Tuesday 13 April 2010
International Conference on Direct Payments, 3-4 June, Gent
Hosts
The Expertise Centre Independent Living and European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) invite you to the International Conference 'Independent living through Direct Payments' on the 3rd and 4th of June in Gent (Belgium).
The Expertise Centre Independent Living is a partnership between grassroots organizations working with and for disabled persons that want to build up expertise about direct payments. The goal of our organization is the empowerment of disabled people so that we may lead an independent life.
The European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) is a European wide network of disabled people. It represents a forum intended for all disabled people, independent living organizations and their non-disabled allies on the issues of independent living and the independent living movement. For more information about ENIL, please visit the website.
Guests
People with a disability, their legal representatives, people working for organisations that represent persons with a disability and also people working for government commissioners for matters relating to disabled persons are all invited to take part in the conference.
Programme: 'Independent Living through direct payments'
Thursday, 3rd of June
10:00 : Welcome and coffee
10:30 : Introduction by Viviane Sorée (chairman of the budget holders association Bol-budiv)
10:40 – 11:30 : Opening of the conference
- What is the European Network on Independent Living ENIL? (Jamie Bolling)
- What is the Expertise Centre Independent living? (Chris Robbroeckx)
- What is the program of the conference + practical agreements? (Peter Lambreghts)
11:30 – 12:00 : The Independent Living philosophy (Jamie Bolling)
12:00 – 14:00 : Outdoor Lunch
14:00 – 15:00: Panel discussion: Direct payments in Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden: with Lies van de Loo (Per Saldo), Jos Huys (Bol-budiv) and Davy Gaeremynck (ILI)
15:15 - 16:45: 3 workshops “How does this work in your country?”
- Legal basis and enforceability of support
- Development of the Independent Living movement in your country
- Support in working with direct payments.
17:00 : Closing of day 1 – findings of the workshops
Friday, 4th of June
10:00 : Welcome and coffee
10:30 – 11:30 : Presentation of the research on the Quality of Life and Personal Assistance Budget in Flanders (Linde Moonen) and presentation "Insider Perspective Quality of Life" (Anja De Greve)
11:30 – 12:00 : Asking Linde Moonen and Anja De Greve questions about the research
12:00 - 12:30 : Discussion with the conference participants - What research is beneficial? What must be researched? What kind of scientific studies do we need/should we need?
12:30 – 14:00 : Outdoor Lunch
14:00 – 15:00 : Presentation “Is working with Direct Payments less expensive?” + “as a consumer on a care market” (Peter Lambreghts)
15:15 – 16:45 : Discussing the evolution of care offers in different countries during 3 workshop
- The co-existence of Direct Payments and care in kind
- Finding good personal assistants? How do we go with the quality criteria?
- How do we go with the commercialization?
17:00 : findings of the workshops
17:30 : Speech by Viviane Sorée and reception
Speakers:
Viviane Sorée - is the chairman of the budget holders association BOL-BUDIV, vice chairman of the association for people with disabilities (VFG), member of the board of GRIP (equal rights movement). She is the chairman of the PGB expert committee that ensues the PGB-experiment in Flanders (2008-2010). Professionally, she works for Ado-Icarus, a service supplier.
Jamie Bolling – is the Executive Director of ENIL as of May 1, 2009. She worked as research developer at the Swedish Disability Federation, with international development cooperation at the Swedish International Aid Association for People with Disaiblities. The civil society is one of Jamie's major interests and among other appointments Jamie has been board member and president of the Stockholm Independent Living.
Chris Robbroeckx - is a board member of the budget holders association Bol-Budiv and the Expertise Centre Independent Living. As a mother of a child with an intellectual disability, Chris is engaged in policymaking.
Peter Lambreghts – is an employee at the Expertise Centre Independent Living. He wrote on direct payments from the economic perspective and on the market forces in the care. Formerly, he worked for VGPH (Flemish association of organizations of people with a disability and their relatives).
Jos Huys – one of the founding fathers of the Independent Living movement in Flanders. He works as a lawyer for the government. As a researcher he is associated with the University of Leuven and the University of Antwerp. For his lecture he uses information from ANLH and AWIP for the situation in Brussels and Wallonia.
Lies van de Loo - works for Per Saldo, which is the largest budget holders association in the Netherlands with 24,000 members. Per Saldo defends the interests of the users of PGB and has an extensive service and large offer in training.
Davy Gaeremynck – works for the Independent Living Institute which conducted a research on personal budgets in Sweden for the Expertise Centre Independent Living. Earlier he has worked for STIL, the Stockholm Cooperative for Independent Living.
Linde Moonen – is a researcher associated with the University of Ghent. She conducted a research on the Quality of Life and Personal Assistance Budget in Flanders.
Anja De Greve - is a researcher associated with the University of Brussels.
Language
The official language of the conference (of the lectures and discussions) is English. The conference materials will also be in English. There will be translation into Dutch. Given the very small number of French participants and the too high cost of translation, there will be no simultaneous translation into French during the conference.
Location
De Zwarte Doos, Dulle-Grietlaan 12, 9050 Gentbrugge (Gent), Belgium.
Subscription
There is no subscription fee. Sandwich lunch is included.
Accommodation
Participants are responsible for making their own travel and accommodation arrangements and also for covering their own travel expanses, hotel and food costs (there is no funding from us).
The Expertise Centre Independent Living has put a list with accessible hotels on the website. We took an option on some of those rooms, so explicitly mention the international conference and the Expertise Centre Independent Living when you book and book as soon as possible. As there are not many completely accessible rooms, please only take a room that is accessible according to your own needs.
Download the list of accessible hotels in and around Gent here.
If you do not need an accessible room, please visit www.gent-hotels.eu or call the hotels mentioned on the list and ask about regular room(s).
Transport
The conference takes place in a conference room close to the city centre. The best way to get there is by taxi. There is a free and accessible taxi service for people using a wheelchair. However, you have to make a reservation in advance (before the 7th of May). You have to do this yourself - by mail: mmc@gent.be or phone: 00329 266 76 35.
When contacting the taxi service, please mention your contact details: your name, date of birth, telephone number, date of the transport, location where the taxi has to pick you up (hotel) and the location of arrival (De Zwarte Doos, Dulle-Grietlaan 12, 9050). Also, please mention what kind of wheelchair you use (manual or electronic) and book your transport for as long as the conference lasts (2 days)!
People who don't need a special taxi, should use the normal taxi service. You can book a regular taxi any time and in any hotel (for example http://www.taxigent.be/index_en.cfm ).
You can also take a bus from the train STATION GENT-DAMPOORT to GENTBRUGGE, Dulle-Grietlaan - bus number 3 (direction Mariakerke Post-Gentbrugge Meersemdries). This bus goes directly to Gentbrugge; the ride takes around 15-20 minutes. From the bus station to the conference place you have to walk a short distance tho (around 5-10 minutes). The bus is accessible for wheelchairs!
If you need information on the public transport from the airport (for example Brussels Airport) to Gent, please take a look at the railway website: http://www.b-rail.be/main/index.html . For more information about Mobility Impaired Passengers Assitance, please go here: http://www.b-rail.be/nat/E/practical/limitedmobility/index.php
Evaluation of the conference
Please use this form to evaluate the international conference. The form is also available in Dutch. Filled out evaluation forms please send to Maja Wojcik, maja@independentliving.be .
More information
Please contact: Maja Wojcik
maja@independentliving.be
Tel (0032)9 324.38.77