The first training of the “MIND INCLUSION 2.0” project held in Valladolid in Spain ended on Friday.

14 educators and technician partners of the project had the opportunity to discuss and learn about the use of participatory methodologies to co-create an app to facilitate the connection of intellectual disable people with their community. The aim of this training was to acquire skills and identify the strategies to run in an effective and truly inclusive way the Local Action Groups, the special space where educators and final users will co-create the app.

The concepts and activities that the participants explored were several and very innovative. The participants developed strategies and common procedures to create and consolidate the Local Action Groups creation. They got acquainted with the concepts at the base of the project, such as agile methodology, cognitive accessibility and inclusive settings. Some design-thinking tools were introduced to support participants understanding, such as the exercise of creating “personas” or “proto-personas” to support focus on user needs, contextual factors and people’s motivations (a concrete life scenario of a third person to maintain neutrality of discussions). Some information regarding the potential difficulties for planning the participatory sessions and communication challenges that may arise with the end-users during the LAG were also shared.

The new methodologies that were created and explored during the 3 days will turn into action very soon. Besides being presented at the International Conference on Innovation, Documentation and Education (INNODOCT/19) taking place on November 2019 in Valencia, Spain, the methodologies will be soon applied in the process of co-creation of the online platform that will allow intellectual disable people to review the initiatives, events and activities of their communities.

The first training of the “MIND INCLUSION 2.0” project held in Valladolid in Spain ended on Friday.

14 educators and technician partners of the project had the opportunity to discuss and learn about the use of participatory methodologies to co-create an app to facilitate the connection of intellectual disable people with their community. The aim of this training was to acquire skills and identify the strategies to run in an effective and truly inclusive way the Local Action Groups, the special space where educators and final users will co-create the app.

The concepts and activities that the participants explored were several and very innovative. The participants developed strategies and common procedures to create and consolidate the Local Action Groups creation. They got acquainted with the concepts at the base of the project, such as agile methodology, cognitive accessibility and inclusive settings. Some design-thinking tools were introduced to support participants understanding, such as the exercise of creating “personas” or “proto-personas” to support focus on user needs, contextual factors and people’s motivations (a concrete life scenario of a third person to maintain neutrality of discussions). Some information regarding the potential difficulties for planning the participatory sessions and communication challenges that may arise with the end-users during the LAG were also shared.

The new methodologies that were created and explored during the 3 days will turn into action very soon. Besides being presented at the International Conference on Innovation, Documentation and Education (INNODOCT/19) taking place on November 2019 in Valencia, Spain, the methodologies will be soon applied in the process of co-creation of the online platform that will allow intellectual disable people to review the initiatives, events and activities of their communities.