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MobiAbility: A European standard on support measures in the EHEA for international students with disabilities.
Start date: Sep 1, 2016, End date: Aug 31, 2019 PROJECT  FINISHED 

The normalization of people with disabilities is an objective assumed by all countries signing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Education should encourage present and future citizens accept the commitments, principles and values of the Convention. The project Mobiablity is in the frame of this horizontal priority.One of the areas less standardized in the lives of people with disabilities is international mobility in general and, in particular, international mobility during university studies (see e.g. "The European Higher Education Area in 2015: Implementation Report Bologna Process" , or the low mobility rates in Spain, i.e.the average of the last 5 years is 15 people per year), despite the reinforcement of active policies in this field (e.g., increasing direct financial support to the group; promoting actions between institutions such as the Conference on Special Needs, organized by the SEPIE in 2015).Among the possible causes of the low rate of European mobility of persons with disabilities, experts agree that one of the main reason is the lack of a common position or standard on key curricular adaptations to performed that should be accepted by the participating countries. These should be assumed as measures of accessibility and reasonable adjustments which have to be guaranteed in order to promote equal opportunities for any student with disabilities interested in international mobility.This project aims to advance and innovate in this aspect. The main objective is the development of a European transnational standard of measures and reasonable adjustments at academic level for students with disabilities in international mobility as well as an online and multilingual platform that hosts a catalog of institutions reaching this standard. The platform will also serve as an effective communication tool for the exchange and setting of common curricular adaptations that universities should implement for mobility students.To achieve these objectives, a number of methods of research and study will be considered by all members in the consortium. First year of the project is to perform a diagnostic analysis of the situation, by reading and analyzing literature (reports, books, legislation, etc.) as well as by consulting academic and social entities through a survey. During the second year the standard of basic measures of attention to diversity that must be guaranteed by the university institutions will be outlined. Furthermore, a protocol for efficient and transnational communication between the specialized units of universities will be proposed. To this end, the obtention of information from institutions and groups will be extended through surveys and focus group analysis (responsible academics, social entities, students with disabilities, technical assistance units on disability, etc.). Finally, the third year, the online platform will be implemented. This platform will house the standard of basic measures, a catalog of universities meeting this standard, and an efficient and multilingual communication protocol between attention to diversity units. In addition, virtual and face-to-face meetings of the working group will be carried out, apart from controls and monitoring quality and compliance objectives, and disseminating actions on partial and final results will be scheduled.The consortium is made up of an international academic part (4 universities from 4 European countries, all with extensive prior experience in international mobility and attention to diversity) and other civil and social part (3 entities leaders in the national and international field of defense and exercise of the rights of persons with disabilities). This academic and social alliance is a necessary condition in order to achieve sustainable and widely accepted results, obtained from the different experiences, visions and expectations of all groups involved in the area (people with disabilities, associations, academics responsible at universities, technical staff, policy entities, etc.).A high direct and indirect impact of the results is expected, with an international scope and a large number and diversity of people and organizations concerned. In fact, it is intended that the intellectual products, as well as being freely available to all citizens, will be analyzed and taken as their own by regulatory agencies or organisms involved in the EHEA, in international mobility and in the rights of persons with disabilities.
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