Numerous research studies have shown that leisure activities have a significant role in physical health and well-being of individuals, and thus they have been recognized as one of the significant instruments for support of social inclusion. Aiming to improve quality and possibilities for inclusion of all young people in leisure activities, Belgrade Open School has carried out two one-day training courses on the topic “How to organize inclusive leisure activities for all young people” in Belgrade and in Niš, on 27th and 29th 2019.
Aware that despite benefits many young people and especially young people with disability are still facing challenges in engaging with recreational and leisure activities, and that youth organizations are not empowered enough to involve young people from vulnerable groups 26 representatives of organizations who work with young people participated in training sessions. During the training participants had the opportunity to become introduced with the materials created within the project and to understand barriers that impact involvement of young people with disabilities in leisure activities and concept of social inclusions as well as ways of including youth with disabilities in regular instead of special activities. The special aspect of the training was dedicated to non-discriminative communication with the people with disabilities.
The last part of the training sessions referred to the detailed planning of next steps to be taken in order to organize new inclusive leisure activities or to improve existing activities. The focus of activities is to provide additional types of support and adjustments which will contribute to including young people with disabilities and other young people from vulnerable groups.
All materials created within the project are freely available:
- Guide for youth workers, leaders and teachers on “How to build-up an Inclusive youth community towards leisure time activities?”
- Handbook with inclusive youth leisure and recreation activities for the youth community
- Mobile application on inclusive leisure and recreation for youth
More information on the project are available at the project official web-site:http://leisure4youth.eu/.
