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Background
At a normative level, there is great similarity among the Nordic countries in terms of the rights for people with disabilities provided in legislation, concerning for example mobility and autonomy. At an institutional level, however, there is a great variety, both between and within the Nordic countries, in how support for people with disability is organized, how service is delivered, and how needs for specialization of skills and services are balanced with needs of normalization and integration of support functions. This variety at the institutional level is a source of ‘Nordic surplus value’ of knowledge and experience that, when shared, can inspire development of practice and policies. For example, the ways in which the countries offer personal assistance differ greatly, and they change over time.
The Nordic Welfare Center is a central hub for attaining a surplus value of knowledge about what these differences entail for citizens, practitioners and policymakers. Therefore, the Nordic Welfare Center sponsors a webinar series on disability research and practice, in the period 2022-2024.
Aims
The aims of the webinar series are:
- To facilitate sharing of knowledge and experiences concerning disability research and practice, of both national, regional, and municipal levels
- To integrate perspectives of users of disability services, practitioners within services for people with disabilities, as well as researchers and policymakers.
- To complement existing and long-running Nordic initiatives within as well as outside NWC (such as the Nordic Network on Disability Research) with a particular focus on highly specialised services and service needs
Topics
The webinar series will cover a range of topics: Organization of support systems – who has the responsibility?; inclusive schools and the organization of individual support in schools; service delivery systems – public, private, and non-profit; measures of quality, progress, and user satisfaction; governing and coordinating professionalization and specialization; comparing personal assistance and related support functions.
Format
Each webinar will cover one main topic by two to three keynote speeches by researchers or practitioners, followed by questions and comments from a panel, mainly by practitioners from user organizations, or from local, regional or state-level government functions.
Organizers
The webinar series is organized by a range of organizations, under the auspices of the Nordic Welfare Center, including THL – The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Socialstyrelsen - Sverige, Helsedirektoratet-Norge, Socialstyrelsen-Danmark. The main organizer is VIVE – the National Center for Social Science Research in Denmark.