9th EBU General Assembly
Blind and partially sighted people in Europe working for full citizenship - STRATEGIES FOR ACCESSIBILITY AND EQUALITY.
Organised with the financial support of the Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (PROGRESS) of the European Commission
DAB (the Danish Association of the Blind) hosted the 9th EBU General Assembly. This took place from 4 to 7 October 2011 in Fredericia, central Denmark, at the Messecenter and Fuglsangcentret.
This General Assembly took place thanks to the financial support of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of the European Commission.
Index Braille is a silver sponsor of the exhibition of assistive technologies and technical aids held in conjunction with the EBU General Assembly.
Our thanks go to Index braille for their valuable support.
Download the mp3 file of the music used to introduce the sessions at the Assembly, adapted by John Heilbrunn.
Photos of the presentation of the EBU Vision for Equality Award at the final gala dinner can now be seen here.
This page offers information on
Exhibition of assistive technologies and technical aids for the visually impaired
EBU held an exhibition of assistive technologies and technical aids for the visually impaired in conjunction with its 9th General Assembly. The prospectus is available here.
The exhibition is held every four years and is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to demonstrate your latest products for the benefit of some 250 visually impaired leaders and decision-makers representing national organizations of the blind and partially sighted in 45 European countries, most of whom are also involved in the distribution of assistive technologies.
The exhibition was staged at the Messecenter, a well-known conference center in Fredericia.Final Programme
Download the final programme as a word document, it is also available in French, as a word document.
Organised with the financial support of the Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (PROGRESS) of the European Commission
Theme:
Blind and partially sighted people in Europe working for full citizenship -
STRATEGIES FOR ACCESSIBILITY AND EQUALITY
Approach:
Offer an inspiring, dynamic and interactive programme - a General Assembly with an integrated approach to diversity and themes of significance for EBU work, including the UN CRPD
Plenary and interactive sessions, workshops and presentations of good practice.Monday 3rd October
Arrival of Board members, EBU Office staff and delegates, observers and guides from further away.
Tuesday 4th October - Day 1
Arrival of most delegates, observers, guides and interpreters.
- 09.30 Board meeting
- 12.30 Lunch
- 13.30 - 14.00 Late registration
SESSION I
Moderator: Colin Low, EBU President
- 14.00 - 14.30 Opening:
Welcome by DAB President, Thorkild Olesen; representatives of the Danish government; president of EBU, Colin Low; president of WBU, Maryanne Diamond; president of EDF, Yannis Vardakastanis; local authorities
- 14.30 - 14.45 Roll call (EBU Secretary General, Birgitta Blokland)
-
14.45 - 15.00 Approval of programme
Appointment of scrutineers and Resolutions Committee
First report of the Nominations Committee (Branislav Mamojka, Chair, Nominations Committee) - 15.00 - 15.15 Obituaries
- 15.15 - 15.45 Coffee break
SESSION I
Birgitta Blokland: EBU Secretary General
- 15.45 - 16.45 Board report and draft Strategic Plan 2011-2015:
- Presentation by EBU President Colin Low, Treasurer Julien Aimi and Executive Director Mokrane Boussaid
- Questions and approval - 16.45 - 17.15 Presentation of 2011 Survey results assessing National Members involvement in EBU's work, by Birgitta Blokland, EBU Secretary general
- Questions
-
17.15 - 17.45
Effective implementation of the CRPD:
Introduction to the implementation process at national level
Speaker: Ana Peláez Narváez, EBU Liaison Commission Vice-chair
- Questions
Documents related to the presentation -
Powerpoint presentation and corresponding word document
French version of the word document
Spanish version of the word document
- 17.45 Practical matters and close day 1
- 19.30 Gather at the Fuglsangcenter (FSC) for welcome drink and dinner (informal get-together in the evening)
Wednesday 5th October - Day 2
SESSION III
Moderator: Wolfgang Angermann, EBU Board member
- 09.00 - 09.15 Second report of the Nominations Committee
(Branislav Mamojka, Chair, Nominations Committee) - 09.15 - 10.15 Report from the Constitution Committee
(Colin Low, Chair, Constitution Committee) and
adoption of constitutional amendments - 10.15 - 11.15
Workshop on the Board report and Strategic Plan:
Priorities for implementation in the next four years in the context
of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) and including the diversity dimension. - 11.15 - 11.45 Coffee break
SESSION IV
Moderator: Vaclav Polasek, EBU Board member
- 11.45 - 12.30 - Short reports back on session III workshop results
- Elections if needed for the Nominations Committee - 12.30 - 13.00 Implementing the diversity principle in practice - implications for national work Presentation by Alan Suttie (UK) on behalf of the Diversity Working Group
- 13.00 - 14.30 Lunch
SESSION V
Moderator: Alan Suttie, coordinator EBU Elderly Steering Group
- 14.30 - 16.00 Presentations by Commissions and Steering Groups
- 16.00 - 16.30 Coffee break
SESSION VI
Moderator: Rafael González Millán, EBU Board member
- 16.30 - 18.00 Strengthening our organisation:
- Twinning projects - an example of good practice from Albania
Speaker: Sinan Tafaj, EBU Board member
- Strengthening EBU national members in Central and Eastern Europe
- Capacity building training manual presentation by Henk de Jong, EBU Capacity Building Working Group
Questions and close day 2 - 19.30 Dinner at the Fuglsangcenter (FSC)
Free evening (activity in the FSC)
Thursday 6th October - Day 3
SESSION VII
Moderator: Sigrun Bessadottir, EBU Board member
- 09.00 - 10.00 Nordic models of welfare: different approaches and best practice
Speakers: Helena Lagercrantz from the Nordic Centre for Welfare and Social Issues; Unn Ljoner Hagen, Norway, and Timo Kuoppala, Finland - 10.00 - 10.30 EBU communication strategy
- presentation by Gary May, EBU information and communication officer
Questions
Documents related to the presentation - word document and powerpoint presentation
- - Practical instructions for the session VIII workshops
- 10.30 -11.00 Coffee break
SESSION VIII
- 11.00 - 13.00 Concurrent workshops on creative campaigning and fundraising
Workshop leaders:
- Fundraising : An EU perspective, Romain Ferretti, EBU Project Officer,
documents related to the presentation; Powerpoint file and Word document.
