Welcome dear Students!
We’re glad you’re here and interested in our initiative. At INNklusion, we are committed to making public spaces more accessible and fostering a more inclusive society. Students have the opportunity to actively participate and become part of our mission.
Discover our wide range of activities and use the quick links to learn more even faster. Let’s work together to break down barriers and create a more inclusive future!
Background
According to the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection, around 20 percent of Austria’s population lives with a disability. Despite the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities being in place for 15 years, access to many areas of society is still lacking.
INNklusion seeks to address this challenge by bringing together people with disabilities, students, experts, and organizations. We foster in-depth exchange and develop assistive technologies that create opportunities for participation and/or autonomy for participants and the community.
Elements of the Initiative
Knowledge Transfer and Exchange
Come to the Café of Ideas. Get to know us, share your knowledge, and help shape the ideas of tomorrow!
Procedure and Structure
We embrace a collaborative approach: the joint development of assistive solutions together with students. In the process, students acquire forward-looking skills in interdisciplinary teamwork, solution orientation, and user-centered design. They learn to recognize people’s needs, value diversity, and take intersectionality into account. This fosters awareness of barriers, prepares students for their future professional lives, and creates social value for society.
First, you get to know the various projects and choose your favorite. For each project, a group of students from different fields of study is formed, working in close and continuous exchange with the person for whom the assistive technology is being developed. In addition, the groups have access to experts from areas such as management, occupational therapy, and engineering. In the following phases, each group defines team roles to make the best use of each member’s expertise.
By applying methods of creative product development, management, and implementation, your group learns to develop practical and innovative approaches. The brainstorming process is intended to enable the broadest possible and most open thinking for idea generation.
In further iterative cycles, the experiences already gained and feedback from experts and users are incorporated to continuously improve the ideas.
All ideas and concepts from your group are collected and thoroughly evaluated in terms of the user’s requirements, as well as cost-efficient and acceptance-driven design. Through constructive discussion among all group members, the best ideas are ultimately selected and combined into a holistic, optimal concept.
Your group presents its developed idea, concept, or realized prototype to the idea provider and the panel of experts to gather valuable feedback and suggestions for improvement. Your group can use these insights to further refine the idea and arrive at a final solution that optimally addresses the original problem.
The end is the beginning of new possibilities. Some projects may not be fully completed due to their complexity, but their concepts remain valuable. They can be pursued further in bachelor’s or master’s theses or in the following semester.
Current Projects
Our assistive solutions cover a wide range of needs. Here’s a small selection.
INN2science Students Funding Program
To foster interest in a scientific career early in undergraduate studies and to provide barrier-free access to professional opportunities for students with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses, the University of Innsbruck offers a dedicated support program for students.
Learn more about the program: INN2science students
Support us
Do you find our projects interesting and want to further support them through donations? Then you can join the support circle and become part of the projects:
Förderkreis 1669