in Hungary (Budapest)
2) to share the methodologies learned during the training
3) Participation in a 3-day professional conference in France (Lille)
4) to test an e-learning course in 2024
During the project, participating young people had the opportunity to:
1) to develop a board game on the topic of sustainability with the support of Anthropolis staff
2) Implementation of two mini-projects on the topic of sustainability, with the support of teachers, educators, other professionals, and Anthropolis staff
3) Participation in a 5-day youth exchange in Spain
4) Testing the board game – to be finalized jointly at the meeting in Spain
The ACCESS project is built around three central concepts: global citizenship, European citizenship, and inclusion. Global citizenship is the belief that individuals are part of a global community that extends beyond national borders. Therefore, the goal of global citizenship education is to raise awareness of this among people, including by promoting respect for human rights and democracy, respect for diversity, and awareness of climate change. This draws attention to global interconnections and the need to share the world’s resources fairly. In this way, education for global citizenship can contribute to creating a more just and sustainable world for everyone.
Like global citizenship, European citizenship implies that Europeans share a common identity as Europeans. This shared European identity transcends national borders and unites the continent through a belief in “European values.” These values are characterized by a commitment to democracy, human rights, and individualism, while also taking into account the diverse communities living in Europe. In Europe’s current political and social climate, it is essential that young Europeans understand the importance of these values.
Finally, inclusivity is the belief that individuals should be guaranteed equal access to opportunities, regardless of their identity or background.
Within the framework of the ACCESS project, this means ensuring that young people with diverse needs have equal opportunities to learn about the values of global citizenship. This is because these individuals may feel excluded or lack access to the general discourse on these topics within school, higher education, or non-formal settings. Therefore, activities and education must be made as inclusive and accessible as possible, while properly educating individuals on global and European values and issues.
It is impossible for every activity to be fully inclusive for everyone, and it is impossible to tailor every activity to individual needs. Nevertheless, we are making every effort to ensure that the content, activities, and manuals of the ACCESS project are as comprehensive as possible.
Feedback from participating educators on the international training held in France:
“My name is Anikó Molnár, and I am a caregiver at the Napraforgó residential home in Sopron. Thanks to the Anthropolis Association, I attended a training session in Lille from November 6–9, 2023. Participants from several European countries attended this meeting. I had the opportunity to meet many kind and interesting people who also work with young people with special educational needs. I had read a lot about global education before. This meeting was important to me because I wanted to learn new things and return home with new ideas. I received answers and solutions on how to best integrate global education into the daily life of a children’s home. In addition to all this, I experienced the hospitality of the French people and also got to try the specialties of French cuisine.”
“My name is Mónika Csonka, and I work at a child care home in Győr. I am very grateful for the opportunity to participate in the ACCESS project. I returned home with a wealth of experiences. I already knew Viktória Mihalkó, so there was no question in my mind that I would take on this adventure-filled journey and the tasks that came with it. Upon arriving in Lille, interesting activities awaited us right from the first day. We got a glimpse into a Senegalese exhibition that shed light on the hardships of the people there, their everyday struggles, and their lives burdened by debt. We were introduced to their food, drinks, and modes of transportation. On the second day, we began with the topic of inclusive education. This was a particularly meaningful experience for me, as part of my work as a child protection specialist involves working with disadvantaged individuals and those with disabilities. This serious topic was preceded by a few icebreaker games designed to help us get to know one another and build rapport. Although my English skills have gotten a bit rusty over the years, I didn’t feel excluded from the group because of it; both our Spanish and French colleagues welcomed us very warmly and with great kindness. On this day, we also addressed the topic of global education, during which we exchanged experiences and information to ensure that the program booklet for the upcoming “joint game” would be prepared appropriately and in a way that is accessible to everyone. Our Spanish and French colleagues spoke enthusiastically about their experiences. It was good to see and feel that, even though we are professionals from different countries, our goal is the same: to help and support disadvantaged children and improve their equal opportunities. We ended the day at a local traditional restaurant, enjoying one delicious dish and drink after another. On what was our final day of organized activities, we played a board game that I found simultaneously shocking, intriguing, informative, funny, and entertaining. The game sheds light on gender inequalities through a novel approach. Overall, the few days in France gave us the opportunity to gain insight into local cultural characteristics, the organization’s work, and its network of relationships. I gained knowledge, experiences, and connections that will certainly be useful to me in the future. I would gladly participate in such an opportunity again. I am eagerly looking forward to incorporating the experiences I gained during the trip into my work with the children in our care.”
With our game titled “Who Is the Most Skilled Fisherman?”, we aim to help students develop critical and logical thinking skills. Players can see for themselves the consequences of their consumption habits. Can they be moderate, cooperative, and mindful in order to achieve a better quality of life in the long term? Game description is available from here.
The project provides an online platform to help teachers and educators learn the basics of global education: the resource is available from here.
The elements of the board game developed in the ACCESS project are available from here. You can find the guide here. If you would like a printed board game that comes with all the necessary components, please contact us at anthropolis.iroda@gmail.com.
As part of the project, a handbook was produced for teachers and educators on the topics of inclusivity and education for global citizenship (is available from here) and a resource to support the implementation of inclusive mobility (is available from here).
The project was implemented with the support of the European Union under the Erasmus+ program.
