“Good support is not about providing services, it is about helping people live the life they want.” This statement by Andres Arias Astray (Complutense University of Madrid) illustrates perfectly the key tone of discussions between local and European civil society, social economy organisations, academics, members of the European Economic and Social Committee, the European Commission, the Social Protection Committee and others during the European conference “Building communities for all with quality support”. 

The event was organised on 30 October 2026 by Disability Support Europe in cooperation with other local and European organisations.   

The core of the discussions centred on concrete policies and measures that policymakers and other actors could take to shift from a mere perspective of assistance for persons with disabilities to a true quality-of-life support model and personal needs approach. How can we enable persons with disabilities to fully integrate into different areas of life within a community and take on the roles they are able and wish to play—not just as passive beneficiaries of a service, but also as employees, creators, co-entrepreneurs, guides, and teachers?

Conclusions drawn from a number of field initiatives and studies show that the potential local projects can develop within communities, and the benefits of truly inclusive practices, reach far beyond persons with disabilities. For instance, the Miteinander-Haus and the “Prima Bude” initiative in Berlin became much more than housing solutions for people with disabilities. Similarly, a Hungarian initiative matches persons with disabilities and students to jointly volunteer in nursing homes, while in other cases, local meeting places are run directly by persons with disabilities, …

Rebecca Sunnus, member of the European Economic and Social Committee and host of the event, highlighted this impact in her opinion on “Equality and the competitiveness agenda” (an exploratory opinion requested by the Irish Presidency), adopted in October 2026.

In the opinion, the EESC states: “Equality should not be treated as an add-on to competitiveness policies but should be integrated from the outset. Inclusively designed policies are more likely to mobilise the full potential of Europe’s workforce, businesses and society.”  

Local organisations, projects, and European initiatives presented during the event showcased the broad spectrum of possibilities already created by local communities across Europe. These initiatives are built on partnerships between various public and private actors at local and regional levels- including persons with disabilities—and extend beyond those working exclusively in disability support.

REVES had the pleasure of presenting a set of concrete proposals for action steps tailored specifically for local and regional authorities. Formulated in cooperation with partners from Hungary, Greece, Poland, and Finland, REVES member cities and regions, and other local and regional authorities, as well as social economy organisations, from across Europe and beyond. These proposals are underpinned by concrete examples of community initiatives following the quality-of-life support approach. They reach from creating a general framework for a truly participatory co-design of strategies and local policies (e.g. Local Council for Inclusion Cascais) or capacity-building (e.g. Malopolska Institute for Culture) to measures which can be taken in the framework of specific areas of life and related policy fields (e.g. Dopo di Noi initiative and its implementation in Tuscany Region, the integration of persons with disabilities in the French Zero Long-Term Unemployment Initiative, etc.).

The document will be published shortly. It is part of a package of deliverables that also includes a research report on the state of the art of inclusion of persons with disabilities in various EU Member States, a collection of good practices, a training manual, and a free MOOC (online learning modules) designed to help public and private actors improve community inclusiveness: https://disabilitysupport.eu/project-detail/icall/#dse

 The ICALL MOOC can be accessed here (creating your access takes only some minutes): https://knowledgehub.disabilitysupport.eu/course/index.php?categoryid=66