Living independently and being included in the community: Article 19 of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities clearly recognises the right of people with disabilities to live in the community, with choices equal to others through effective and appropriate measures to facilitate full enjoyment by persons with disabilities of this right and their full inclusion and participation in the community. This is an important commitment, particularly on an institutional level, but it doesn’t always translate into an effective system of social infrastructure creation. Enel Cuore has extended the scope of its work on the subject of disability with care and humanity. To support the stakeholders involved in the sometimes difficult task of guaranteeing adults with disabilities the right to an independent life, we created the Mettiamo su casa! (Let’s make a home!) call for proposals, a project centred entirely around fostering independent living for adults with intellectual and behavioural disabilities. This commitment also mirrors SDG #8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set out in the United Nations 2030 Agenda which the Enel Group and Enel Cuore are both working to promote. In the early part of 2017, Enel Cuore launched a call for proposals with the aim of stimulating and supporting the voluntary sector to define and implement practical measures to foster independence, independent living and inclusion for people with disabilities by boosting motivation for operators and the volunteer base alike. Thanks to this support, the National Council for Architects and the Italian Federation for Overcoming Handicap (Federazione Italiana Superamento Handicap, or F.I.S.H.) completed the evaluation of the proposals received. Eight projects were then selected from across Italy. They offered innovative and sustainable independent living models that encourage shared living approaches – such as flexible residency, co-housing, assisted-living condominiums – with a focus on the different social contexts involved and combining domotics technology and design. A special support process is also in place to ensure that families of people with disabilities are flanked on the latter’s journey to independence and working in the wider community. F.I.S.H.’s involvement will also continue in the implementation stage of the initiatives selected: it will, in fact, be providing support over a 12-month period with special meetings to monitor the progress and results of each project. Find out all about the projects in the Mettiamo su Casa! (Let’s make a home!) call for ideas.
