The Department of Christian Social Work is hosting a discussion "Looking Back at the ICLife Project". The meeting will take place on 18th June 2019 at 10 a.m. (Na Hradě 5, room H4).
Since the beginning of the project in 2016, the Department has organized a number of events: an international conference on employment of people with Mild Intellectual Disability (MID), volunteer activities for MID during Volunteer Days, an exhibition of photographs depicting people with intellectual disability, an educational and informal meeting with MID, a discussion on the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities into the university, etc.
The project ICLife is carried out by three universities and one non-profit organisation: Thomas More Kempen in Belgium, Lapland University of Applied Science in Finland, Utrecht University of Applied Science in the Netherlands, and Inclusion Europe. The main goal of this initiative is to support the adaptation of people with MID to university life, to share good practice in inclusive education and lifelong learning of the MID and to reduce the risk of their social exclusion.
"Twenty years ago, I had the opportunity to experience at universities in Sweden and Wales," says doc. Libor Novosád from the Department of Christian Social Work, "how MID integration can look like, especially in practical fields of study such as environmental protection, forestry and gardening." These universities offer students selected activities. At the end, they do not receive a diploma but a certificate confirming their competencies in practical skills such as recycling plastics and electrical appliances or gardening. "People with MID and their families found this certificate very motivating and encouraging, it increases their self-esteem and the chance to get a job," said Novosád.
The planned project outputs include tested methodologies containing answers to questions:
- How to increase the accessibility of universities for people with MID?
- How to organize an informal support system for MID students?
- How to involve people with MID in teaching at universities?
- How to create job opportunities for people with MID at universities?