The academy adheres to a demanding principle: “No talk of disability without people with disabilities”. Therefore, trainers or speakers with and without learning difficulties and disabilities are working in tandem in seminars, lectures and training courses. In 2007, eight people with disabilities started training to become experts in equal opportunities and accessibility. Since early 2010, four of them have been working as speakers and workshop and seminar leaders on the subject of ‘Disability, equal opportunities and accessibility’ for the clients of the innovia Academy (various training centres and companies).
innovia Akademie
1,000 Euro Prize 2010
Country: Austria
Region: Tyrol
Sector: Civil Society / Social Economy
Fields of action: Work, Disability, Adult education
Project owner: innovia – Service und Beratung zur Chancengleichheit gemeinnützige GmbH
Responsible person: Mag. a Vera Sokol
Website: Weblink
What is it about?
Appreciation of the Jury
People with and without learning difficulties and disabilities teach organisations and institutions how to deal with the topic of ‘Disability, equal opportunities and accessibility’ in a meaningful way, experts with learning difficulties and disabilities are also working as qualified workshop and seminar leaders, so that their experiences are incorporated into the learning. It’s really obvious, isn’t it? We would like to express our appreciation that, thanks to this project, something that should be obvious – not learning about, but learning from people with disabilities – is finding its way into practice.