- Campaigning, Carine Marzin, European Campaigns Officer (RNIB, UK) - 13.00 - 14.30 Lunch
SESSION IX
Moderator: Yannis Vardakastanis, EBU Board member
- 14.30 - 15.30 The EU disability strategy, 2010-2020 - what's in it for blind and partially sighted people?
Speakers: Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea, Director of the European Commission DG Justice/Equality and Rodolfo Cattani, Chair, EBU Liaison Commission - 15.30 -16.00 Coffee break
- 16.00 Optional break-out sessions on:
- Electronic voting
- EBU development work
or cultural activity
Close day 3 - 19.30 Dinner at the Fuglsangcenter
Friday 7th October - Day 4
SESSION X
Moderator: Alenka Bera, coordinator EBU Low Vision Steering Group
- 09.00 -10.30 Diversity and the strength of networking:
- Introduction by moderator Alenka Bera
- The importance of blind and partially sighted people networking
and engaging with sighted professionals
Speaker: Krister Inde, Sweden
- The challenge of multiple networks as a partially sighted lady
with albinism
Speaker: Rosaleen Dempsey, Northern Ireland
- Synergies between sight and hearing loss
Speaker: Liz Scott Gibson from Deaf Action - 10.30 -11.00 Coffee break
SESSION XI
Moderator: Unn Ljoner Hagen, EBU Board member
- 11.00 - 11.30 Working with EDF and the Social Platform
Speakers: Yannis Vardakastanis, EDF president; Rodolfo Cattani, Vice-president Social Platform - 11.30 - 12.30 Standardisation: enhancing EBU's participation in standardization work
Speaker: Chiara Giovannini, ANEC (The European Consumer Voice in Standardisation) Design for All Working Group - 12.30 - 13.00 Good Practices: short presentations from national members (5 minutes each)
- 13.00 - 14.30 Lunch
SESSION XII
Moderator: Emin Demirci, EBU Board member
- 14.30 - 16.00 Report of the Resolutions Committee - presentation and adoption of resolutions (Alan Suttie, Chair, Resolutions Committee)
- 16.00 -16.30 Coffee break
SESSION XIII
Moderator: Colin Low, EBU President
- 16.30 - 17.30 Address by the new President of EBU; distinctions, votes of thanks and close
- 19.30 Farewell dinner at the FSC
Presentation of the Vision for Equality Award
Saturday 8th October
- Departure of delegates
- First meeting of the new EBU Board
Assembly Papers
- The minutes of the General Assembly
- General Assembly Evaluation form. Please fill out this form at the end of the assembly and give it to the on-site EBU office staff, or fax it to us shortly afterwards. Thank you !
-
EBU Board report 2007-2011 to EBU 9th General Assembly
- Appendix 1 - EBU strategic plan 2007-2011
- Appendix 2 - Resolutions of EBU 8th General Assembly, 2007
(also available as an online page here)
- Appendix 3 - Dublin Declaration, 2009
(also available as an online page here)
- Appendix 4 - Cyprus Declaration, 2010
- Appendix 5 - EBU Equality and Diversity summary report
- Appendix 6 - Leipzig Declaration issued by EBU and the DAISY Consortium, September 2009
- Appendix 1 - EBU strategic plan 2007-2011
- EBU strategic plan 2011-2015
- Resolutions adopted at EBU Ninth General Assembly (Fredericia, Denmark, 4-7 October 2011)
-
EBU Treasurer's report to EBU 9th General Assembly
-
EBU Nominations Committee revised report to EBU 9th General Assembly
-
Constitutional Amendments