Results & Outcomes from the SALTO Youth Inclusion Forum

• The immediate outcome of the event was the real-time documentation online: Reports, Pictures & VideoClips, Evaluation Results to make the information from the Inclusion Forum available to a wide audience
• It was not only the 75 participants at the conference that benefited from the event, but also over 200 people who joined the webcam or chat and thousands who found their way to the Inclusion Forum Resources online: more at the Virtual Inclusion Forum pages

Direct Results & Impact on participants

From the evaluation forms collected from the participants after the SALTO Inclusion Forum, it became very clear that the event contributed to:

• people's commitment to work on inclusion (63% said 'A lot', 34% 'A little', 3% 'None' - because they were already committed before)
• to their knowledge about (European) inclusion issues (51% 'A lot', 49% 'A little')
• it increased their networks in the field of inclusion (46% 'A lot', 54% 'A little')

Note: we are still expecting some evaluation forms to be sent in, so percentages could change. But we have a short video clip of participants impressions on the Forum here.

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Documenting the event - Report

We are currently working to turn the different working group reports, which you can find online, into a consistent Inclusion Forum Report. This will be spread (by the beginning of 2007) to all participants of the Inclusion Forum but also to all relevant stakeholders in the field of inclusion, to let as many people possible benefit from the work done at the SALTO Inclusion Forum

But the two direct beneficiaries of the Inclusion Forum, will be the European Commission, which will endeavour to take the recommendations to its new Inclusion Strategy for the Youth in Action programme into account. And SALTO Inclusion, which will base its workplans on the needs expressed by the different stakeholders at the Inclusion Forum and online at the Inclusion Future pages.

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What did people gain Professionally & Personally from the SALTO Inclusion Forum?

As a reply to this question in the evaluation form, people wrote the following (non-exhaustive):

• I gained lots of contacts with other inclusion workers in a great atmosphere
• I found new potential partners for inclusion projects and refreshed existing 'old contacts'
• I got a concrete view of what is going on regarding inclusion in Europe - and inspiration for my own inclusion work
• I found some new resources for working on interculturality
• I was asked to facilitate a workshop at the Inclusion Forum, which i hadn't done before, so i learned a lot from doing so, and got the hang of it
• Knowledge about the practice and implementation of Inclusion by different National Agencies of the YOUTH programme
• I developed new potential training opportunities
• I learned more about strategic work, and about how to create an inclusion strategy
• New knowledge, new contacts, new ideas, new friends
• I touched on areas (target groups) that I usually don't work on - an eye-opener
• Better understanding of the YOUTH programme's philosophy
• Some methods that can be used for my inclusion work
• Encouragement & motivation
• I realised that there are different approaches to Inclusion in different countries
• I got more knowledge about SALTO's activities
• ...

Action Plans Inclusion Forum

The SALTO Youth Inclusion Forum contributed to the following action plans that were developed by the participants at the Forum. Here is a list of actions that the different people are planning to undertake:

• The European Commission will rework theInclusion Strategy for the Youth in Action programme according to the recommendations from the Inclusion Forum and from the online comments at www.salto-youth.net/inclusionstrategy/
• The SALTO Inclusion Resource Centre will develop it's workplan based on the suggestions from the Inclusion Forum and from it's website www.salto-youth.net/inclusionfuture/(comments welcome)
• Several NAs are going to develop or rethink their Inclusion Strategy in the light of the European developments - and in some cases expert NGOs will be consulted or involved.
• At centralised level, the Executive Agency for the Youth in Action programme will take into account the inclusion target groups in application forms, selection procedures, management, monitoring visits, training and info sessions) - in close connection and cooperation with the SALTO Inclusion Resource Centre.

Some individual actions (non exhaustive)

• Have a closer look why some target groups are not reached and try different activities and cooperate with NGOs to reach these new groups
• Analyse the past inclusion actions and draw conclusions for the future
• Write an article about the SALTO Inclusion Forum for our magazine
• Participate in a study visit in Estonia about inclusion work.
• Explore the possibility to work with young ex-offenders
• International training course & youth exchanges on LGBT issues and make LGBT issues known to non-LGBT organisations
• Use the contacts from the Inclusion Forum for future cooperation on inclusion projects
• Train other youth workers to work more effectively in inclusion projects
• Increase youth empowerment and help them with their life plans.
• Follow up on the contacts made at the Inclusion Forum
• Getting an EVS project on minority issues granted
• Check what are the (international) possibilities for my youngsters with fewer opportunities and create ways for their active participation
• Connect with other youth workers specialised in inclusion
• Monitor processes that violate the intentions of the Youth (in Action) programme and denounce them
• Develop new youth projects e.g. Short term EVS, action 1 youth exchange
• Read and inform myself more about what is happening on European level and adopt relevant elements for my own work
• Involve more rural organisations & develop a strategy for reaching not represented youth organisations
• National Training about inclusion
• Contact inclusion organisations in my country and build up a working relation with them
• Implement more integration projects, increase efforts to include youngsters with fewer opportunities in the Youth in Action programme
• Start using the wording "young people with fewer opportunities"
• Create more support for the idea of doing international projects with the youth in my organisation
• Do a thorough impact assessment of the previous YOUTH projects we granted - and draw conclusions for the future Youth in Action programme
• Discover new partners in the community that could support mixed-ability projects
• Organise a new TC or Contact Making Seminar on inclusion
• Give more priority to inclusion projects
• Make a stimulating movie about working in mixed-ability groups to attract new volunteers in our organisation - or other fun activities
• Bring down the international inclusion idea to my local region
• Translate the political priority of inclusion into down to earth and understandable wording and concepts for young people themselves
• Identify potential training topics for improving the 'partnership' between organisations & NAs
• Implement/experiment with the SALTO Youth Pass for the young people I work with/in the inclusion field
• Adapt the information tools we have to the needs of the target groups we are trying to reach
• Include more people with disabilities into our projects
• Spread the information of the Youth in Action programme
• Develop a strategy for coaching EVS volunteers in my organisation
• Brainstorm with other organisations and NA on possibilities to improve matchmaking for inclusion projects
• Increase the quality of inclusion projects
• Define the priority target groups for my country
• Develop a European network of inclusive working organisations
• ...

Many said they will share the results and outcomes from the forum with partner NGOs in their country and spread information about the new Inclusion Strategy for the Youth in Action programme.

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