U-Coach! is a Lifelong Learning Program (Leonardo Da Vinci) of knowledge transfer and innovation, which aims at developing new skills and supporting people with disabilities.

One in six people or about 80 million people living in the EU have a mild to severe disability. The physical or mental obstacles they face, like gaining access to a school or work place, leave them vulnerable to social exclusion. Lower employment and education levels mean the poverty rate for those with disabilities is 70% higher than the average.

The U-Coach! project is not only necessary, but also well connected with EU strategies for disability, preparing Caregivers/Autonomy Facilitators who will help their beneficiaries increase their autonomy level and quality of life.

The U-Coach! project was designed based on the idea of making people with disabilities more autonomous, so as to achieve social integration and increase their level of “living without obstacles”. In specific:

• Enhance the autonomy and self-directed learning for disabled people
• Provide educators, counselors and caregivers with the necessary coaching methods
• Provide participants with qualifications to facilitate personal development, employability and participation in the labor market

Two innovative methodologies, Competence Coach (CC) and Pilgrimage (PiL) will be transferred and adapted focusing on two main target groups, trainers and disabled people respectively.

More specifically, the U-Coach! project will facilitate the development of innovative practices in the field of Vocational Education Training  (VET) and Counseling by:

• Transferring and adapting the CC and PiL materials
• Developing a common guideline on CC and PiL as an integrative solution
• Piloting the two innovative methodologies, and
• Designing ECVET curricula for caregivers/autonomy facilitators