25 years of Independent Living in Sweden - Program

Friday 28th of November 2008
Conference venue: Clarion Hotel Sign, Norra Bantorget, Stockholm

09:00-09:30

Registration

09:30-10:30

Introduction
Conference opening by Sture Jonasson, Chairman, Stil.
Ulrik Lindgren, political expert, Ministry of Social Affairs; Bengt Westerberg, chair of Swedish Red Cross and former Minister of Social Affairs; and Adolf Ratzka, Director Independent Living Institute reflect on the Independent Living philosophy and way of working.

10:30-11:00

Break and press conference

11:00-12:00

Models, milestones and achievements by the Swedish Independent Living organizations
Moderator: Susanne Berg, MA Disability Studies and former chair DHR Stockholm. Susanne Berg, STIL; Anders Westgerd, GIL; Cecilia Blanck, JAG; and Adolf Ratzka, Independent Living Institute highlight their organizations’ work.

12:00-13:30

Lunch at Clarion Hotel Sign

13:30-14:30

Independent Living’s role in Sweden
Moderator: Jamie Bolling, Board member, Swedish Green Party. Birgitta Andersson, former chair of DHR; Lars Lindberg, currently on leave of absence from Ministry of Social Affairs; Peter Brusén, Division of disability National Board of Welfare; and Susanne Berg reflect on the Independent Living movement’s impact on Swedish disability organizations and politics.

14:30-14:50

Break

14:50-15:50

Independent Living abroad
Moderator: Adolf Ratzka, founding chair of the European Network on Independent Living, ENIL. Bente Skansgård (Norway), chair of ENIL and founder of Uloba, Board Member Independent Living Institute; John Evans (United Kingdom), OBE and former chair of ENIL; Horst Frehe (Germany), judge, MP in Bremen, former chair of ENIL and co-founder of the German Cripple movement; Marilyn Golden (USA), Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, highlight the Independent Living movement’s achievements in their countries.

15:50-16:10

Break

16:10-17:10

Independent Living abroad – global perspectives
Moderator: Adolf Ratzka. Kalle Könkkölä (Finland), chair and director Threshold, former MP for the Finnish Green Party, former chair of DPI, Board Member Independent Living Institute; Shoji Nakanishi (Japan) (unable to attend), DPI chair for Asia and Pacific and chair of Japanese Council for Independent Living; Tomas Lagerwall (Sweden), former Secretary General, Rehabilitation International; Judith E Heumann (USA), head Disability Services Washington DC, former first Advisor on Disability and Development, World Bank, former Assistant Secretary, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the Clinton Administration analyze the IL movement’s increasing global role.

17:10-17:30

Closing remarks by Henrik Berggren  historian and journalist at Dagens Nyheter

17:30-19:30

Reception at Clarion Hotel Sign
Speech by Stockholm City's Vice-Mayor Hadar Cars (fp)

Saturday 29th of November
Conference venue: JAG, Klara Södra Kyrkogata 1, Stockholm
Workshop venues: JAG, Klara Södra Kyrkogata 1, Stockholm and
                                Sheraton Hotel, St Erikssalen, Tegelbacken 6, Stockholm

09:30-10:00

Coffee at the venues

10:00-12:30

Parallel workshops

1. Legislation for accessibility
Venue: JAG, Klara Södra Kyrkogata 1, Stockholm
Moderator: Anders Westgerd, director GIL.

2. Personal Assistance in Sweden – yesterday, today and tomorrow
Venue: Sheraton Hotel, St Erikssalen
Moderator:Emma Johansson, board member STIL

What was there before personal assistance?
Helena Karnström:Cluster housing: how did that work?
Birgitta Andersson: reactions to STIL’s solution by the established disability organizations
Bengt Elmén: what is personal assistance? Where lies the difference?
Cecilia Blanck: questioning the right to personal assistance for members of the organization JAG. Who should have the power over the service?

What has happened since the Personal Assistance Act came into power in 1994?
Carina Fasth:14 changes in the original law in 14 years? Positive or negative?
Anna Strimbold: 14 changes in the original law in 14 years? Positive or negative? From the perspective of JAG’s members

What will be the consequences of the Parliamentary Commission’s (LSS-kommittén) final proposals?
Stefan Pelc: consequences for those who employ their assistants themselves
Lars Enqvist: consequences for the assistance user cooperatives
Jessica Smaaland: Why don’t more people protest? Does the “new generation” of assistance users take personal assistance for granted?

Discussion with focus on our position towards the Parliamentary Commission’s proposals and our strategies for the future

Summing up

12:30-14:00

Lunch at JAG

14:00-16:30

Parallel workshops

3. De-institutionalization – a life in freedom
Venue: JAG, Klara Södra Kyrkogata 1
Moderators: Agneta Scherman and Anna Strimbold, JAG

The de-institutionalization we refer to in this workshop concerns persons with intellectual disabilities. Starting from yesterday’s and today’s reality the discussion will focus on tomorrow’s possibilities. The contributions deal with different aspects of a life in freedom for people with intellectual disabilities.

Karl Grunewald: The closure of the institutions for children and adults with intellectual disabilities
Magnus Andén: Leaving the evil times behind
Jos Huys: Belgian “individual personal support networks” as an instrument in de-institutionalization
Love Molin: A family like any other
Kent Ericsson: To own your home
Sidsel Maxwell Grasli: De-institutionalization in Norway

4. Spreading IL to other countries and impacting policies for international development cooperation
Venue Sheraton Hotel, St. Erikssalen
Moderator: Kapka Panayotova, director CIL Sofia, Bulgaria and Board Member Independent Living Institute

Individuals’ and individual IL organizations’ role in spreading IL
Kapka Panayotova: How IL came to Bulgaria
Kalle Könkkölä: The Finnish movement’s work through Abilis Foundation, DPI, etc.
Adolf Ratzka: importing IL to Sweden and helping spread IL from Sweden to other countries
Bente Skansgård: How IL came to Norway, ULOBA’s contributions to promoting IL in Europe
Gordana Rajkov: The Ireland-Balkan connection, Serbia’s efforts within the region
John Evans: IL to Britain and British dissemination
Discussion: common features in these mainly one-on-one transfer activities, bottlenecks and opportunities

Examples of other dissemination approaches
“Mister Donut” Foundation: USA > Japan > rest of Asia
The role of CIL Berkeley and World Institute on Disability
European Network on Independent Living
Global IL Network and its internship program
Discussion: the successful features in this work, funding requirements and solutions

Influencing national and international bodies’ international development work
Judith E. Heumann: Worldbank
Kalle Könkkölä: FINIDA (Finnish international development agency)
Tomas Lagerwall: SIDA (Swedish International Development Authority)
Gordana Rajkov: working with international NGOs, experiences with Handicap International, HI
Discussion: getting disability into donor policies
IL and Commmunity-Based Rehabilitation: complements or rivals?

Implications for our future work

16:30-17:15

17:15-17:30