March 2014
Participants briefing: ILiS Solutions Series – “On Your Marks…! disabled people’s equal participation in sport”
Where: The Media Room, Emirates Arena, Glasgow
When: 17th of March 2014, 1.30pm – 5pm
Twitter: Follow the discussion on Twitter #thesolutions
N.B. Pages 6 – 17 of this briefing are appendices. They provide additional information.
1. Practical arrangements
Please arrive at the reception in the Emirates Arena, Glasgow on the 17th of March by 1.15pm.
Lunch will be served between 1.30pm and 2pm. The discussion will run from 2pm to 4.30pm. There will be a short comfort break. You are invited to stay for a networking drinks reception from 4.30pm – 5pm.
2. About ‘The Solutions Series’
The Independent Living in Scotland (ILiS) project is working with the Scottish Government, disabled people and other key stakeholders on the strategic interventions that will make independent living the reality for disabled people in Scotland (see appendix 1 for detail on independent living and human rights).
“The Solutions Series” which is hosted by ILiS is a series of solution focused discussions – ‘pop up think tanks’ – designed to bring together Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs), decision makers, academics, public service leaders and other key experts from across Scotland and beyond. Each pop up Think Tank in The Solutions Series will consider, and seek solutions to, a specific issue which has been identified as preventing or hindering progression of independent living in Scotland.
Each Solutions Series discussion results in a report capturing the solutions offered. This will be used to promote wider awareness and understanding of the issue and to initiate, influence and direct change at national and local levels – more detail on the Solutions Series is provided in appendix 2.
“On Your Marks…! - disabled people’s equal participation in sport” is the 6th pop up Think Tank in the series. A list of invited participants is provided at appendix 3.
3. Focus of the pop up think tank: “On Your Marks…! - disabled people’s equal participation in sport”
A combination of desk based research and conversations with Disabled People’s Organisations (DPO’s), academics, representatives from the world of sport, and decision makers helped determine the specific emphasis for the discussion ahead. It found that –
a) The pathways to sport for disabled people are not as clear as those for non-disabled people
· There is still huge untapped demand for sport and physical activity by disabled people and this is compounded by a lack of awareness and availability of sporting opportunities[1]
· This lack of clear pathways is thought to impact on competitive sports too; if disabled people don’t ‘make it’ in the Paralympics, there is nowhere to go to try again or simply to continue in the sport they enjoy
b) Data collection is inconsistent[2] and data is not readily shared among key partners[3]
· There is a mismatch between the preferences for and availability of sport for disabled people[4]; this could partly be due to the inconsistency of and sharing of information and data
· Mainstream data collected on sport is in Scotland is considered to be “disability blind”[5]
· Measures of physical activity often focus on task and intensity in a way that may not account for disabled people’s circumstances
· A focus on increasing physical activity in ‘ordinary settings’ such as work, the park or the countryside rather than specifically in sport facilities, could exclude disabled people as they tend to be under-represented in these ‘ordinary settings’.
· Teachers may have ready access to personal information on disability status, but community sports providers will not. This data is subject to parental disclosure and may not always be accurate (due to fear of bullying and so on[6])
c) Access, attitudes and role models
· Disabled people still face barriers to participating in sport[7]. These include physical and attitudinal[8]
· Disempowering systems and institutions that have held low aspirations for and negative assumptions about disabled people[9] have had a significant impact on the aspirations and beliefs that disabled people have for and about themselves (including their body image), and those that others have for them[10]
· Within sport, body image issues for disabled people are compounded
· It is expensive and can be a burden on the few who make it in sport, to create and showcase role models for disabled people in sport
d) Mainstream initiatives are sometimes “disability blind”
· Some mainstream initiatives are not always targeted appropriately so as to take account of the specific requirements of disabled people
· The Scottish Disability Sport Sports Inclusion Model helps with this but is used mainly at delivery point, rather than being conceptualised and used in relation to strategic policy on sport and the design and development of services and initiatives
e) Wider barriers to participation in sport
· Cuts to social care and support mean that taking part in sport and leisure activities is difficult for disabled people[11]
· Policy in social work is inconsistent with wider policy in health and in sport
· 74% of disabled adults experience restrictions in using transport compared with 58% of non-disabled adults[12]
· Taking a transport option that helps to increase physical activity (e.g. the bus at the end of the street as opposed to the taxi at the door) is not always available to disabled people
· Participation in sport can be expensive, and disabled people are amongst the most impoverished in Scotland
There is more detail on each at appendix 4.
All of this can:
· Limit disabled people’s opportunities to pursue a healthy lifestyle
· Discourage inclusion and diversity in the community
· Contribute to isolation of disabled people
· Limit the progression of good relations between disabled and non-disabled people
· Limit the positive portrayal of disabled people, and also negatively affect the body image of disabled people
· Prevent sports facilities from gaining the money, knowledge and experience that disabled people can bring
To help address this, the discussion will focus on how we ensure:
a) There are opportunities for disabled people to participate in sport, at all levels (to lead, play, compete, attend events, watch etc.)
b) That sport for disabled people is supported by committed, confident and capable structures, organisations and people
c) Disabled people in sport are seen, heard and known about (in communities, competitions, professional sport and so on)
4. Format of the think tank (more information available in Appendix 2)
The Solutions Series offers a high level space for discussion between invited participants, to consider a specific issue in relation to the realization of independent living and to seek solutions in the area.
You are invited because of; your interest and experience in the area, your ability to use this to suggest solutions for the way forward and; your ability to participate in making change happen.
Each participant will take part on an equal basis; therefore, there will be no need for you to prepare presentations ahead of the think tank. The format will be a round table discussion.
