February 1, 2012 marks the beginning of the Social platform on innovative social services or the INNOSERV Project funded under the European Commission’s Seventh framework programme. The Project is a unique opportunity for the identification and acknowledgement of innovative services that generate postive outcomes from a service user perspective. ENIL has found it important to make our voices heard in order for this project to succeed and make a real difference for Independent Living. We hope you will cooperate with us in this endeavor.
The Project is an attempt to survey the potential for innovative services in the health, education and welfare sectors. This by relying on a combination of academic/policy input, civil society perspectives and empirical knowledge.
Ultimately, information on selected innovative services will be diseminated broadly in easy to read formats that allows communication accross cultural and geographic boundaries, along with evaluation of policy making trends. Together, practical examples and an overview of academic research will provide substantial input in the EU 2020 strategy.
Partners in implementation of the project include reputable academic institutions and CSO networks in Europe: Heidelberg University, University of Applied Sciences Hamburg, University of Roskilde, Diakonhjemmet University College, Oslo, Budapest Institute, Instituto per la Ricerca Sociale, University of Southampton, Universite Paris, Pantheon-Sorbonne, European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD), Solidar, and ENIL.
ENIL has through this project a pending task that requires support from the network:
The ENIL network must identify typical innovative practices from the fields of health, education and welfare. ENIL needs to provide at least 16 examples. So If you have innovative service examples that you would like to share, please just contact us as soon as possible and no later than February 24, 2012, COB.
All questions regarding this initiative should be directed to Sanja Nikolin the ENIL researcher for the project at sanja.nikolin@multiservis.rs and please copy in Jamie Bolling jamie.bolling@enil.eu the director of ENIL.
Thanks!
The Essl Foundation, the World Future Council and Bank Austria are working together to organize an International Conference on January 22-23, 2012, Vienna, Austria on future just policies which successfully implement the rights of people with disabilities.
One of the greatest experts on Independent Living, John Evans, uses every opportunity to warn people with disabilities, policymakers and other stakeholders about the effects of the cuts in public spending that are going on. In many European countries governments take inhuman, irrational and contra productive decisions to cut budgets that are necessary to make Independent Living possible for people with disabilities.
The freedom drive itself is of course an excellent opportunity for lobbying a resolution like this. The freedom drivers used this opportunity very well and asked their MEPs (Member of the European Parliament) to support this resolution. In several individual and group meetings we explained the devastating effects of cuts and austerity measures on personal assistance and community-based services, to our European political leaders. We asked our MEPs to support our resolution in every way they can. The same matter was brought up in the Disability Intergroup meeting. In total we reached over 75 MEPs from about all different European member states, made them aware of the necessity and urgency of a European resolution like we propose and asked them to fully support it. Some freedom drivers already had follow up communication or meetings with MEPs back in their own countries or regions.
