Transitions from Institutions to Community Living in Europe

The aim of this report was to develop recommendations to promote and sustain the development of community living for all people with disabilities. Living in the community (as opposed to an institution) is a central part of Active Citizenship. The DISCIT project has defined Active Citizenship in terms of ‘Security’ (Exercising both rights and duties; reciprocity and complementarity of the individual’s and the community’s responsibilities), ‘Autonomy’ (Exercising freedom of choice; taking responsibility for one’s own future and risk-protection) and ‘Influence’ (Exercising co-determination, individually or collectively, participating in self-organised, voluntary and political activities & in civil society). For all of these to be realised, being a part of society, physically as well as conceptually, is critical. The segregated, isolated nature of most institutions makes this very difficult and in many cases impossible.