INCLUSIVE EDUCATION CONFERENCE REPORT

The Regional Conference “Embracing Diversity through Education” was held in

Tirana, Albania on 6-7 November 2013. Organised by the joint European Union and

Council of Europe project „Regional Support for Inclusive Education‟, it was attended

by 128 participants from the seven beneficiaries of the region. The participants

included representatives of Ministries of Education, Ministries of Labour and Social

Affairs; The European Commission, the Council of Europe; EU Integration Offices;

academic institutions and NGOs, policy makers, educational professionals, school

authorities, primary, secondary and vocational school teachers, school psychologists.

The aim of the conference was to discuss, form strategies and develop a deeper

understanding of the challenges and opportunities in introducing inclusive education

systems, following local models and relying on local resour.

Exceptionally well organised, the conference proved to be the venue for stimulating

debates about diversity in education in its various aspects and levels; a forum for

sharing best practices on inclusive education in South East Europe and other Council

of Europe member countries.

The conference supported the bottom-up approach to introduce inclusiveness in

education and 49 schools signed commitment protocols to implement inclusive

principles in their day-to-day practices. The experience gained by these pilot schools

will provide policy-makers with workable ideas on how to scale up the effective

practices thus identified.