Dr. Alan BruceULS Dublin

NCRE Fall ConferenceWashington DC

Global Challenge, International Opportunity: Rehabilitation, Quality, Inclusion and Innovation in an Emerging Europe 

Issues and Partnerships in a Changing World

Overview

Rationale International dimensions in disability

Impact Globalization and change

Focus Quality, Innovation and Inclusion

Context European Union

Opportunities Research, Engagement, Funding

Discussion

1. Rationale

Disability is and always has been an international issue

Common humanity/common reactions

Value systems and religious beliefs transcend borders

Role of war and migration Legacies of institutionalization and

control Impact of learning solutions

Good news

Shared insights promote creative collaboration

Rights based approaches assert quality

Learning maximized Creativity enhanced with

international perspective Insights deepened through

comparative analysis Options today radically extended

Bad news

Policy inertia and vested interest Business of rehabilitation usually

operates nationally Inheritance of charitable models Legacies of national laws and

regulations Conceptual confusion: international

or intercultural? Hesitance due to language barriers Arrogance of isolationism

Structures do exist…

Rehabilitation International (1922) Convention on the Rights of Persons

with Disabilities (2008) World Health Organization Disabled People International (1981) CIRRIE NIDRR European Network on Independent

Living

World Report on Disability (2011) Foundational and critical document Published by WHO State of the art analysis and review Overall aims of Report:

To provide governments and civil society with a comprehensive description of the importance of disability and an analysis of the responses provided, based on the best available scientific information.

Based on this analysis, to make recommendations for action at national and international levels.

International

Always a contested space: different meanings to different stakeholders

Overlap with different perspectives: cultural, ethnic, national

Encountering the Other is not linear Connects with identity and self-

perception Deconstructs mythologies Enlightened self-interest – what’s in it

for me?

2. Impact

A globalized planet demands global approaches

No country is immune from what is happening in others

Rates of change are unprecedented – and accelerating

This is the Age of Uncertainty

The shape of globalization Patterns of constant change Permanent migration/mobility Outsourcing Flexible structures and modalities End of job norms Knowledge economy now pervasive Instant worldwide communications Structural inequalities

Urbanized futures

Planet of Slums (Mike Davis) Informal economies Demographic transformation Hypercities The normalization of brutality

Show me the money….

12 m.: numbers with more than $1m. to invest (9,2% increase since 2011)

$46,2 trillion: aggregate wealth of this group (10% increase since 2011)

Ultrarich (>$30m.) surged 11% (now 35,2% of all millionaires)

World Wealth ReportRBC Wealth Management & Capgemini Financial ServicesJune 2013

What about the rest of us? Decreasing workers’ share in national

income in all countries Labor productivity (up 85% since 1980)

not reflected in wages (up 35%) Declining social mobility Rising income inequality reflected in

declining equality of opportunity

Global Wage Report 2012/13, ILOProf. Miles Corak, Journal of Economic Perspectives 2013

Shaping enterprise dimensions

We are increasingly becoming a winner takes all economy… over recent decades, technological change, globalization and erosion of the institutions and practices that support shared prosperity have put the middle class under increasing stress

Dr. Alan KruegerCouncil of Economic Advisers & Princeton (2013)

Mainstream: nightmare or opportunity?

Mythology of the ‘normal’ Defining the mainstream: what have we

become? Robust probing of social structure required

as a preliminary to defining mainstream Masking power, relationships and inequity Need to avoid cliché and assumptions Learners are immersed in and emerging

into this changed constellation – of which the gatekeepers know little

3.Focus

Innovation and quality are critical factors

How does learning sustain innovation?

Necessary focus on inherited structures and delivery mechanisms

Access and validation of knowledge have become central concerns

What is now the role of the University?

Multidisciplinary focus

A multidisciplinary approach drives innovation in: Adaptive and assistive technologies Vocational evaluation Assessment Counseling Materials design Environmental design Software design Medical supports Legislation Innovative pedagogy

Sustainable Linkage

Strong focus on linkages between: Academic inquiry Practical applications Community benefit

Results in: Culture of quality and excellence Contributions of historically excluded groups

(people with disabilities) to strategies Services considered an investment not cost

Disruptive Innovations in Learning Architecture

eLearning provision Open universities, e-learning

departments, media labs

MOOC phenomenon

Current Challenge: How will rehabilitation education be

impacted by transformed education system?

Policy focus

How can we incubate creativity? How can we develop capacity for

innovation? How can we expand expertise and

competence? How can we access and integrate

cutting edge technologies? Why have we progressed so little in

formal terms?

Innovation imperatives

Transformational learning - the sociology of innovation Educational systems - networks of actors reinforcing

each other in stable configurations Vested interest acts against innovation and inclusion -

seen as threat It is possible to have incremental change Systems react to change even if they do not initiate it The promising path is through disruptive innovation

which produces irreversible change (Christensen, Disrupting Class, 2008)

Innovation contexts

If learning, working and production are controlled

innovation is at best powerless, at worst sinister

At the core of innovation is an ability to assess

critically and express freely

Fundamental to innovation is the ability to ask

questions that challenge existing relations

Innovation re-examines existing reality while

posing viable alternatives

Global Innovation Index 2014 Edition

• Understanding human aspects behind innovation essential to design policies to promote economic development and richer innovation environments.