The chair will open the discussion, with introductions; to participants and to the reason the subject has been chosen; and outline what is expected from the event – including confirmation of understanding, highlighting possible areas of contention and common ground.
The chair for ‘The Solutions Series: on your marks…disabled people’s equal participation in sport’ is Baroness Tanni Gray Thompson.
The think tank will identify a series of suggested ways forward and will highlight possible next steps. There will also be a report of the think tank. This report will not attribute any particular suggestion or quote to an individual it will be anonymised to support free flowing discussion. You will have an opportunity to comment on this report before it is published.
5. Contacts
Both Pam Duncan (Policy Officer) and Heather Fisken (Manager) will be available on the day. Contact number on the day: Pam 0786 226 3081 Email address: or Website: www.ilis.co.uk
As well as visiting our website, why not call in on us via Facebook and Twitter (#thesolutions) and tell us your independent living news and views? Don’t forget to like us!
@independentlivinginscotland@ilisproject
Appendix 1
Independent living, equality and human rights – an understanding
Independent Living is defined by disabled people themselves as meaning “disabled people of all ages having the same freedom, choice, dignity and control as other citizens at home, at work, and in the community. It does not mean living by yourself, or fending for yourself. It means rights to practical assistance and support to participate in society and live an ordinary life”.
For many disabled people, this practical assistance and support (such as access to the environment, advocacy, personal assistance, income, and equal opportunities for employment), underpinned by the principles of independent living, freedom, choice, dignity and control is essential for them to exercise their rights and duties of citizenship, via their full and equal participation in the civic and economic life of Scotland.
Without it, many disabled people cannot; enjoy the human rights they are entitled to[13] on an equal basis to others – as set out in the Human Rights Act and the European Convention of Human Rights, live free from discrimination and harassment as the Equality Act 2010 promotes, nor contribute to a wealthier and fairer, healthier, safer and stronger, smarter and greener Scotland[14].
Independent living thus promotes a modern understanding of disability and disability equality that can support policy and practise to protect the human rights of disabled people. It achieves this by recognising the essential role of “material support” in ensuring disabled people can “participate in society and lead an ordinary life”.
The role independent living plays in protecting the human rights of disabled people is recognised and underpinned by international human rights and equalities obligations to which the UK and Scotland are party to; including the recognition that all of the rights outlined in the ECHR and Human Rights legislation belong to disabled people, and that these are further strengthened and contextualised by the rights set out in the UNCRPD.
Appendix 2
An introduction to “The Solutions Series”
Independent Living in Scotland (ILiS) was established in 2008 to strengthen and develop the Independent Living Movement throughout Scotland and to support the involvement of disabled people in shaping approaches to independent living.
We know that policy and practice work best when those who have interest in a subject come together to share knowledge, expertise, ideas and experience and to develop collaborative responses and activity.
ILiS will host a series of subject-specific ‘pop up think tanks’[15], as part of The Solutions Series, between March 2012 and April 2015. This note provides a brief overview of the purpose and format of these. Separate pre-event briefings are provided on the specific subjects being discussed, as and when appropriate.
Aims and outcomes
The Solutions Series aims to support meaningful, solution-focussed and strategic-level discussion across a range of perspectives by hosting a series of subject-specific pop up think tanks and reporting these. It is hoped is that mutual engagement is increased, through the sharing of perspectives and knowledge. To support this, the pop up think tanks will use the principles and practices of coproduction. They will be safe spaces, where people with different perspectives can talk freely and openly – protecting this, the reports will not align comment to specific individuals. Working in this way will mean that future action on and reaction to the subject will be better able to take account of and respond to different, indeed, opposing, views in a way that supports the honesty and integrity needed to drive forward change.
It is hoped that in doing this; disabled people, their organisations, policy makers and other key ‘movers and shakers’ e.g. sectoral leaders, academia; will be better equipped to collaborate again; including when appropriate drawing on cross-border perspectives. Both the think tanks themselves and the resulting reports will be used as opportunities to influence change on independent living.
Subjects
There are many possible subjects for the pop up think tanks. The aim is that they will focus on strategic and timely issues that would benefit from the cross-sectoral engagement approach suggested, particularly where there are significant areas of divergence in thinking.
The pop up think tanks will be both pro-active; addressing issues of strategic importance for the furtherance of independent living; and reactive; responding to particular strategic policy/piece of research/reports/societal reaction on a given area, of relevance to independent living.
In line with the agreed ILiS business plan, some of the subjects will be suggested by ILiS and will likely focus, although not exclusively, on the wider work of the national programme on independent living[16]. However, it is hoped that others may consider the Solutions Series as an opportunity to address specific issues. While resource limitations mean that it may not always be possible to take up suggestions, ILiS welcome an approach to ILiS to instigate a pop up think tank on a particular subject as part of the series.
Format
The Solutions Series will pull together experts in a particular area to respond to a given subject, agenda or consultation, in a one-off think tank on the subject. Participants will be targeted for their expertise, their capacity to effect change and their capacity to represent their community of interest. They will be asked to come up with; through sharing expertise, innovation and dialogue; some of the potential solutions – including cross-sectoral responses to and suggestions for policy, practise, research and legislative change – to sometimes quite contentious issues that create barriers to the realisation of independent living.
Chairs will be people with an in depth knowledge in the specific area concerned. Their role will be to keep the discussion flowing, on topic and solution focused.
It is expected that there will be between 10 and no more than 20 people at each pop up think tank. This is to help ensure that in depth discussion is possible. Participants will be asked to come with an informed, learned opinion on the subject matter, taking account of the people they represent if and where appropriate. Each participant will take part on an equal basis, there will be no need for participants to prepare presentations ahead of the think tank. The format will be round table discussion.