In 2020, ZonMw became part of EURECO, a European collaboration platform of academic researchers and service providers working on inclusive community planning and development, in the perspective of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). EURECO develops a network of academic researchers and research affined service providers specifically interested in developing inclusive communities. Furthermore, regular meetings for platform members in formats mixing elements of academic conferences and project development workshops are organized.
EURECO’s vision for the future is to contribute to the European research agenda and together discover innovative research opportunities on inclusive community planning and development as well as inclusive, accessible social and health care services for all. It aims at bringing together researchers, professionals, persons with disabilities, support service providers, representatives of the European Commission and civil society organizations.
EURECO wants to foster European theory-practice cooperation in the disability services’ sector by developing and maintaining a network of academic researchers, research affined service providers and people with a disability who are specifically interested in developing inclusive communities. EURECO-meetings will serve as an instrument to enhance cooperation along the project-cycle of European research activities starting from the identification of research needs and research processes up to the implementation of results into practice.
The EURECO platform is based on a joint initiative of the European Association of Services Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD), the Centre for Planning and Evaluation of Social Services (ZPE), University of Siegen (Germany) the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IASSIDD) and the Dutch health research organization ZonMw.