WP5 – GREEN ASC VET: Spreading the word in Europe about inclusive and sustainable vocational education for autistic people
Over the past three years, the GREEN ASC Vet – Metautism project has raised awareness of the need for inclusive and sustainable vocational education for autistic people by developing a range of communication and dissemination activities, designed to reach and engage our target audiences:
- Social media presence (LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook): We built peer support
and community engagement, particularly on LinkedIn where we connected with employment and HR professionals to share best practices. Our newsletters on LinkedIn and articles on the website kept our audiences informed of the project’s progress.
- Awareness-raising campaigns: Every year on World Autism Awareness Day (2 April), we launched a targeted campaign to inform and actively engage the public, VET and adult education institutions, public authorities, and employers in understanding the challenges autistic people face at schools, during recruitment, and in the workplace. Our flagship ‘Involve Me, I Can Do It’ campaign represents our commitment to improve autistic people’s employability and social inclusion, by promoting a better understanding, acceptance, and the development of inclusive learning and working environments. Through our collaborative efforts, by the end of March 2026, we reached 1,219,065 views on our platforms, an impressive figure that shows that the project’s key messages, values, and deliverables gained widespread attention.
- Our Metautism Podcast,with 28 episodes, shares insights into the varied experiences of autistic people and their families (advice, diagnosis, challenges, and more). Participants included researchers and experts in the autism field who shared best practices for inclusive workplaces and calls to action for policy changes. The podcast covers a wide range of topics including breaking down barriers through technology and inclusive learning, navigating the job market as an autistic person, and policy challenges in employment. It targets diverse audiences, from autistic people and families to policymakers and VET professionals to promote peer-support, inform policy, and share expert knowledge to advance the quality of life and rights of autistic people in their education and professional journeys.
- Radio show ‘Metautism’: During the implementation of the project to date, 20 programmes in Croatian have been broadcast on 92FM and Radio Ogulin, featuring a variety of guests, including autistic people, their family members, and experts from various fields. The aim of the programmes is to raise awareness among employers and society as a whole and to promote the creation of a fair environment in which equality is valued.
Both radio stations are associated partners in the project, with Radio 92FM responsible for implementing this activity. It is a non-profit, independent radio station that provides a platform for minorities whose issues are often overlooked by mainstream media.
- Dissemination events: Partners presented the project to a wide range of sectors to improve the services available to autistic people:
- Experts from Various Professional Backgrounds, Autistic Individuals, and Their Families: Throughout the implementation of the Green ASC VET project, members of the project consortium organized and participated in numerous presentations, workshops, and professional events, both online and in person. The project and its outcomes were presented at different levels of the educational and professional system, including national expert councils from various education sectors, professionals in educational rehabilitation, special education experts, representatives of the economic sector, autism associations at both national and local levels, students of Faculties of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences, and specialized professional media platforms.
Across all partner countries, these presentations attracted considerable attention from participants. Particular interest was shown in the innovative approaches to career guidance and vocational training for autistic individuals, while the project results consistently received highly positive evaluations. Participants recognized the potential of the developed solutions to improve inclusive vocational education and support smoother transitions of autistic individuals into the labour market.
- Employment Experts and Employers: The project was presented at a committee meeting with key Belgian training and employment support professionals (Bruxelles Formation), as well as at Maison de l’Autisme, an information and support center for autistic people and their families based in Brussels. Both groups expressed strong enthusiasm about participating in our final event in Brussels and integrating our resources into their daily practice, given their relevance to their sector and accessibility for their communities.
The employment and business sector played an important role in the dissemination of project results. The Croatian Employers’ Association, as an associated partner of the project, actively supported the promotion of project outcomes. To date, the project and its achievements have been presented at six of the Association’s conferences and professional events.
To provide employers with practical tools for the inclusion of autistic individuals in the workforce, a dedicated Handbook for Employing and Supporting Autistic Individuals was developed. The handbook offers recommendations and practical guidelines for the successful integration of autistic employees into the workplace and has attracted significant interest from representatives of the business community.
- Technology and innovation: The technological solutions developed within the Green ASC VET project generated particular interest throughout the project implementation period. Technology companies Virsabi, Learn Virtual Europe, and Innoversa Factory, responsible for the development of XR solutions, continuously presented the project’s progress, from the initial concept and design phase to the final digital tools and applications.
