Inclusion means being on common ground from the beginning. It ends the laborious interplay between exclusion and integration.
If we organise our world in such a way that it is open, accessible and understandable for all people, our everyday culture changes - starting with the shape and characteristics of everyday objects through amended regulations and norms in the design of our infrastructure and our media to structural changes for instance in the educational, health, social or transport system. All the more serious, however, will be the effect on the further development of our idea of normality: We will expect to encounter people in our everyday lives, in shops and on streets, in kindergartens, in schools and lecture theatres, on trams and at work, on the television, at hospital, in restaurants and at swimming baths who organise their lives adjacent to and with one another on the basis of very different physical, intellectual and mental preconditions and will learn to take this for granted. And we will hardly notice this because it has become the norm. Our perception of people and of life is changing. So is our idea of what constitutes a successful life. This view is based on the unmistakeable dignity of each individual. It does not reduce people to shortcomings, but appreciates their different talents, potentials and skills and holds them in high regard.
Inclusion will enhance the quality of life of all people. This is why we are moving towards an inclusive society. It is an enrichment for everyone.
The Federal Government is creating a tool in the shape of the National Action Plan with which it wishes to systematically advance the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities over the next ten years.
This process starts by taking stock: The Action Plan documents all present and future measures with which the Federal Government pursues the development of an inclusive society. The 213 large and small schemes, projects and activities from all fields of life show that inclusion is a process which has been developing for quite some time. We are not starting from scratch. Policy on disability is a task for all government departments, and inclusion is a task for society as a whole.
This is one reason why the Federal Government has included the population, and persons with disabilities in particular, in the drafting of the National Action Plan from the outset. Many of their visions and proposals, suggestions for changes and schemes have been included.