The final peer-learning event in the Advancing Collaboration in Education (ACE) activity took place in Reykjavík, Iceland, on 8–9 October. The event brought together 40 inclusive education stakeholders from Finland, Iceland, Luxembourg, Poland and Norway.
The event participants discussed challenges in and examples of co-ordinating collaboration between different sectors, such as education, health, social care, and local communities, to support inclusive education systems.
Participants heard insights from Erna Kristín Blöndal, Permanent Secretary of the Icelandic Ministry of Education and Children, and Ragnheiður Bóasdóttir, EASNIE Representative Board member for Iceland, who showcased Iceland’s new Act on Integrated Services in the Interest of Children’s Prosperity (known as the Prosperity Act). They discussed the importance of involving different stakeholders, including learners and families, when developing the Act, and stressed the need for different sectors to work together to implement it.
Representatives from national agencies, such as the Centre for Education and School Services, the National Agency for Children and Families, and Diagnostic Services, and from the Reykjavík local municipality and the Ministry of Health also demonstrated examples of collaboration with other organisations and sectors to support inclusive education.
The meeting concluded with group discussions, exchanges and reflections on cross-sectoral collaboration in the Icelandic system and the other participating countries. Examples shared during the PLA will contribute to the activity’s main output – a tool for implementing cross-sectoral collaboration.
More information on the activity is available on the ACE web area.