IN-CUBA Conference to discuss Disability and Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship is rarely thought about for people with intellectual disability.

Even if there is an openness to supporting people’s ideas and ambitions, setting up and management may be seen as a heavy burden, and the necessary support to do so very difficult to find.

Sometimes, however, what is needed is just a change of perspective to expand the concept of enterprise to embrace something creative, personally fulfilling and validating that is attempted or undertaken, particularly if it requires boldness or courage. Then you need a group of visionary partners that are not afraid of breaking barriers and are willing to involve users and their families in a new adventure; one that develops an “incubator” methodology focussed on people with intellectual disability and based on the principles of co- production.

That was the starting point of IN-CUBA interreg project. Three years, and several focus groups later, they are ready to present the
results of this adventure together with the voiceof its protagonists .

The moment is particularly apposite as we have just seen the launch of the new European Disability Strategy , which will
provide a strong framework for all the EU initiatives in these fields in the next ten years.

We are therefore happy to invite you to the IN-CUBA Conference to discuss Disability and Entrepreneurship through the initiatives
carried out within this Project, present the results of this action, and foster exchanges between all the stakeholders involved: organisations from the social sector, incubators, educators, users, representatives of the public sector, and policy makers.

Check the full event agenda here

ABOUT IN-CUBA project

The IN-CUBA (Incubators for CO-productive Enterprises and Social Inclusion) Project wants to foster social inclusion by developing an incubation methodology based on co-production addressed to people with intellectual disability. Working on co-productive approaches has highlighted the capacity of users to become protagonists and have an active role, opening the doors to new possibilities and further developments. In fact, the scientific literature and several success stories confirm that, through the appropriate support, people with intellectual disability succeed in concretizing ideas through long-term projects, especially projects that lead to the creation of companies. This opens up new opportunities for the development of people’s employability and social inclusion. However, if at present national systems tend to promote entrepreneurship and innovation, these programmes are rarely accessible to people with intellectual disability and no measure is put in place to investigate the potential impact entrepreneurship can generate for them and their entourage.

An incubator is an organisation that helps new and start-up companies to develop by providing support services and enabling access to the resources they need. In the context of IN-CUBA however, we can define incubator as a support for the development of projects and ideas? a methodology based on co-production that supports the development of ideas and projects to transform them into enterprises (considered in its widest meaning).

IN-CUBA aims to support and assess new approaches to the access to entrepreneurship for people with intellectual disability reducing disparities and promoting inclusion. To these goals the action foresees to:

• Develop a methodology based on co-production to incubate ideas, identify the ways and source of funding, and transform them in enterprises;
• Enable users to be equal partners within the planning and development of a project, thus enhancing self-determination;
• Provide opportunities for self-development and inclusion for people with intellectual disabilities so that they can be acknowledged as people that can contribute to the development of their community.
• Testing the results in dedicated pilot actions aimed at the setting up of enterprises;
• Evaluate the impacts of the entrepreneurial process on the quality of life of the users as well as the overall impacts of the project in terms of social inclusion  ;
• Disseminate project experience and outcomes, also in view of enhancing social representation and promote the adaptation of methodologies at local level;
• Promote the development, testing, and implementation of innovative practices in the field of training for professionalisation;
• Promote activities that could better prepare professionals on equity, diversity and social inclusion in the training / learning environment.

To these goals, a very committed partnership is engaged in developing a 36 Months action to help addressing diversity and promote shared values, equality, non-discrimination and social inclusion through innovative and integrated approaches. The Project is coordinated by APEMH with the support of ARFIE and it involves 8 partners from 5 European countries.

The project is based on research and analysis and real testing, and all the foreseen activities are based on co-production and will see users as protagonists.

Discover more on www.co-production.eu/in-cuba