Welcome to DISENEX, a groundbreaking project funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ program. Our goal is to empower people with disabilities who aspire to start their own businesses by providing them with the necessary knowledge, skills, and support.

We understand that launching a business can be challenging, especially for individuals with disabilities, but we believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to pursue their dreams. That’s why we’ve developed a comprehensive methodology and analysis of the current state of legislation, available support measures and means, and made motivational films telling the stories of those who’ve gone that way. 

Our web portal offers a wealth of information in various European languages, including German, Italian, Turkish, Slovenian, and Norwegian. Here, you’ll find access to selected open learning courses to obtain the competencies needed to start a business, as well as an advisory desk maintained by our expert partners.

At DISENEX, we are committed to breaking down barriers and promoting inclusion for people with disabilities. We believe that with the right support and resources, anyone can achieve their entrepreneurial dreams. 

Join us today and take the first step towards turning your business aspirations into a reality.

About the project

The Erasmus Plus “DISENEX – Disability Entrepreneurship Expert” project aims to increase the rates of self-employment and of social entrepreneurship between people with disabilities. At the same time, it wants to allow them to discover and implement entrepreneurial opportunities, as well as to raise awareness among decision makers of the difficulties experienced by disabled people. Through the spreading of knowledge, their potentiality in the social economy sector can be understood and managed by experts, startup services and economic development authorities. 

Objectives

  • To increase the self-employment and (social) entrepreneurship rates among PWD
  • To pool knowledge of trainers, adult educators, startup support services and economic development authorities to understand and manage the potential of PWD within the social economy sector (both nationally and EU-wide)
  • To create a single-window system that helps PWD to discover, elaborate and implement the entrepreneurial opportunity
  • Make decision makers be aware of the problems encountered by the disabled people, learn about their economic and creative potential, adjust the existing and respectively develop new strategies and policies for empowering PWD for entrepreneurship.

Activities

  • Creation of motivational learning guidelines and methodology;
  • Production of documentary mini-series on motivational learning;
  • Development of an online training consisting of existing courses on entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship and social skills;
  • Creation of a multifunctional portal aimed at providing learning tools in an interactive manner.

Results

  • Methodology and Guidelines
  • Learning film
  • DISENEX Desk and learning courses
  • DISENEX portal

Partners

CEIPES – International Centre for the Promotion of Education and Development is a non-profit organisation based in Palermo, Italy. CEIPES has expertise in Education, Innovation and Project management in different European programmes tackling the Education and the capacity building of different target groups. It also promotes lifelong learning, vocational training and entrepreneurship with the aim of enhancing opportunities for youth and adults to improve and acquire competences and therefore boost their employability and inclusion.

Employment, and the social inclusion of unemployed persons with disabilities, together with difficult-to-employ persons having limitations and barriers regarding employment opportunities. The mission of OZARA d.o.o. is the training and employment of persons with disabilities at certain specific workplaces that require the adaptation of production and service activities, whilst being part of a competitive market-economy system.

Our goals are:

  • Employment of persons with disabilities
  • Full and efficient cooperation of all within the working environment including persons in the Employment and Vocational Rehabilitation Programme and the Social Inclusion Programme
  • Raising the awareness of all employees about the necessity for respecting diversity
  • Adapting workplaces regarding their technological and time aspects and thus enabling effective and equal working conditions for all employees
  • Providing expert help and mentoring of employees at their work-places according to their individual needs
  • Providing interesting programmes directed towards the employment of persons with disabilities
  • Inclusion of all employees within the training and educational programmes for the purpose of efficiently adapting to the requirements and needs of technological development, and thus achieving high-quality task performances Connecting and cooperating at the international level introduces new possibilities and opportunities, as well as good practices, within the arena of integrating persons with disabilities, especially regarding employment opportunities due to limitations and barriers.

With this in mind, we have established a Project Management Office responsible for the development and implementation of international projects within the fields of education, training, employment and social inclusion in regard to persons with disabilities and those difficult-to-employ persons having limitations and barriers regarding employment opportunities.

