Check out our new awareness video on our association’s Youtube channel!
This time we would like to point out that accessibility is good for EVERYONE!
Click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvmpVmBMaC4
Thank you for sharing it, using it.
If you would like to support our accessibility work, you can do so here on the home page of our website with the “Adományozok” (Donations) button with any amount of money of your choice. Be our regular supporters. 🙂
We worked a lot, we looked a lot of ways, we achieved a lot, we became very tired. Well, in short this is our year of 2021 🙂
Okay of course we’ll give you details, as a lot has happened to us that we would like to share with you very briefly.
In 2021, according to the previous principles, our organisation’s main focus was on supporting the independent life of people with disabilities, with the biggest emphasis on physical accessibility and social acceptance.
We wrote and submitted 13 applications for national and international grants , of which 6 were successful. We feel this is an excellent ratio.
As a new direction we’ve turned to CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and the pro bono support of companies, both of which we feel have made significant progress in Hungary, which could create a real win-win situation.
We tried to make our activities as professional as possible, therefore we executed serious IT development, mostly on the Barrier-Free Pécs database.
We ourselves are also constantly learning, thus our presidency took part in various trainings, and we held further exercises for our membership. The trainings had the topics of community organisation, strategic planning, accessibility, barrier-free and accessible tourism, informatics, easily understandable communication. Several courses also came with a certificate for our members.
Furthermore, we continue to think in partnership, as the voices of people with disabilities can go much further and they can achieve much more in self-determination and social acceptance if we work with other organisations. We do this with local NGOs, the government of Pécs, national professional organisations and foreign partners.
Amongst our partners we can account local, national and international professional NGOs, the local government, several faculties of the University of Pécs, the Corvinus University of Budapest, high schools in Pécs, tourism organisations, German, Croatian, Spanish, English, Italian, Macedonian and Dutch international partners.
We are very proud and grateful of each of our partnerships!
A particular pleasure for us is that in 2021 we were able to give the opportunity of participating in the work of an NGO to many trainees and volunteers. We also gained a lot from them.
Thanks to our BeFogadó/InnClusive community space, launched in July 2021, we have organised a lot of programs and events, but besides these we’d like to highlight the most significant happenings of 2021:
– starting from January we continued the “sticker project”, which created the nationally unique Barrier-Free Pécs database and is continously expanded with new information
– our international ARTcoWORKers Erasmus+ project, which connects the themes of art and disability, was launched in January
– in February we registered to the fundraising interface of NIOK Foundation, so our online Adományozok/Donate button has been launched on our website
– in February we took part in the Hungarian Parasport Day with an event on Orfű
– from March we got to know the ideas of other local NGOs at the Neighborhood Academy
– during the summer we put a lot of emphasis on communication and PR, so we shot and published videos on our own Youtube channel, seeking the attention of flashmobs.
– we appeared on the official website of the town hall, on pécs.hu, as a new menu (Barrier-free Pécs), and our barrier-free database was also published in printed form.
– also together with the town hall, we launched the #pecsopentoeveryone (#pecsmindenkineknyitva) campaign, which raised awareness of accessibility
– in August we completed our international project Peer-AcT, which aimed to further develop barrier-free tourism.
– in September we organised the gap-filling, national Barrier-Free Tourism Day festival on Orfű again
– we participated in international and national conferences, most of the times as speakers as well. Our main topic is barrier-free tourism, accessibility, and cooperation. In November we also organised a national conference on the theme of accessibility, with a particular focus on accessibility in historic buildings.
– at the end of the year, we participated in the development of the Urban Civil Concept
Meanwhile, our membership has been constantly expanding, and we have been trying to stand on our own two feet with some of our business activities.
Continue to stay with us, let’s meet a lot and get to know better what we do!
The international meeting of our ARTcoWORKers project was a special event this time, as we worked together with the future trainers on the evolving training curriculum.
We came from four countries to Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, to work together very intensively for 5 days. Project managers and future trainers from Germany, North-Macedonia, Hungary and the Netherlands – including experts with disabilities – are developing a curriculum that aims to provide useful information to as many people as possible, and bring the two sectors closer together: people with disabilities and artists.
At the meeting in Skopje we discussed all seven modules: on the need for self-representation, creative education, the development of self-esteem, the independent living movement, the fundamental rights of people with disabilities, multiculturalism, assertive communication, conflict management, social inclusion and accessibility. And one module specifically discusses the techniques of shadow theatre, as we thought this was the art form of expression in which we could involve people with disabilities and artists in the most possible ways.
The training provided a lot of lessons about each other, about ourselves, and even about two very special, sensitive target groups, whose cooperation will certainly bring specific but very useful results.
In the meantime we got to know a little bit about the special world of North-Macedonia, the kind of cultural, historical, culinary and all kinds of mixing world that gives this Balkan charm to this country.
Thanks to our host Shadows and Clouds and all the participants for their great activity!
Next time we will meet in the Netherlands this summer, this time with the project managers.
