Just a few years ago, the field of ‘rehabilitation and inclusion’ received little attention in Latin America. Our alumna Professor Fabiana Faleiros therefore founded the ‘Neurorehab’ research group at the University of São Paulo (USP) in 2014. In collaboration with German and Latin American colleagues, including numerous KAAD alumnae and alumni, she has developed a multilingual online information portal for rehabilitation professionals as well as for people with disabilities and their relatives. To mark the tenth anniversary of the research project, Fabiana Faleiros presented the successes of the project to the participants (including ten members of the ‘Salud Global’ alumni group and representatives of KAAD committees) at a congress from 29 to 30 August 2024. In addition to 62 academics and students participating in person, around 700 interested people from various Latin American countries attended the event digitally.
Professor Christoph Käppler (Technical University of Dortmund) and Private Lecturer Dr Olaf Horstik (University of Heidelberg) gave key lectures on site. Their contributions were complemented by digital presentations by Professor Walter Bruchhausen (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) and the Brazilian KAAD doctoral student Julia Corvetto (Heidelberg Institute of Global Health). Thanks to Fabiana Faleiros' worldwide involvement in the KAAD networks, the congress had a strong international character. In addition to KAAD alumni from Brazil, several KAAD representatives from Argentina also travelled to Brazil.
The event included various activities aimed at expanding international cooperation in the field of nursing sciences. These included discussions between various Argentinian and Brazilian KAAD alumni representing their universities. In addition, a visit to the university's ‘USP Supera Parque’ took place under the motto ‘Technology and innovation in the service of implementing diversity, equal opportunities and inclusion’, with which the EERP emphasised its interest in international scientific exchange, including in the field of inclusion research. The main purpose of the USP technology park is to promote innovation and knowledge transfer in various scientific disciplines and fields of activity.
The experts involved in the congress attached great importance to integrating people with physical or mental disabilities in both the preparation and realisation of the congress. This collaboration culminated in a ‘Diversity Parade’ on campus, which caused quite a stir.