Making Space for Social Integration

This work tested an ‘Intentional invitation’ mechanism to facilitate social integration in a small scale setting. Working with community organisations to design inclusive environments, we identified and addressed specific barriers to social inclusion and designed a series of interventions to foster engagement, from early intervention to in-situ encounters during creative community pop-up events. Intentional invitations proved effective in facilitating the engagement of people with disability. This in turn allowed for authentic interactions between all participants to unfold in a community setting. Data collected via participant observation and interviews reveal new perspectives about disability and experiences of togetherness. Our aim was to facilitate engagement of people with disability as a channel for authentic contribution bringing potential societal gain within our communities. Findings point to possible changes in professional practice that would encompass intentional invitation mechanisms under the Keys to Citizenship (Duffy, 2015) framework.