Fri, 19 Mar 2004

Third European Congress for disabled people in Prague

Berlin, 19 March (NNA) – The third congress for disabled people is planned to take place in Prague from 18-21 August under the motto “Living Encounters”. The organisation for this event, which some 600 people are expected to attend, has been underway for a year with the active participation of disabled people.

This first congress of this type took place in Berlin, Germany, in 1998, followed by a second congress in Dornach, Switzerland, in 2001. More than 500 people from a variety of European countries attended each of these events. In Dornach, people from 13 European countries and a group from the US were present.

According to the organisers, this year’s congress in the Prague Congress Centre, as a forum for communication and education, is a response to the specific desire of disabled people to encounter one another. Lectures, workshops, excursions, joint meals, artistic performances, music and dance will provide ample opportunity for this: “Where else is it possible for disabled people to exchange their experiences with other people in a similar situation across frontiers?” the project planning documentation asks.

According to the organisers, people with so-called learning difficulties are the most disadvantaged group of people among disabled people even today. They were furthest removed from a life which they could determine themselves. Their opportunities of becoming familiar with new things, reflecting on their own situation in dialogue with others and making contact with people in their own situation in general were very restricted as a rule.

Organiser of the congress is the German “Verband für anthroposophische Heilpädagogik, Sozialtherapie und soziale Arbeit e.V.” in cooperation with the Curative Education and Social Therapy Council at the Goetheanum in Dornach, Switzerland. A preparatory group of committed people has taken on the practical organisational responsibility.

Since participants have few resources at their disposal, it is planned as previously to finance about half the cost from conference fees and the rest from outside sources.

END/cva

www.in-der-begegnung-leben.de

www.verband-anthro.de

www.goetheanum.ch/khs

Item: N030419-01EN Date: 19 March 2004

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