Over the past weeks, the QoLAB project has been busy organising local workshops across Austria, Finland, Hungary, and Portugal. The partners’ goal? To engage professionals, managers, people with disabilities and their circles of support and bring the Quality of Life Supports Model (QoLSM) to life. 

These workshops are part of the wider effort to implement a transformation towards more user-centred and human rights-based practices in social services for persons with disabilities. Rooted in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), the Quality of Life Supports Model puts the person at the core. These workshops mark a key step in the project’s goal to foster a real change in disability services: from traditional care models to person-centred support.

Building on the recently launched QoLAB Toolkit, a practical guide for implementing the QoLSM, the workshops offered the opportunity to explore the model further. Through hands-on activities, lively discussion and reflections, the difference between care and support came into sharp focus, often with powerful takeaways.

“The narrow vision of certain actors is very disturbing. As professionals we should make sure not to be stuck in it and to do better”, noted one participant.

Another one reflected: “The workshop reminded me that it is important to re-assess priorities from time to time”.

“A great opportunity to see beyond your own thoughts and experiences. It was eye-opening to realize the difference between care and support.”

For persons with disabilities, the sessions offered much more than theory. Practical activities like a rights-based bingo game turned abstract principles into fun, empowering experiences that sparked conversation and built confidence.

This collaborative and inclusive approach, where persons with disabilities and their circles of support take an active role in service development and delivery, reflects the project’s strong commitment to the “Nothing about us without us” principle.

With local workshops now completed, partners are preparing for the next stage: the Co-creation Labs. These sessions will bring together service providers, public authorities, inspection bodies, and participants of the local workshops to identify service gaps and co-design better, more inclusive solutions. The process reinforces the shift towards more inclusive, rights-based services focused on quality of life.

Learn more about the QoLAB Toolkit here.