“Establishing inclusive structures in the municipality as a contribution to the realisation of basic human rights“ - the objective of the international conference in Wladimir from Nov 5^th -8^th 2014 with participants from six German cities and their respective Russian twin towns.

The German Association for Special Education was represented by Federal Chairman Stephan Prändl and Press Officer Marianne Schardt, who both followed the invitation by conference host “Bundesverband Deutscher-West-Ost-Gesellschaften e.V.” (BDWO) and took part in the conference.

On the grounds of the German-Russian town-twinning agreement, responsible players of respective Ministries for Education, City Councils and NGOs came together at an initiative conference in Pskow in November 2012. On the backdrop of a modified view of humankind they set out to implement the Human Rights to a dignified, self-determined life within society and to education, training and occupation for persons with mental disabilities.
The conference was opened in the City of Wladimir theatre in cooperation with numerous city council representatives as well as representatives of the German Embassy in Moscow.
During the conference in Wladimir the representatives of the six German and Russian twinned towns had the opportunity to introduce existing measures and - on the backdrop of a changing view of humankind - to develop tangible and feasible measures in order to establish sustainable inclusive structures in Russian municipalities and to agree upon a binding implementation in the respective region within an agreed period of time.

Current emphases regarding the contents were topics such as early intervention and access to education in Russia, diversity and mobility in vocational rehabilitation, employment of persons with disabilities as well as sheltered living and socio-cultural integration.

The concluding period of group work dealt with performance and tasks on the normative-legal level, models of participation and their instruments of cooperation with public constitutions and the economy, and the organisational and vocational development of NGOs within the “Equal Opportunities” network. Results shall flow into a joint resolution.

During the conference Stephan Prändl and Marianne Schardt had the opportunity to introduce the German Association for Special Education and to talk about its work in detail.

Signing responsible for organisation and realisation of the three-day seminar were Bernd Schleberger and Helene Luig-Arlt of BDWO on behalf of the German participants, and, for the Russian side, Dr. Andrej Zarjov, chair of the crossregional support association “Equal Chances”, an NGO consisting of 19 Russian municipalities, campaigning for the rights of children and adults with mental and physical disabilities. The activities of the association and its members are voluntary and are financed by membership fees and donations.

Three years ago the German Association for Special Education first got in touch with chairman Dr. Andrej Zarjov, which eventually resulted in a fixed cooperation agreement with “Equal Chances”, reached at the Wladimir conference.

Both sides agreed on a regular exchange about activities in education policies in their respective countries. Stephan Prändl assured Andrej Zarjov to be supportive in the establishment of syndicated structures.