Konekt radically champions a world where everyone can live, learn and work together

In the context of our work in the fields of inclusive education, research and design, we sat down for a chat with Koen Deweer, founder and director of Konekt (www.konekt.be). Konekt radically champions a world in which persons with and without disabilities live, learn and work together. The goal is clear: to allow people with disabilities to live fully in an inclusive society. In doing so, Koen and Konekt focus both on developing individuals’ full potential and on making the environment more inclusive. The origins of his drive lie in his own school experiences, as well as those of his son. Both times he observed how everyone is pushed through a system which is the same for everyone and therefore not set up to utilise personal talents. When someone is not good at something, it may lead to biased advice from teachers: "Something with psychology and pedagogy is probably beyond your depth. Maybe becoming a forester is more suitable.” When Koen noticed the same thing happening to his son, he felt: now we really have to change things.

Peter Horsten and Marco van Leeuwen are lecturers and researchers at the Academy for Leisure & Events.

What has been the main motivation for the creation of Konekt?
The focus on ‘defect thinking’ - looking only at what cannot be done, what is difficult, rather than paying attention to talents and potential for development - is simply disastrous for people with disabilities. In Belgium, 90% of people with disabilities are sent to special education. Indeed, at the moment this seems to be the best solution, because in regular education parents have to put in a lot of additional effort to overcome all the resistance from teachers, other parents and boards. Nobody is against people with disabilities, but at the same time there is a lot of exclusion - an unconscious form of discrimination subsidised by the establishment of separate schools. This is only ‘the best option’ because there is no suitable alternative at hand. Education is not set up to foster talents for different types of people. We notice little ambition to change this system.

The problem arises early on. For young people with disabilities, the decision about whether or not you can have a job later in life is made based on a counselling meeting at age 12. BUSO (Extraordinary Secondary Education) has four levels, of which only the fourth level leads to a ‘regular’ job. Levels 1 and 2 prepare someone for living in protected contexts, where employment is not an option. For many, it means spending their time in a day centre, where they are given few opportunities to grow and develop. There is very little advancement to higher levels. In fact, at least a thousand young people over 18 are redoing their final year of school (sometimes multiple times) in anticipation of a person-centred budget.

‘Defect thinking’ has disastrous effects on people with disabilities.

If you imagine the group of people with disabilities in pyramid form, there is a small top with people with disabilities living largely inclusive lives and a large base with a significant need for care and support. But in between, you have a huge group which actually receives too much care and support. This is unfortunate, because being well taken care of does not make you happy. People, like others, want to take on visible and engaging roles and be meaningful to others. ‘Defect thinking’ has a disastrous effect on these people. They have little experience in developing skills, have little opportunity to try things and as a result they develop a negative self-image. Consequently, they have little motivation for the future. They grow up in a second-class society, isolated from the rest.

This isolation is harmful in two ways: if children in regular education do not grow up in close proximity to people with disabilities, they will also be unaware of the needs and desires of people with disabilities later in life, for example in their work. As a result, you see continuous confirmation of the status quo. This has to change: Konekt opposes the discrimination and the marginalisation of people with disabilities.

What does Konekt do different in their talent-focused approach?
It is not rocket science. But shifting the focus, from everything that is difficult to finding in each individual the things that they are good at, makes for experiences of success. When you have the opportunity to do what you are good at, experience that you can do it, you become enthusiastic, you want more, you experience growth and you become happy. We use various methodologies, always starting from the strength and potential of the individual. Teach someone to feel the ‘stress zone’ and how to turn that stress into a stretch. How do you get out of your comfort zone and stretch towards growth?

Konekt wants to change the world by connecting parties who want to give people with disabilities a chance. Obviously, not everything is a success story just like that. There are people who need some additional consideration and that requires an environment which moves with them. We know that throughout their lives, people with disabilities have been forced to fit into systems not designed for them. Instead, let people work within their talents, because then it does not feel like work.

To achieve this, we need to take a more open approach to the system of job profiles, for example. Some people with disabilities may not bring immediate economic growth to a company, but they can be significant in other important ways: a new atmosphere, increased slowing down and awareness, and increasing motivation among other employees to focus on inclusion and not just economic added value. Companies also have a social role to play in this process.

One must be willing to go beyond the norm.

Can you give some specific examples of success stories?
If I have to single out a few, I will start with the ‘kindergarten co-supervisor’ course which kicked off ten years ago. This is a 14-day training course with an additional 14 days of work placements, spread over a six-month period. When we started this course there was a lot of resistance from schools to let people do a work placement, people immediately thought it would require ‘additional work’. But it is just like an intern coming to take work off your hands! Pre-schoolers themselves see few problems with a co-tutor with disabilities. Evy, who went through this process, has an intellectual disability, but functions very well in a kindergarten. It took some persuasion, but once a teacher finally dared to allow Evy to start in kindergarten, she was able to show her added value and others soon followed. Evy does not perform all coaching tasks, but what she does she tackles with passion and dedication using her talent.

