The conferences, celebrated from 27 November to 1 December, aimed to raise awareness among the university community about this collective and give visibility to the search for real equality in opportunities.

During the week, under the slogan “We are equal, we are different”, there were six talks on the different university campuses led by professionals in each of the topics discussed in which they addressed current questions of interests for the student body, such as suicide or the prevention of addictive behaviour, as well as support for persons with disabilities in the professional sphere, inclusive social policies and care and work with individuals on the Autism Spectrum.

Also in the programme were sign language workshops. As the head of UVdiscapacitat, Celest Asensi, says “This training has a history of success and is in great demand and of interest to students studying teaching, educational sciences, social sciences, psychology, speech therapy and philosophy.”

Inclusive sport also had a space at these university conferences with a wheelchair workshop and Paralympic sports, for example the goalball workshop, which introduced participants to one of the most popoular adapted sports for blind and partially sighted people, as well as the boccia workshop, an adapted sport similar to bocce ball.

Futhermore, the Faculty of Philosophy and Education Sciences hosted the 6th Fibromyalgia Conference of the Communitat Valenciana, which closed out the week dedicated to inclusion. The event included participation from Dean of the Faculty Rosa Maria Bo Bonet, President of the Valencian Association for Fibromialgia (Avafi) Minerva Morales and Head of UVdiscapacitat Celeste Asensi.

“It was very encouraging to observe how the students participated in the proposed activities and workshops, putting themselves in the shoes of those who have disabilities and taking note of the weight that these individuals carry in their day to day lives here at the university,” said Celeste Asensi.

The Inclusion Conferences are an initiative organised by UVdiscapacitat and, this year, were made possible thanks to the support and collaboration of different University units such as UVesports, as well as organisations such as Avafi, the AVANT Association, La Niña Amarilla, the Mira’m Foundation and the INTEGRA group.

More information:

Programme for the Inclusion Conferences 2023