Inclusion Europe and Fenacerci are organising a conference called “Europe in Action”.Europe in Action takes place every year. This year, it will take place from 26 until 28 May 2016 in Lisbon, Portugal. Fenacerci is the Portuguese organisation for people with intellectual disabilities and their families. A conference is a big meeting between several organisations. During this meeting, they talk and share ideas with each other on a certain topic. The “Europe in Action” conference will be about education for all and |
Inclusion Europe has partnered with its Portuguese national member Fenacerci to run an engaging event that will address Inclusive Education and the role of families in the promotion and implementation of an inclusive school.
The struggle for Inclusive Education is one of the areas where our organisations have been involved since their inception, considering that only schools built on diversity and interaction promote equality in person-centered responses, opportunities and responding to specific educational needs, with the ultimate goal of success of the educational process. With this conference, we intend to address and reflect on some fundamental issues that have been at the core of the debate on inclusive schools, namely:
- enhance the role of families in terms of decision-making on education;
- safeguard the complementarity between the approaches that are made in the school and its projection in the family context;
- promoting models of empowerment and empowerment of families, so that they can take on effectively an intervening role in schools;
- how to streamline and facilitate sharing processes among all stakeholders (professionals, families and people with disabilities) in order to provide conditions that promote inclusion;
- how to organize and implement a school where education is both available to all and tailored to each one;
- think about the role of resource centres, to ensure operating conditions and financing to ensure their effectiveness;
- how can families promote and defend the necessary conditions so that education is not exhausted in the compulsory school cycle and extends throughout life.
We also want to reflect on the mechanisms for the practical implementation of Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and to identify possible impacts of the General Comment on this implementation.
As every year, several meetings and events will also take place during the week of the conference:
- On 25 May, a Seminar on monitoring the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be organised, as well as a meeting of the EPSA Steering Group, self-advocates’ preparation meetings and the meeting of the Board of Inclusion Europe.
- On 27 May, the EPSA General meeting will take place.
- On 28 May, the Inclusion Europe Annual General Assembly will take place, followed by a Board meeting of Inclusion Europe.
Europe in Action conferences always serve as a common platform for discussion, sharing of knowledge and experiences for professionals, families and people with intellectual disabilities. We are looking forward to welcoming participants for three days of enriching and eye-opening discussions.
More information on Europe in Action 2016 is available here.
You can register online here. Early registration is advisable due to limited capacity.