So, the iCARE research project (improving Children’s Auditory Rehabilitation) is coming to an end, and I had the privilege to participate in one of the last major milestones, recently executed (November 20-21 in Leuven, Belgium) – namely the iCARE conference. Professor Dr Astrid van Wieringen has been project managing all of us during these years, and this event was the last large public seminar. Link to conference program here:
A group of people from various countries gathered together in Promotiezaal Universiteitshallen as to learn more about “Optimizing inclusion – for children with hearing impairment”. Structured around the four project pillars: communication accessibility, improved acoustic, auditory remediation and integration and e-learning; the conference had traditional lecture sessions combined with interactive active panel discussions and debates involving the research fellows.
There are two main objectives of iCARE: 1) to provide training to create a new generation of researchers capable of exploiting the synergies between different disciplines 2) to combine research across disciplines to develop novel methods, training skills and procedures for improving auditory rehabilitation.
The challenges, but also great opportunities with this conference, were to embrace, touch upon and communicate many different subjects – all connected to children, hearing impairments, inclusion and their life in an oral based society. Thus the audience came from various walks of life.
This conference was also the last official occasion for all iCARE participants, being research fellows, partners and other related professions, to meet and interact “live” together. In December 2017 the 4-year FP7 iCARE project is coming to an end, but some of the research fellows will continue with other funding.
Below you have a selection of some images of the subjects and sessions:
You can read more about the iCARE project in other blog posts:
