The RECOVEU project is an EU Lifelong Learning Programme, which envisions developing an innovative course pack to offer an opportunity for adults in addiction recovery to locate and sustain a trajectory in Higher Education that takes into account specific barriers that socially marginalised people may encounter. This will be achieved by creating a dialogue between generic educators, people in recovery and drug treatment providers, using both face-to-face and online tools and methodologies.

Access to adult education that encompasses an awareness of the issues prevalent in the lives of those in addiction recovery will benefit from consultation with those delivering support, and those who are in need of support, to ensure that programmes meet the needs of people in recovery. The aim is to work with both groups to develop an asset based ‘Access to Learning’ course pack. This will seek to support and maintain participation in adult learning in order to develop Recovery Capital, build self-efficacy, and enhance opportunities for social inclusion and community participation following a period of sustained habitual drug or alcohol misuse.

The RECOVEU project directly supports EU2020 strategy through its emphasis on digital literacy and social reintegration of the target group. Project aims support the 2009-12 EU Drugs Action Plan and national drug strategies of the Member States.

The main objectives of this project are:

1. Conduct a review of policy and practice in relation to drug recovery programmes across Europe
2. Ensure the involvement of adults in addiction recovery and service providers
3. Develop material for an ‘Access to Learning’ Course Pack containing Core and Culture-Specific Learning Activities that address barriers to learning for recovering drug users
4. Develop an Evaluation Toolkit to enable facilitators to assess the effectiveness of the Learning Activities
5. Develop an E-learning Platform to contain the Facilitation Pack, digital learning activities/tools and a Train the Trainers Module to aid use of digital resources
6. Inform regularly all interested parts on the RECOVEU progress, though the project’s web portal, newsletters, seminars and conferences
7. Develop and follow a strategy to support exploitation of project outcomes beyond the life of the project and support take-up of the adult learning curriculum by other stakeholders across Europe
8. Produce a Facilitation Pack containing the Course Pack and Evaluation Toolkit for trainers; this will also aid in wider dissemination

The project partners are:

• Staffordshire University (SU)
• Centre for the Advancement of Research & Development in Educational Technology (CARDET)
• St Dimitrie Program (SDP)
• Social Cooperative ‘San Saturnino Onlus’ (SANSAT)
• Soilse, Drug Rehabilitation Programme

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
[Project Number: 538955-LLP-1-2013-1-UK-GRUNDTVIG-GMP]