“We created this new benefit for people with disabilities but only few of them were able to get it.” Government representative said this at a conference recently. It’s a sentence remarkable by its honesty. It’s very typical otherwise. I’m not sure how many times I’ve heard some version of this. I’m sure I’ve used it…
Lack of data (as important as it is) isn’t the main problem. Lack of action is. I was invited to speak at European Parliament’s Employment Committee workshop on independent living (and deinstitutionalisation) in December 2025. Didn’t say anything new I’m afraid. ❗️800,000+ people with intellectual disabilities in institutions❗️Many adults living with their families and relying…
On the contrary: Move move move! Move people emotionally so our messaging registers.“No one ever made a decision because of a number. They need a story.” — Daniel Kahneman Move people to action.That’s the way change will happen.(We need to know what that action is.) Move.The world changes and we need to change with it.Always…
After European Commission and EEG meeting, December 2025, where I presented a proposal for active support to DI-practitioners at national level: The EU has a good tradition of supporting things that help with deinstitutionalisation. It needs to built on it. Before I came to Inclusion Europe my only Brussels-based previous was the EEG.“The European Expert…
No other sentence brings revealing facial expressions as reliably as this one. – Oh sure, “support person”. (Meaning: You’ll be just dictating him what to say.)– You? A support person? (Meaning: How can a director be a support person?) Sometimes (more often than you’d think) my job is supporting Soufiane El Amrani in his public…
Contribution at disability conference of Denmark presidency of the Council of the EU, Copenhagen, October 2025. “Being included is also a sense of belonging and having someone you can trust,” I said during my panel contribution. It was very nice to be quoted on this by minister Sophie Hæstorp Andersen in her closing speech. LinkedIn…
Brussels Z’s.You’re gonna catch them all 💤 😂
It started yesterday as a late night joke. It works in the morning (and always). Actually, it started about two years ago. While we were at a conference in Copenhagen, Theresa Shearer FRSE urged me to go see Kim Scott talk about her book and the practice of Radical Candor. One of many good recommendations…
Hey Milan didn’t you say there were *two* books you’d recommend on deinstitutionalisation… I did, din’t I. Same as the first one, the second book isn’t about deinstitutionalisation either. It was written by Prof. Bent Flyvbjerg and Dan Gardner, and is called How Big Things Get Done. The Surprising Factors Behind Every Successful Project, from…
Earlier this week I was in a workshop to learn, share, discuss disability rights and policies in the EU, with special attention to deinstitutionalisation. The message I brought was quite simple: Policies matter, and they have direct impact on people. It can take (scratch that – it takes) many years.It can be hard to see.(And…
