Registration opens for major European conference on learning disability in Belfast

Europe in Action 2014 ‘Growing up with an intellectual disability’ will explore the impact of learning disability - or intellectual disability as it is referred to in Europe - on the lives of individuals and families from three different perspectives focusing on children and young people, family life and community life.

Organised jointly with Inclusion Europe, the European Association of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and their Families, the conference will take place in the Wellington Park Hotel in Belfast and will attract delegates with a learning disability, their families and organisations from across Great Britain, the island of Ireland and the rest of Europe.

Encouraging people with a learning disability, family members, carers, professionals and policy makers to register to attend , Maureen Piggot,  president of Inclusion Europe and former Mencap in Northern Ireland director, said that discussions would inform Europe-wide policy.

“Europe In Action is an important conference for people with a learning disability, and this year I am looking forward to welcoming representatives from Inclusion Europe’s 67 member organisations to Belfast from as far as Russia in the east to Cyprus in the south,” she said.

“The conference is always an exciting, meaningful and diverse event as it draws together people from across the continent with different experiences of life, to discuss effective policies and practices to improve the quality of life of people with a learning disability and their families. As president of Inclusion Europe it will be my pleasure to welcome them to Northern Ireland.”

Delegates will contribute to discussions on empowering people with a learning disability and their families from early stage of life and will propose effective policies, strategies and practices to improve the quality of life for people with a learning disability and their families.

View the draft programme here

Keep track of events by liking the Europe in Action 2014 Facebook page and by following Menap on Twitter  or Inclusion Europe on Twitter #2014EiA