This changed role also has implications outside the classroom. Where previously the neighbourhood avoided people with disabilities, resulting in loneliness and a sense of inferiority, you now see that

Evy’s living conditions have changed dramatically. In the supermarket or around the neighbourhood, all toddlers run straight up to her. That has a huge impact, on Evy, on the pre-schoolers and their parents, on the school, on the neighbourhood, on the whole system.

Another success story involves Davy, who followed a track to become a co-corporate employee. Davy has autism and for him it was difficult to find a work placement company. He has to get used to entering a new social context, which is difficult for most corporate supervisors, who are not used to managing people with disabilities. On the other hand, Davy is very meticulous and precise. After a six-month work placement, we were told by the shoe factory’s warehouse manager that Davy was doing a better job than the average interim employee. Getting to such a point also requires change in businesses - which is why Konekt also provides coaching.

Finally, our course to become a professional dancer in Platform K has been a success. Many people with disabilities have a talent for dance, rhythm, improvisation, and want to be on a stage. They are unfortunately still not yet admitted into professional dance schools, but Platform K shows that some dancers are very talented. This is certainly not easy: for these dancers there are also strict requirements regarding nutrition, training, structure in life, and so on. Dancers are selected based on their talents. We had a long discussion about whether we should have a selection process. But Kurt, who himself has a physical disability gave us the answer. He said, "If I am really good, I should also have the opportunity to be able to seriously grow and train at a professional level. Let me be on stage because of my amazing talent and not because of my disability.”

Growth and development are achieved through trial and error; the lessons are sometimes hard. Take Kobe, a dancer with Down Syndrome. Too often expectations are set too low and we dare not give honest feedback. But this keeps people down, and they are not taken seriously. Kobe once, a long time ago, managed to draw all the attention to himself at the end of a performance by stepping outside of the performance. The audience cheered loudly, but that was really disrespectful to the other dancers. This would not be accepted from any professional dancer. This was followed by stern but honest feedback. It led to tears at first, but in the long run he will improve as a dancer if he takes himself seriously. The audience then follows this lead.

Buildings can be a lever for a warmer society.

You indicated that in addition to developing individuals, you also focus on making the environment more inclusive. Is Ghent an inclusive city?
No, but there are several city government initiatives and in recent years there have been many collaborations. They see Konekt as an expert to share their thoughts with. Not so much regarding physical accessibility such as the width of doors and obstacles for example, but mainly to become more aware of unconscious exclusion and ignorance. For example, we recently started a project with NMBS the Belgian railway company. Mobility by train is not just about platform height, but also about reservation systems. When people are aware of how we exclude people with disabilities and pay attention to that then we will go a long way!

There are still few examples of universal design in Ghent. Cultural houses and the City Hall are often accessible through a separate entrance, venues are accessible, but the stage is often not accessible yet. Separate entrances are not the solution at festivals either; too often people do not think beyond a person with a disability and their companion. People with disabilities also just go to a festival with friends, and then they want to go through the same door together, then they want to enjoy the music together and not somewhere separate on a raised stage. The companion of ‘the person with disability’ is welcome to come along, but their partner and friends do not fit within that category.

The Gentse Feesten (Ghent Festivities) are for everyone. The organisation only partially succeeds in its ambition. It is important that we see people with disabilities not just as spectators, but also as collaborators, volunteers, creators and artists. Things are moving into that direction. From the dialogue which emerges from these initiatives, we must learn, become aware, and take steps towards an inclusive city.

At all levels it is important to involve people with disabilities from the start. This accelerates change. Do not talk and make decisions about them, but with them. In advisory bodies, look for people with disabilities with the right talents and position them correctly in the team using their strengths. Notable, for example, was the approach of Ghent European Youth City 2024. A call-out came to young people regarding what constitutes a tailor-made city to them. At the end of the process, there was a realisation that they had forgotten to include young people with disabilities. Even now we are at the stage where policy-makers at some point realise that they have forgotten. Next time they will really remember.

Konekt has helped many people along the way and received high praise for it. What is the next step?
We started the development of an inclusion hub in Ghent. This is a large construction project which transcends the current day-to-day operation of Konekt. The inclusion hub will be a physical meeting place where everyone is welcome, where everyone can meet and use their talents. In this place, interactions between persons with and without disabilities take centre stage. By focusing on a physical place, we want to demonstrate how buildings can be a lever for a warmer society. We want to create a free space where local residents, organisations and businesses drop by to do business and learn. Near the Gent-Sint-Pieters train station, we are developing an energy-efficient new building with catering, offices, meeting rooms, a dance hall and multi-purpose spaces for meetings under one roof. Persons with disabilities are given a leading role there.

The design process involves intensive collaboration with people with disabilities. This way, in the design process, you also experience how complex getting coffee in a wheelchair can sometimes be. It will be a transparent building with as few corridors and doors as possible to allow a maximum number of spontaneous encounters. This sometimes results in clashes: the fire department, for example, wants as many partitions in the building as possible from a safety point of view. What is important here is that we are not only focused on the building, but also want to be a gateway to the neighbourhood and the city. The area around the station is very transit-oriented, with the inclusive hub also becoming the place for tourists with and without disabilities with an information point on, for example, adapted sanitary facilities, attractive and accessible attractions, and - where necessary - support with online booking. In this manner Konekt becomes the linchpin in the neighbourhood.