The European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) is excited to unveil the winners of their 2026 Innovation Awards. Selected from more than 90 applications submitted by organisations across Europe, five initiatives have stood out for their innovative work to drive organisational development within disability services to deliver person-centred support for people with disabilities.

EASPD hosts its annual Innovation Awards to reward and showcase the excellent developments taking place across Europe in aligning disability support models to the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD).

This year’s theme focuses on organisational change, meaning the steps disability support providers take to change from within. This includes modernising governance and management models to lead change and make a better use of technology, finances, and human resources.

EASPD's Secretary General, Thomas Bignal, congratulates the awardees: "Congratulations to all applicants to the Innovation Awards, truly, for making this year’s awards the most competitive ever. It shows a sector that is open to change and, even more importantly, that has taken concrete steps to change. Through these excellent initiatives, our five Awardees don’t just have a major impact at local level, they also lead the way for others to take similar steps across the continent. This is the multiplier effect EASPD aims to inspire through our Innovation Awards. Congratulations again!".

The 2026 EASPD Innovation Award winners, in no particular order, are:

• A Coordinated Services Platform by Adapei 45 – Les papillons blancs du Loire (France)

Adapei 45 has developed a platform-based model replacing fragmented institutions with coordinated, person-centred services grounded in self-determination. By reorganising staff roles and building structured partnerships with community actors, it shifts support from institutional care to social inclusion. The model combines organisational transformation, workforce training, and cross-sector collaboration to expand personalised support and community participation more efficiently.

• ‘IMPULS-AP’ by Mental Health Federation of Castilla and León (Spain)

The IMPULS-AP programme has developed and consolidated a Personal Assistance (PA) model in rural contexts.Targeting people with disabilities and those in situations of dependency, with particular attention to mental health, it addresses the critical lack of personalised support and professional shortages in rural areas. The project has led to the employment of 1,593 Personal Assistants and demonstrated high adaptability across both urban (62%) and rural (38%) settings.

• ‘Bateria de Indicadores de Resultados Pessoais (BIRP)’ by FORMEM (Portugal)

The 'BIRP' provides a complete tool for evidence-based internal planning and monitoring in line with person-centred principles for organisations that support persons with disabilities in vocational training and employment. The tool enables organisations to monitor and evaluate services focused on the result for the person being supported (outcome) via Quality of Life domains rather than the organisational process of support (input and output).

• ‘Retention & Wellbeing Framework’ by REHAB Group (Ireland)

The Retention & Wellbeing Framework addresses burn out and turnover issues amongst team members, especially frontline staff, who are more prone to emotional fatigue. The Framework, which includes an Internal Movement Programme, recognition programme and well-being support package, integrates culture, reward, wellbeing and leadership into a single strategic framework using internal data to target activities.

• ‘DigiCoach’ by St. John of God Liffey Services (Ireland)

DigiCoach employs people with disabilities to provide training on the use of digital tools and assistive technology to adults with disabilities and support service staff. The model has improved staff confidence and competence in using accessible tools resulting in more consistent communication, reduced duplication of work, and more meaningful participation for the people supported.

EASPD wising to congratulate all winners and thank all organisations who applied. The five winners will receive an award during EASPD’s Conference, ‘Leading Change in Disability Services: Strengthening capacity for person-centred support” taking place in Porto, Portugal on 14-15 May. Find out more about the practices here.

Supporting Documents 

• Innovation Awards 2026 Booklet
• EASPD Conference Website
• EASPD Innovation Awards Webpage

For more information, please contact: 

Miguel Buitrago 

Learning & Development Officer 

miguel.buitrago@easpd.eu   

+32 2 238 39 31

Note to editors: 

The European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) is the leading voice of disability services across Europe. Representing over 20,000 services in 50 different countries, we promote human rights and equal opportunities for people with disabilities through effective and high-quality support.

Our work focuses on key areas essential to quality support provision. This includes Inclusive Living, Employment, Education, Early Childhood Intervention, Person-Centred Technology, Workforce Development and Human Resources, Arts, Culture & Sport, and Policy Impact.