Izmir Governorship represents the central government at provincial level. It is the highest public authority in the province and has a big structure that coordinates all activities in Izmir, the third biggest city in Turkey with 4 million population. The scope of activities includes education, security, environment, public works, culture, social services, health, integration of disadvantaged into the society, EU related activities etc. There are several sub-units under the Governorship and European Union and Foreign Relations Office is one of them. The Center plays an active role in dissemination, exploitation, evaluation and implementation parts of the projects in Izmir province. The Center has a broad experience in developing partnerships, is able to support and promote the implementation of European policy agenda for growth, jobs, equality and social inclusion at local, national and EU level. It also works in cooperation with relevant public, municipal and social actors at local and national level. Izmir Governorship EU and Foreign Relations Office was established in June 12, 2007.

The Center works on the following 4 areas in Izmir;

  1. Promotion and Dissemination Activities
  2. Training Activities
  3. Guidance and Consulting Activities
  4. Project Activities

FØNIX (FONIX) is the largest company within the vocational rehabilitation market in Norway. Our main office is in Sandefjord, Norway, (120 km south of Oslo) supporting 11 regional offices in the county of Vestfold. FONIX has approx. 200 employees – mostly certified trainers and instructors / teachers. FONIX are an NGO and organized as a limited company (AS), but act as a non-profit organization through our formal approval as supplier to the Norwegian Labor and Welfare Service (NAV). FONIX is 100% owned by the municipality of Sandefjord. Sandefjord is the 8th largest city in Norway with approximately 65.000 inhabitants. Our formal approval as supplier to NAV (The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration) requires that owners cannot take out dividends, and that all profits will benefit the users of the enterprise. In this setting, FONIX serves an important role for the community and public authorities regarding vocational rehabilitation. At any time during the year, this service includes approximately 2.000 learners / jobseekers and approximately 300 migrants / language learners. In 2019, more than 1.200 people got a job through FONIX.

Scope of work / specific expertise:

FONIX base their service provision on each persons' individual need for assistance, regarding their work capacity. We coach everyone towards ordinary employment through qualification and job training. “Individual Placement and Support” and “Supported Employment” is benchmark methodology, applied for the group of jobseekers in need of an extensive follow up in the open labor market. The services provided for the vocationally disabled are:

  • Assessment of the potential work and educational capacity of the individual and qualification of the individual through career guidance, adapted job training and/or qualification (job skills or further education).
  • To provide permanent adapted work for the individuals that has no possibility of a job in the open labor market. FONIX also provide “Work Preparatory Training” for people who need to establish necessary basic job skills, lifelong career guidance, language training and work-related integration for migrants.

We deliver the Integration Program on behalf of the municipality of Sandefjord and oversee more than 400 migrants in educational training every year. In addition, FONIX also has extensive experience with internal company training on many different levels – both in public- and private sector. The experience is especially from the use of career guidance connected to high levels of sick leave. As of today, FONIX is a pre-qualified provider of basic skills training (Competence +) by Skills Norway and involved in more than 60 ongoing Competence + projects in Norwegian companies. FONIX is also an active member of European Basic Skills Network (EBSN).

The International Academy for Management and Technology (INTAMT) is a non-profit association, which has been active since 2005 in the field of international knowledge transfer and exchange of experience as well as the development and implementation of continuous professional development trainings and adult education programs. Our core product is the demand-oriented combination of know-how and experience in different areas of education, research, technology, public administration as well as modern business and process management. We focus thereby on organizational and technical cross-sectoral innovations. Our offers are characterized by an integrated and at the same time individual approach (“tailor made”), which leads to a constantly high demand for services of our academy on the education market. Within 15 years, INTAMT has organised more than 700 CPD training courses, study tours and business meetings in 25 countries around the world with more than 7500 participants. In addition to Continuing Professional Development, INTAMT Academy is actively involved in implementation of international education, research, development and consulting projects in the field of knowledge transfer and innovative technologies, including those funded by various programmes of the World Bank, European Commission (including ERASMUS+), UNICEF, GIZ, German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. German Foreign Office etc.

Skip to content