Read a little more about the ARTcoWORKers project here: https://peoplefirst.hu/en/blog-post/artcoworkers-erasmus-nemzetkozi-projekt/
Or on the project’s English-language website and Facebook page: https://artcoworkers.eu/, https://www.facebook.com/Artcoworkers/
Dutch Ambassador Désirée Bonis invited NGOs from Pécs, including the People First Association, to a working lunch. At the great atmosphere we were able to talk about the situation of people with disabilities, the difficulties of their social engagement, and equal opportunity issues. The independence of NGOs, funding opportunities and human rights issues were also discussed.
The Dutch Ambassador in a very sympathetic way would like to get a picture of Hungary, not to see our country only from Budapest. Therefore, the ambassador visits every major city. Pécs was the second stop on March 22. The ambassador did not come for a short visit, she spends two days in our city, meeting with many stakeholders, and also visiting the beauties of the city.
It was a pleasure to see the interest, the openness to our affairs.
Thank you for being together Emberség Erejével Alapítvány, Élmény Tár, Szabad Pécs, Zöld Fiatalok!
Program information – the dry facts:
Erasmus+
Cooperation to promote innovation and exchange good practices
Strategic partnerships
The main objective of the project: innovation
Contract Number: 2018-1-DE02-KA204-005122
Project title: European Peer Counselor Training in Accessible Tourism
Short name: Peer-AcT
Duration: 01.11.2018 – 31.08.2021 34 months
History of what we started:
Regulations such as the objectives of European lifelong learning programmes, the UN Convention on the protection of the rights of people with disabilities, or the EU Disability Strategy 2020 allow for a more equal participation of persons with special educational needs in adult education activities, in which they themselves may even participate as educators.
The EU Disability Strategy requires accessibility of tourist offers and destinations and the possibility of accessible travel in general. Unfortunately in most tourist destinations only a few facilities are barrier-free, there is no barrier-free entire service chain, and only a small number of tourism employees have the right awareness and skills for inclusive tourism. In addition, only a few people with disabilities participate in existing training programmes. Progress has been made in some European countries and destinations, but this is not enough to meet the requirements of the UN Convention and European accessible tourism strategies.
The key to implementing the above-mentioned strategies is the much better quality TRAINING of decision-makers and employees. The main principle in social inclusion is that persons with disabilities should participate as experts in their own interests in all relevant topics, activities and processes.
Therefore, the project had two main target groups in training activities:
1. on the one hand, people with disabilities as peer-to-peer advisors,
2. on the other hand, employees of central decision-makers, private and public institutions and companies in the tourism and leisure industries.
Six partners from Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and Croatia have developed and implemented an innovative methodology for training of people with disabilities as adult educators on accessible tourism.
The main activities were:
What have we achieved?
– We have trained a total of 63 people with disabilities in the five partner countries to become Peer-AcT consultants.
– 46 Peer-AcT trainers and tourism experts have received training in accessible tourism in the Training centres
– 41 representatives in the tourism sector participated in inclusive and accessible tourism Peer-AcT courses.
– We held 7 multiplier events for people with disabilities with 68 participants, 5 multiplier events for tourism experts with 85 participants,
– We held 6 international meetings and study tours
– we held an intermediate conference in Hungary/Orfű and a final conference in Bossolasco, Italy
– We sent out 6 newsletters and created a project brochure in English and 5 partner countries
The innovation offered by the project (because that’s always the point):
– On the one hand, the involvement of people with disabilities as experts at all levels of the project with the aim of training them as accessible tourism trainers. In doing so, we are making a claim that they should be involved in the UN convention’s affairs concerning them on their own behalf.
– The second innovation is the formation of a mixed group of disabled experts and tourism experts, who together cover the necessary knowledge to be used in the training and development of accessible tourism.
– We provide a free methodology for peer-to-peer counselling and mentoring in accessible tourism, and we provide 3 inclusive training courses with manuals, E-learning opportunities for people with disabilities and for able bodied people.
The results of the project have been continuously widely published: for NGOs, regional and national authorities, European agencies and networks, through our website, social media, newsletters and the press.
The project partners held public workshops for stakeholders at their locations and organized two conferences to inform them about the results and activities of the project.
The most important long-term effects of the project are:
– strengthening the equal participation of people with disabilities as peer experts and adult educators
– raising awareness, skills and knowledge of decision-makers, tourism and leisure workers, and strengthening their new way of thinking
– facilitating the european cooperation and exchange of experience between peer experts
Indirect:
– increasing accessibility to tourist destinations
– start creating so-called barrier-free service chains
Partners in the project:
Verein zur sozialen und beruflichen Integration e.V. – Germany
KOPF, HAND und FUSS gemeinnützige Gesellschaft für Bildung mbH – Germany
Consorzio Turistico Langhe Monferrato Roero – Italy
Unione Montana Alta Langa – Italy
Udruga za kreativni razvoj Slap – Croatia
Asociación para el Estudio y Promoción del Bienestar Social – Spain
Zöld-Aktív Szociális Szövetkezet – Hungary
Pécsi Tudományegyetem – Hungary
People First Egyesület Pécs – Hungary
Sustainability of the project:
63 trained Peer-AcT trainers will continue to use their competencies as adult trainers on a main or part-time role, enabling them to develop their own personalities as persons with disabilities. They can also find new occupations, such as employment in Erfurt in the advice project on inclusive housing, in Pécs in the Hidden City accessible city tour as a tour guide, or in the InnClusive Community Space as a barrier-free tourism peer-advisor, or in Bossolasco employment in the city tourist office.
