Seminars

In this section:

Nordic Symposium on NNDR 2025: Facts and Figures on Implementation of Disability Rights in the Nordic Countries

The 17th Nordic Network on Disability Research Conference - NNDR 2025 Conference was held 7-9 May 2025 at the University of Helsinki, Finland. The conference theme was "Disability in Local and Global Contexts".  The NNDR conference brings together researchers, policy makers, activists and practitioners to share scholarship and ideas, and provides a forum for Nordic and international collaboration in disability studies.

As a part of the NNDR Conference program, we had a Nordic Symposium on the 8th of May 2025. The theme of the Nordic Symposium was “Facts and Figures on Implementation of Disability Rights in the Nordic Countries”. 

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities UNCRPD creates a solid foundation for disability policy in different societies.  This symposium was set to provide an overview of statistics and research findings that promote effective implementation of the UNCRPD in the Nordic countries and create an opportunity to perceive and establish links between disability research and implementation of the UNCRPD.

Recordings of the Paper Session on the Nordic Symposium with subtitles in English

The event was moderated by Stina Sjöblom, visiting researcher, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare THL 

Nordic Panel discussion on the Implementation of the UNCRPD

 

Right to live independently and be included, 12 February 2025

The theme of the event was the Article 19 of the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities CRPD; living independently and being included in the community.

The aim of the event was to promote the implementation of the CRPD, especially in the selected areas where there are particular common challenges. Experiences and examples were presented from the Nordic and Baltic countries, and from the European level. Topics that were discussed include services and other preconditions that enable independent living – such as de-institutionalization by developing services for the local community and supported decision-making.

The event was part of Finland's Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2025. The event was organized by Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and Nordic Welfare Centre. The event was funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers.

Recordings of the event with subtitles and international sign language interpretation

The event was moderated by Anna Caldén, SAMS – Samarbetsförbundet kring funktionshinder rf, Finland.

Opening: Sirpa Rautio, Director of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (Youtube)

Independent living

Practices from Nordic and Baltic countries: 

Supported Decision-making

Practices from Nordic and Baltic countries:

Conclusions: Sanna Ahola and Mikko Joronen, Finnish Human Rights Centre (Youtube)

Further reading from the seminar Right to live independently and be included : 

Building Back Better – Disability Leadership and the Way Forward, 9 February 2021

The webinar “Building Back Better – Disability Leadership and the Way Forward” deals with COVID-19 effects and disability leadership in the Nordic countries.

The webinar was hosted by Nordic Welfare Centre, an institution in the Nordic Council of Ministers’ social and health sector. The organizers in Finland are the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The conference was part of Finland's Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2021. 

Recordings of the webcast with speech-to-text interpretation:

Indigenous peoples – language, culture and life cycle. Disabilities, dementia and services, 31 August and 1 September 2021

Theme 1: The key human rights obligations and recommendations from the perspective of both indigenous peoples and persons with disabilities. 

Theme 2: Another theme is non-discrimination. This theme particularly raises the issues of positive discrimination, multiple discrimination and the right to language and identity.

Theme 3: A third theme is to outline a vision of future language and culture sensitive services, particularly in sparsely populated areas, while taking account of the human rights and non-discrimination perspectives.

One of the objectives of the seminar is to increase awareness and understanding of the rights of indigenous persons with disabilities, with a particular focus on persons with dementia. Another objective is to share experiences and good practices to further develop services in sparsely populated areas while taking account of the human rights and non-discrimination perspectives, and their language and culture.

The conference was organized by Nordic Welfare Centre, Nordic dementia network, Council of Nordic Cooperation on Disability, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Finnish Sámi Parliament, SámiSoster, Advisory Board for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities VANE and Finnish Human Rights Centre.

The conference was hosted by Nordic Welfare Centre, an institution in the Nordic Council of Ministers’ social and health sector. The conference was part of Finland's Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers in 2021.

Read more

Article: One’s own language and culture are keys to understanding and self-determination

Materials from the webinar

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