Their presentations at events such as WorldSkills competitions in Croatia and Hungary, vocational secondary schools, and during pilot and experimental programmes attracted considerable attention from professionals, teachers, students, and the wider public. Feedback from participants was exceptionally positive and further confirmed the value of applying virtual and extended reality technologies in the career guidance and vocational preparation of autistic individuals.
Additional confirmation of the quality and relevance of the developed solutions came from the publication of the Interview Master and VR 360 Occupations applications on the Meta Store platform. Following their initial release, user engagement and access rates exceeded the project consortium’s expectations.
- Skills and industry: Project results were presented at six conferences organized by the Croatian Employers’ Association, as well as at numerous events attended by employers seeking skilled and qualified employees. Particularly noteworthy were the presentations delivered at events such as WorldSkills, where participants had the opportunity to explore the project’s overall structure and outcomes.
Through an innovative combination of vocational education, digital technologies, and personalized support, Green ASC VET contributes to the development of competencies among autistic students, adult learners, and the teachers, trainers, and mentors who support them. These newly developed competencies strengthen self-confidence, enhance employability, and facilitate a smoother and more successful transition into the labour market.
- Erasmus+ network: Since receiving approval for implementation, the Green ASC VET project has attracted significant interest within the Erasmus+ community. Project activities have been continuously followed through social media channels, partner websites, and various European dissemination platforms.
The project achieved particularly strong visibility through the active participation of all project partners in Erasmus Days events during each year of project implementation. In addition, activities organized in connection with World Autism Awareness Day received considerable attention, providing opportunities to present the project’s objectives, achievements, and examples of good practice. Through these initiatives, the project successfully reached a broad audience of professionals, organizations, educational institutions, and individuals interested in improving education and employment opportunities for autistic people
Promoting our autism-specific career guidance tools at the international level
One of the highlights of the project was attending the 14th Autism-Europe International Congress in Dublin from September 11th to 13th 2025. We held a booth to interact with the public and showcased our poster ‘Green Vocational Education for People on the Autism Spectrum’ in the exhibition hall to promote the importance of inclusive and sustainable vocational education. We also distributed 1,000 leaflets about the project to raise awareness and share information with attendees.
With the theme ‘Quality of Life: Research, Policy and Practice’, the event was hosted by AsIAm – Ireland’s Autism Charity, a leading autistic-led organisation working to make Dublin the world’s first Autism-Friendly Capital City.
This conference brought together nearly 2,000 delegates to Dublin from 70 countries. Autistic people, researchers, advocates, practitioners, and family members from all over the world convened at the Royal Dublin Society to learn from and about each other. Speakers engaged in-depth conversations on community priorities and shared best practices highly useful to the community. One of the top priorities was employment to break down barriers for autistic people.
It was very important for our project to attend and present our resources during this event, as this particular focus directly echoes the Green ASC VET – Metautism’s mission to promote lifelong education and retraining of autistic people to facilitate their inclusion in the workplace.
During the three-day event, we presented our autism-specific training materials and tools for students, VET teachers, and trainers and networked with the wider autism community. It is fair to say that our booth was one of the most visited, and participants were curious, enthusiastic, and really engaged with our activities.
Many people put on the XR headset and experienced The Interview Master app, developed by Virsabi, for a realistic job interview simulation. We received interest in future collaboration, and requests for adapting the common interview questions to more specific national contexts. For example, in Ireland, the standard interview format across both public and private sectors is a competency-based interview. This feedback is a strong indicator of the project’s impact. Participants remember the tool and can envision using it in their own professional environments and daily practice. It shows that this app has the potential to remain in use well beyond the project’s lifetime.
It was also common to see participants trying the fire extinguisher in our fire safety training or engaging in a guided meditation with our zSpace. These two skills training programmes offered a safe and interactive environment. Participants also used our immersive 360° videos and extended-reality games to step into real work environments, try everyday tasks, and gain insights into different workplaces, whether in enterprises, outdoors, or office settings. These job previews help participants envision new possibilities and make informed choices about their vocational education and career paths. Feedback from participants confirmed that these tools would really help the community.
This Congress was more than just a meeting of experts; it was part of a global movement promoting progress, hope, and inclusion. It was very rewarding for partners of The Green ASC VET – Metautism project to see our resources proving useful to autistic people, professionals, and leading experts. We received confirmation from our target audiences – people with lived experience, employment professionals and experts in the field of autism – that these resources are meaningful and can improve autistic people’s quality of life and employment opportunities.