Through guidelines and marketing plans published in the Peer-AcT handbook, Peer-AcT partners and followers can set up local training centers, hold personal and E-learning courses for people with disabilities and tourism professionals on accessible tourism.
You can find us, the People First Association, in our InnClusive Community Space, where our trained
Peer-AcT consultants regularly provide advice on accessible tourism every month.
You can read more about the InnClusive Community Space here: https://peoplefirst.hu/en/befogado/
You can reach us here: pfpecs@gmail.com
You can find everything on the Peer-AcT project website: http://peeract.eu/
We are grateful to our supporters for their help. And we consider it our duty to remain transparent, that is to report on what we spend your forints on for us.
With the Adományozok (Donate) button on our website you primarily support accessibility,
especially the maintenance and expansion of our Barrier-free Pécs database.
We have prepared a report on the use of donations received so far on the Adományozok (Donations) button, which you can read on the NIOK adjukossze.hu page under the “Hírek/Beszámolók – News/Reports” tab of our campaign (available in Hungarian): Report January 2022
Or on the People First Association’s website in the Barrier-free Pécs menu: Report January 2022
Let’s stay in touch with us!
You make us very happy when you become our constant supporters.
We report to you about the progress of our extremely exciting international ARTcoWORKers project linking the arts and people with disabilities.
At the moment the training curriculum is being prepared, we could say it’s almost done. The aim of this is to develop training to support prospective trainers in facilitating cooperation between people with disabilities and interested representatives of the various arts sectors in each country.
You will soon receive the first Newsletter in Hungarian, we hope you will like it.
On ARTcoWORKers Facebook and Website we regularly publish interesting, informative and even good examples to follow from all over the world, and news about the project. You can follow ARTcoWORKers on Facebook here: ARTcoWORKers Facebook
and this is the website: ARTcoWORKers Web
In April we will meet in person in Skopje/Macedonia, where we will perfect the training and start to develop a fantastic, common shadow play, which you will see at the final festival-conference, which will be in PÉCS! Thus, the Skopje meeting is already being organized with steam. Four of us will travel from the People First association, and we are already very excited and preparing for the program.
You can read more about the ARTcoWORKers project in the Projects menu here: ARTcoWORKers menü
Follow this great project on People First and ARTcoWORKers Facebook pages! We are also very happy with all the comments!
From now on, we will launch a peer-to-peer consultation on the topic of accessible tourism and independent living in our “InnClusive” Community Space!
Our qualified, certified consultants of the Peer-AcT international project are now regularly waiting for everyone at the appointed consulting times.
They mainly help with inclusive/accessible tourism, but they are waiting for questions about independent living as well.
The aim is for peers to help peers, i.e. we welcome people with disabilities who have questions about accessible tourism.
Later we also launch consultancy and training for tourism experts and actors on accessible tourism.
The first introductory consultancy is held by Marcell Kopa and Roland Balogh Peer-AcT consultants at the InnClusive Community Space, on Tuesday, 18. January 2022. from 10:00 to 12:00.
After that, we are waiting for you on the third Tuesday of each month. One month in the morning, the other month in the afternoon will be available our consultants, so that everyone can find us.
You can read more about the availability of the InnClusive Community Square, parking, etc. here: InnClusive Community Space
More information about the Peer-AcT project, which was trained by our consultants, can be found here: Peer-AcT accessible tourism project
From now on, you can also comment on the locations described in our Barrier-free Pécs database! You’re helping a lot of other people who are going to use the given location.
The process is very simple: just rate with stars below each location, and then write your opinion on the accessibility of that location.
The goal should always be to give guidance to others! Don’t scold, just be helpful.
Describe your own perspectives as disabled, elderly, or with a stroller.
Three letters which most of us don’t know. What’s wrong is that they don’t know who it’s for.
CSR is an acronym for Corporate Social Responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility is the activity a company does for the well-being of the community around it.
What is exciting about it is that it is both an economic and a social issue, because if a company helps the community around it, it builds its own brand, so it will be sympathetic, and this will greatly promotes business recovery.
CSR also includes promoting equal opportunities and supporting NGOs working for this reason – and that is where we come in.
Unfortunately, it is not yet evident in Hungary that a company is unthinkable without CSR activity, but there are encouraging signs. For the time being, we can talk about companies working on the international stage or foreign-owned companies.
For the People First Association 2021 has brought hope, confidence and faith in the goodness of company managers and employees. Our association was able to participate in the following CSR grants, for which we are very grateful – even for the opportunities and the way of thinking!
Thank you to the companies and firms for thinking like this and making the world a better place!
Go Pécs, let have as many small and large companies as possible that want to develop while helping communities. Let’s be exemplary in that too!