Cross-Cultural Project on Deafblindness

Develop Deafblind Practice: Small countries in a specialised field need to cooperate to develop deafblind practice. People with deafblindness form a tiny population with very large variety so to b...

Develop Deafblind Practice: Small countries in a specialised field need to cooperate to develop deafblind practice. People with deafblindness form a tiny population with very large variety so to be able to gain experience from a higher number of individuals, smaller countries need to work together. Awareness on Deafblind Issues: Through the project, we hoped to spread awareness on deafblind issues - for students, people with no prior knowledge, professionals working in the field, but also for people living with deafblindness themselves. We wanted to achieve this through hosting theme days as well as via publications. Support Students and Professionals: Provide students and professionals with the knowledge and tools they need to effectively work with and support individuals with deafblindness. Strengthen Collaboration: Foster cross-border collaboration between organizations in different regions to improve the quality of care and services for deafblind individuals. Empowerment: Ultimately, we hoped to improve the lives for people with deafblindness and reduce marginalisation by making the group more empowered and included in society and less marginalised. We really wanted to work towards better possibilities for participation.

This project was initiated to bridge the knowledge gap regarding deafblindness across Europe. Its primary objective was to improve the living conditions and reduce the marginalisation of individuals with deafblindness by fostering knowledge sharing between organizations. The project addressed the crucial need to develop best practices in working with people who are deafblind and create awareness about the condition through publications, conferences, and theme days at practice organisations and educational institutions. We further applied due to a wish to acquire new competence and knowledge between two organisations working in a highly specialised field, that will address the needs for people with deafblindness across borders in Europe. Furthermore, we wanted to strengthen the international bonds between organisations. The aim was sharing and highlighting good practices - what was actually working and for whom? This project especially addressed the need of the two organisations in different regions of Europe to learn from each other. Different perspectives on working with deafblindness emerges, and these perspectives can develop not only the organizations on their own but the regional and European deafblind field.

Poster DbI World Conference 2023; Poster Nordic Conference on Deafblindness 2022; Publications in English and Slovene; Article in DbI Review ; Conference video; Article in a staff magazine ; Blog post about the theme day in Zagreb; Blog post presenting a newsletter; Blog post about the theme day in Slovenia; Article in magazine; Article in magazine; Article in magazine; Online articles from gluhoslepi.si ; News item at Radio Televizija Slovenija