• Recognizing key role of innovation as a driver of economic growth and prosperity - broad horizontal vision of innovation: GII includes indicators that go beyond the traditional measures of innovation (e.g. R&D)

• Rankings: Switzerland 1Finland 4USA 6Ireland 11Brazil 61

Resourcing Innovation

• Talent management initiatives• Accurate forecasting of future skill needs• Linkage with leading universities• Human Capital• Organizational Capital• Network Capital

Transfers of economically useful scientific knowledge from universities to industry generates substantial economic growth as the experiences of classic high technology regions (e.g. Silicon Valley) and emerging new technology centers around the world demonstrate

• Listening• Linkage• Leading

The triple helix

• Concept: Industry/University/Government• How does learning sustain innovation?• Focus on inherited structures and delivery

mechanisms• Access to and validation of knowledge • Changes in governance: autonomy; budgets;

performance based practice• Shift to external accreditation away from Ministries• Emergence of more complex processes of

innovation and commercialization of research• Triple Helix Systems of Innovation (Ranga &

Etzkowitz 2013)

4. Context

Europe: learning support and linkage Part of integration strategy since outset Designed to address labour market needs EU has no competence in national education Structural funds: imbalances & redistributive financial tool

ESF Priorities:Improving human capitalImproving access to employmentIncreasing adaptabilityImproving social inclusion of disadvantaged people Strengthening institutional capacityAdvancing reforms in regards to employment and inclusion.

Europe: from Club to Union‘I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.’

EU Structures

28 Member States Not a federation –but more than a

free trade area Free movement of labor Free movement of capital Balance between Union and Member

State

EU Challenges

Ethnic demographics/migration National frameworks and policies Interculturalism and diversity Flexibility and adaptability Assessment, diagnosis and

evaluation Economic crisis 2008 Rise of racism

EU Resources

1. EU Funding offers significant opportunities 2. EU funding is not a substitute but a supplement 3. Non-finance resources offer as much if not more 4. Transnational action only viable method in a

globalized world 5. No substitute for professionalism and expertise 6. All rests on vision and passion for community

needs 6. University/corporate partnership based on added

value and CSR

EU Framework Program for RTD

Advanced ICT support Innovation and sustainable research Innovative learning projects history Lifelong Learning Program (2007-13):

€7 bn. Erasmus + Euraxess Budget of FP7 (2007-13): €50,5 bn. Budget of FP8 (2014-20): over €80

bn.

Horizon 2020

• Research and innovation

• Competitiveness for SMEs

• Employment and labour mobility

support

• Social inclusion and combating

poverty

• Education, skills and lifelong learning

• Institutional capacity building.

Europe 2020

The five key priorities now are: Raising the employment rate of adults Improved investment in research and

development Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions Reduction of early school leaving and

increased rates of completed third level education

Reduction of poverty levels by 25%.

EU Themes and priorities

Creativity Motivation Empathy Flexibility Adaptability Equity Intercultural competence

Summary

1. EU Funding significant and available2. Next proposals February 20153. Supported by EU and US4. Transnational action critical in a globalized world5. Rests on vision and passion for community needs6. Open to US partners – universities or agencies

5. Opportunities

Rehabilitation competence linked to wider social needs

Use of advanced technologies as norm Radical and continuous upskilling Facilitating learning Rehabilitation connected to labor market Imperative to avoid being crushed by

accreditation Learning: nimble, relevant, quality driven

Added value in learning

Identity and creativity: eLearning to eMeaning

Learning processes no longer controlled by traditional knowledge institutions

Creativity now facilitated by platforms and infrastructures that encourage large-scale production and challenge old hierarchies

Process of profound institutional re-structuring comparable to European 19th century

E-learning redefines learning

Strategic options

Increased application of new knowledge Open and distance learning technologies

facilitate learners and staff competence Transforming traditional teaching role to

mentoring, guiding and facilitation Development of network of innovative

best practice at international level WHO Report 2011 as benchmark Rehabilitation as a framework for

creativity, not a labyrinth of rules

Asserting Vision

• Stakeholders in universities are wide-ranging, both internal and external

• Pressures on corporate and academic worlds are similar, if different in detail

• Universities to survive must be relevant and visionary• Universities are now expected:

• To be more outward looking• To provide leadership and service• To make efficiency gains• To maintain standards and quality• To obtain new and additional revenue sources

FIESTA Conference: Barcelona October 2014

And further afield: Brazil

Imaginative discourses

• Skillbeck Report (2001)• Challenges and changes are within institutions• Changes are ubiquitous• Changes are systemic• Changes are radical

• Evolving Corporate Universities Forum (Istanbul 2012)• attract, retain and enhance highly skilled employees• invest in developing a culture of learning throughout the organization • spread a common culture as engines of strategic change• ability to promote importance, value and contribution of a learning

culture• ensure integration of HRM systems and policies with learning initiatives • build genuine partnerships with world-class learning institutions

Next steps….

D’ou venons nous? Que sommes nous? Où allons nous?

Thank you!

Dr. Alan BruceULS

DUBLIN – HELSINKI - AMSTERDAM - CHICAGO

www.ulsystems.comabruce@ulsystems.com