News from ICEVI-Europe

The Board of ICEVI-Europe shortly plans to meet in Birmingham, UK on April 14-16, 2018 for a Board and Program Committee Meeting. Many interesting and important items will be discussed during these meetings. The members of the board will give shape and content to the initiatives planned for the years to come.

The Chairperson of the Host Committee of the 2021 European Conference in Israel will join the members of the board of ICEVI-Europe during the Program Committee Meeting in order to discuss the initial preparations for the upcoming European Conference, with a focus on the structure and the contents of the conference.

The Board is busy collaborating with fellow colleagues in preparation of the many conferences that will take place throughout Europe. The conferences that will be organized include: a conference for East European countries in 2018 in Saratov, Russia and a Balkan Conference in 2019 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Consultations are ongoing with the VBS (Verband für Blinden und Sehbehindertenpädadogik / The Association of Pedagogy for the Blind and Visually Impaired), and GPEAA (Groupement de Professeurs et Educateurs d'Aveugles et d'Amblyopes) regarding conferences for the German speaking countries and for the French speaking countries. Conferences present a unique opportunity to not only organize conferences based on the mutual goals that promote the full participation of people with visual impairment, but also to exchange knowledge and expertise and share best practices with fellow colleagues and professionals in the field of the education and rehabilitation of people with visual impairment.

Likewise, ICEVI-Europe will strive to intensify its ongoing productive and successful cooperation with the European Blind Union and other key Organisations in the field of visual impairment. Cooperation gives power to realize our common interests and first and foremost the quality of life of people with visual impairment.

The Board of ICEVI-Europe will also discuss its policy to organize professional interest group conferences in the coming years, as a way of stimulating the structural network of the Professional Interest Groups. As one of the instruments through which it facilitates the exchange of professional knowledge and expertise, ICEVI-Europe is an advocate of the establishment of strong and independent special Interest Groups that promote networking with regard to specific aspects of education and rehabilitation of the visually impaired.

We strongly encourage you and your colleagues to contact directly the Managerial Responsible Person(s) of an ICEVI-Europe Professional Interest Group of your choice, in order to register yourself as a member of that Professional Interest Group. You may find further information about the ICEVI-Europe Professional Interest Groups on the homepage of the ICEVI-Europe website. ICEVI-Europe is an association of professionals-individuals and organisations that promotes equal access to appropriate education and rehabilitation of people with visual impairment so that they may achieve their full potential and cannot achieve its aims and ambitions without the valuable support and active participation of professionals, individuals and organizations in Europe. We urge you to motivate schools, services, centres, associations, institutions and fellow colleagues to join our membership network and take part in our effort to strengthen knowledge and research in the field of education and rehabilitation of people with visual impairment. Further information on the aims of ICEVI-Europe and the benefits of membership can be found on our website.

Allow us to take this opportunity to invite you and your fellow colleagues to contribute to the ICEVI-Europe website and newsletter with information you may wish to share identifying any special events, news, projects, activities, scientific work or good practices undertaken by your organization in your country in the field of visual impairment.

By: drs Hans Welling, President of ICEVI-Europe