Project title: 
SELF-Y – Self Determination & Empowerment for Young People with disabilities
Erasmus+ international project (KA220-YOU)
Project duration:
01.10.2026 – 31.12.2028
Partner organisations:
Verein zur sozialen und beruflichen Integration e.V. (VSBI) – Germany
Nadácia Krajina harmónie – Slovakia
People First Egyesület – Pécs – Hungary
Fundacja Sowelo – Poland
Project summary:
The SELF-Y project strengthens the self-determination of young people with disabilities during their transition to independent living and employment. It aims to develop practical skills in identifying their own needs, self-advocacy and knowledge of their rights, and to strengthen these skills in the long term through qualified peer trainers. Drawing on their own experiences of independent living, peer trainers support young people with disabilities who are at risk of exclusion and segregation in institutional settings.
More details:
Across the partner countries, people with disabilities continue to face significant barriers to independent living, inclusive education and equal access to employment. Institutionalisation remains widespread, while efforts to establish genuine community-based living arrangements are progressing slowly or inconsistently. Education systems often remain segregated or fail to provide adequate support for meaningful inclusion. In the labour market, accessible vocational training opportunities remain limited and discrimination persists, while many people with disabilities can only work in sheltered workshops. Although there have been some positive developments, overall progress towards full self-determination and equal participation in society remains limited in all countries.
Young people with disabilities need to understand their rights, the opportunities available to them and how to advocate for their own interests. Skills such as self-determination and self-advocacy do not develop automatically: they need to be taught and practised. The peer approach, based on sharing experiences among people in similar situations, is particularly effective for this purpose.
Within the SELF-Y project, we train people with disabilities who already live and work independently to become peer supporters. Drawing on their personal experiences, they help younger people with disabilities learn about their rights, practical strategies for everyday life and opportunities to shape their own lives. Building on this peer-to-peer exchange of knowledge, young people receive training and support to learn where and how to seek advice, how to access support services, and how to express and advocate for their own needs.
Project outcomes:
The project results include a multilingual SELF-Y methodology, a modular training programme and a ready-to-use peer training course containing training materials tailored to participants’ needs.
During the project, we will train 20 peer trainers, who will deliver workshops for 20 young people with disabilities on how to find their own paths towards independent living and self-advocacy.
The dissemination and use of the results will be supported by 20 tutorials and other videos, multiplier events, a SELF-Y guideline summarising the lessons learned from the project, and a SELF-Y memorandum setting out its values and principles.
Target groups:
The project’s primary target group consists of young people with disabilities who are at important transition stages in their lives, such as moving from school into vocational training or employment, or moving from the parental home towards more independent living. The programme is open to people with all types of disabilities and focuses on young people whose participation in society is restricted by various barriers and who aspire to live self-determined lives.
The second target group consists of adults with disabilities who already live and work largely independently and make their own decisions. They contribute their expertise based on lived experience, act as role models and are trained as peer supporters to support young participants, strengthen their self-determination and develop their self-advocacy skills. The type of disability is secondary; what matters is their personal experience of barriers to participation and self-determination.
The third target group is the social environment of young people, particularly parents and guardians, as they often influence decisions about housing, education and employment.
Other stakeholders include teachers, trainers, social workers, job coaches and institutional staff. The aim is to promote attitudes, communication and support practices that consistently enable person-centred decision-making.
The main responsibilities of People First Egyesület as the Hungarian partner in the project:
People First Egyesület represents the perspectives of people with disabilities on self-determination and self-advocacy within the project and actively participates in the development and testing of the methodology and training programme.
Our association organises the international Train-the-Trainer Lab in Pécs, where future peer trainers will be trained and the training programme will be tested in practice. We participate in training peer trainers in Hungary, organising workshops for young people and producing videos.
People First leads the project’s entire communication and dissemination work package. Our responsibilities include developing the dissemination plan, creating the multilingual project website, coordinating social media activities, managing the Instagram, TikTok and YouTube channels, and producing and distributing newsletters, press releases, podcasts and short video content.
