The Inclusive education using Animation and Multimedia (I_AM) project is coming to a close, so it is time to recap their achievements and the policy recommendations that came out of the project's partnerships.

During the past two years, I_AM has been working with school communities to promote common values of social inclusion. Respecting the rights of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and their equal access to education, has been a top priority both in their capacity-building programme, as well as in their policy recommendations. With the project ending in December 2022, this is a chance to see an example of how projects can create positive, long-lasting impact on the individuals they support.

Before diving into the successes of the project, let’s run through I_AM’s main tasks:

• To map out the current situation regarding inclusive education for children with SEND, and the needs of educational staff and individuals with SEND.
• To develop effective and tailor-made tools based on research findings and an inter-professional learning framework, which will support educational staff to adopt inclusive educational approaches and implement techniques in the classroom.
• To build the capacity of educational staff via a blended learning programme, which will help them promote inclusivity among pupils in mainstream schools. Educational staff will develop skills related to emotional intelligence, inclusive education techniques, leadership and classroom management skills, as well as basic animation development skills.
• To host a video animation school contest to engage children, young people, and their communities in the promotion of inclusive education. Winning entries will be shown at the Animasyros International Animation Festival.

From these tasks, there are four main project results that have made I_AM proud:

1. Enhanced the use of effective, state-of-the-art approaches and tools that support inclusive education.
2. Heightened awareness, knowledge, and competence of educational staff when it comes to addressing diversity in the classroom.
3. Increased awareness around, and engagement in, inclusive education among members of educational communities.
4. Effective and efficient promotion of inclusive education for children and young people with SEND in mainstream schools among policymakers, decision makers, and relevant stakeholders at local, national, and European levels.

On top of these milestones, the project partners have provided policy recommendations towards the leaders of the educational systems in the partnering countries: Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, and Poland. For instance, The Open University of Cyprus advocates for an immediate policy change on the promotion of inclusive education to ensure its future sustainability. For IMEGEE (Institouto Meleton ke Erevnon Genikis ke Edikis Ekpedefsis) from Greece, the role of educational leadership in inclusion and the development of skills of the educational community was a priority. The possibility of online courses was on the Hand in Hand Foundation's agenda in Hungary. The Maria Grzegorzewska University in Poland stressed the need to make introductory materials on animation available at an academic level. 

By giving their recommendations, I_AM's project partners have been able to kickstart a fruitful discussion about policy reommendations that can facilitate and help develop inclusive education for students with SEND on a national level.

All in all, the I_AM project has laid a solid foundation of knowledge and practical expertise for further research and development, as well as for new projects to be launched. These new initiatives will hopefully be a springboard for creating an innovation system at a European level, which will aim to tackle the societal challenges linked to inclusive education for students with SEND in mainstream schools.

Practical details

Running from December 2020 to December 2022, I_AM is co-funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ Programme. The project partners are CMT Prooptiki Ltd (Greece), the Maria Grzegorzewska University (Poland), IMEGEE (Greece), the Open University of Cyprus (Cyprus), PLATFORMA-Urban Culture Co (Greece), and the Hand in Hand Foundation (Hungary).

The I_AM project was implemented in Cyprus, Greece, Hungary and Poland.

To learn more about the project visit their website.