20 years of autArK: Focus on inclusion for people with disabilities!

20 years of autArK: Focus on inclusion for people with disabilities!

On Thursday, April 11, 2025, the autArKademie in Brückl celebrated autArK's 20th anniversary. Among the guests were prominent personalities such as Gaby Schaunig (Deputy Governor), Beate Prettner (State Councilor) and Andreas Jesse (Managing Director of autArK). Since its founding, autArK has pursued the central goal of enabling people with disabilities to live a self-determined life and continuously developing this concept. This objective was introduced 20 years ago with a decisive innovation: the separation of work and living, which is seen as a paradigm shift.

This change has resulted in inclusive offerings that go far beyond traditional home structures. Supported living arrangements, day centers and training places were created that enable comprehensive participation. A particularly outstanding element is the “Apprenticeship” pilot project, which enables young people with disabilities to receive real vocational training with apprenticeship compensation and social security. 135 people are currently involved in qualification measures at autArK, with the aim of expanding the training model to up to 20 training places.

De-institutionalization and inclusion

The autArK concept is based on the principle of “living in the middle of society”. There are currently ten residential associations and mobile offers available, in which 123 people live in assisted living units and 31 other people receive individual support. In cooperation with the state of Carinthia, it is planned to create a total of 123 new residential and employment places as well as 164 redeployment places by 2027.

This approach reflects the principles of de-institutionalization and inclusion promoted by various initiatives and professionals. According to the discussion basis of monitoring committee.at Such transformation processes are necessary to sustainably improve the quality of life of people with disabilities. The creation of inclusive living and working environments makes a decisive contribution to equal opportunities.

Inclusion in a social context

Inclusion, as defined in the digital dictionary of the German language, means the equal participation of all people in social life, especially people with disabilities and immigrants. bpb.de describes that inclusion extends not only to schools, but also to various areas of life such as living, work and health.

The challenges are complex. There is still a need to break down institutional and social barriers, as many people with disabilities experience discrimination in everyday life. The exclusion from voting previously affected over 80,000 people until 2017. The discourse around inclusion in society has now changed from a purely disability-specific discussion to a topic of variety and diversity.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 2006 promotes inclusion as a human rights principle and identifies participation as the key to social integration and self-determination. To bring about fundamental change, it is crucial that institutions open up and adapt to the individual needs of all people. This is the only way to achieve full participation and inclusion that benefits society as a whole.